Otelco shares tank on non-renewal of Time Warner contract

Atlanta, GA 4/23/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of telecom services provider Otelco Inc(Nasdaq:OTT) fell as much as 80 percent after it said Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWX) will not renew a contract and suspended dividend.

The contract to provide network connections accounted for 11.7 percent of Otelco's 2011 revenue. It expires on December 31.

Otelco said dividends on the common stock of its income deposit securities — which consist of common stock and debt — will be suspended immediately.

Shares of the company touched a low of $6.62 in their biggest intraday fall to become the top percentage loser on the Nasdaq. They were later trading down 38 percent at $7.45.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

Youku Oh No!

Tallahassee, FL 11/17/11 (StreetBeat) --It isn't easy to turn a profit streaming video in China.

Niche leader Youku.com (NYSE: YOKU) posted mixed quarterly results last night. Net revenue soared 129% to $41.2 million. The site's net loss narrowed to $0.07 a share -- or $0.04 a share if you back out stock-based compensation. Either way, Youku missed Wall Street's bottom-line target calling for a deficit of $0.03 a share, though it did beat analysts' top-line forecast of $39.8 million.

Despite the rough sledding, Youku continues to trade above the $12.80 price it went public at nearly a year ago. However, the profitless speedster that peaked at nearly $70 back in April has now fallen all the way down to the teens. Rival Tudou (Nasdaq: TUDO) -- which went public this summer at $29 -- has shed more than half of its value.

Making money streaming video for free through an ad-supported model is hard. Just ask Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube, which continues to make strides in monetizing its website but it will never be the high-margin business that Google's flagship search engine has become. Bandwidth isn't cheap, and there's a limited pool of display advertisers. Youku also pays for a lot of its professionally produced content.

Youku has turned to Tinseltown for a new revenue stream. DreamWorks Animation (Nasdaq: DWA) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) have gotten behind the Youku Premium pay-per-stream venture, though Youku will probably be as successful as YouTube has been to get folks to pay up for content. Youku's growth will continue to be tied to the willingness of advertisers to pay more to reach the Internet television website's growing audience.

Youku is targeting 90% to 100% in revenue growth for the current quarter, a slight deceleration from its triple-digit pace of the past. Clearly, this is still an impressive growth rate, though Youku's still lofty valuation begs for profitability to begin entering the picture around here.

Narrower deficits are moving Youku in the right direction, but now it needs to get to the finish line before it becomes the next of the many busted Chinese IPOs.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

A Look at Cable TV Earnings Reports

Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) - Comcast Corp (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reported stronger quarterly results on Wednesday, confirming that it pays to have a strong lineup of cable networks -- at least while advertisers keep spending.

Against all odds, advertisers continue to scoop up commercial time on television, and cable networks such as Time Warner's TNT or Comcast's USA have been major beneficiaries. Subscription fees have only helped. That point was driven home on Wednesday when Time Warner reported revenue from its cable networks rose 7 percent. Comcast, whose cable business is run through its majority interest in NBC Universal, showed a 12 percent increase.

"As you know, cable networks drive the profitability of NBC Universal and they continue to perform well," said Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts, who has staked his reputation on last year's $30 billion deal for NBC Universal. "We are investing in programing to make them even more valuable to customers and distributors."

Comcast's cable network results stand out even more when compared to the performance of its flagship broadcast TV network NBC, whose prime-time schedule has struggled for years. Already NBC has canceled two shows it just rolled out for the new TV season, "Playboy Club" and "Free Agents."

At Time Warner, where CEO Jeff Bewkes wants to cut costs and focus the company squarely on creating content for TV, movies and magazines, advertising sales climbed 6 percent. It cited strong pricing at its Turner networks, home to original shows such as "The Closer," the late-night host Conan O'Brien, news on CNN and sports including baseball and auto racing. Overall, Time Warner reported third quarter income of $822 million, or 78 cents a share, up from $522 million, or 46 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings rose a better-than-expected 27 percent to 79 cents a share.

Along with its cable business, the company got a big lift from the latest installment of the Harry Potter movie series. Its stock slipped 1 percent to $33.48, however, on what analysts described as concerns about future growth prospects.

To many observers, the continued strength of national advertising comes as a surprise. Just two years ago, in reaction to the recession, overall U.S. ad spending dropped by percent to $163 billion. Today's stubbornly bad jobs and housing markets -- couple with Europe's debt crisis -- would seem the sort of troubles that would have advertisers once more slashing budgets. Advertisers instead appear to be betting that the best way to jump-start sales is to keep their brands in front of consumers with billboards, digital campaigns and, particularly, TV commercials.

Heading into Wednesday, the economy was a major question facing media companies, particularly Comcast. Not only does Comcast rely on advertising from its TV networks, its chief business of selling broadband, video and telephone services relies heavily on the housing market and consumer confidence.
Overall, it added 229,000 telephone, video and Internet customers. That satisfied Wall Street and calmed worries that arose last week when Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems Corp, two rivals, posted disappointing subscriber numbers.

Comcast reported third-quarter net income of $908 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $867 million, or 31 cents a share, in the period a year ago. Shares of Comcast rose 2.2 percent to $23.50.

StreetBeat Disclaimer

Distributed by Viestly

LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Tomahawk, WI 8/15/2011 (PennyPayDay) – Internet search giant Google has reached a deal to buy Motorola Mobility for $40 a share, or about $12.5 billion.

Google shares were tumbling 2.5% to $549.50 and Motorola Mobility shares were surging 60.2% to $39.21 in premarket trading Monday.

Lowe's said second-quarter earnings "fell short" of its expectations.

Lowe's, the No. 2 home-improvement retailer behind Home Depot, earned $830 million, or 64 cents a share, including a charge of 4 cents a share for store closings in the second quarter, compared with $832 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Lowe's to earn 66 cents a share.

For the fiscal year ending February 2012, the company expects earnings of $1.48 to $1.54 a share, including about 6 cents a share from impairment and store closing costs. Analysts expect fiscal-year earnings of $1.61 a share.

Shares were slumping 3.9% to $18.75.

National Oilwell Varco signed contracts valued at about $1.5 billion to supply drilling equipment packages for seven drillships to Brazil's Estaleiro Atlantico Sul.

Shares were popping 2.2% to $68.27.

Time Warner Cable is in advanced talks to buy Insight Communications for about $3 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Shares were up 0.7% to $65.98.

Wal-Mart is expected to report second-quarter profit of $1.08 a share Tuesday vs. 97 cents a share a year ago.

The discount giant, which prides itself on its motto of "Save Money, Live Better," appears to have lost its price perception among consumers. According to a survey conducted by WSL Strategic Retail, 86% of Wal-Mart shoppers no longer believe that the retailer has the lowest prices.

Shares were up 0.4% to $49.95.

Offshore contract drilling services company Transocean reached a deal to buy Aker Drilling, a Norwegian drilling contractor, for $1.43 billion.

Shares were flat at $55.63.

ConAgra has implied it could accelerate its pursuit of Ralcorp, after the U.S. food group suffered a third rejection by its quarry of its proposal -- improved to $5.2 billion -- to buy the company.

Investment management firm Relational Investors increased its stake in life insurer MetLife by about 9.4 million shares to11.6 million shares.

PennyPayday Free Stock Quotes and Approach to the Stock Market

PennyPayday focuses on bringing penny stocks and small-cap companies from all exchanges into the spotlight for investors seeking early development opportunities. PennyPayday has quickly become a recognized penny stock site and a top source for investors seeking information and research on today's emerging hot stocks. PennyPayday provides the investing public with stock market daily news, free real-time stock quotes, free stock charts, research for investing, as well as economic stories, videos, and market briefs from a staff of experienced and dedicated financial journalists.

Sign up for our Free Newsletter today, and join the thousands already getting our emails on the hottest stocks to watch.

Disclaimer: Neither www.PennyPayday.com nor its officers, directors, partners, employees or anyone involved in the publication of this website or newsletters is a registered investment adviser or licensed broker-dealer in any jurisdiction whatsoever. PennyPayday may or may not have been compensated by mentioned companies. For full disclaimer/disclosure please read PennyPayday's disclaimer.

Distributed by IntelBuilder Social Media Platform

Cable Providers Teaking Custmer Base during Bowl Games

Millions of people around the country could find themselves in a similar spot this weekend. As a midnight Friday deadline approaches, Sinclair Broadcast Group still doesn't have a deal with cable TV operators Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks.

However, Time Warner Cable said late Thursday that it will continue to provide all available Big 4 network programming this weekend even if Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair pulls local programming, such as the evening news.

Such a plan could mean that college football fans may be able to watch Saturday's ABC broadcast of the Gators playing in the Outback bowl after all.

Without an agreement, Sinclair plans to pull its signals from those two systems. Chapel is a Bright House customer, and Sinclair owns the ABC station in Pensacola, which is carrying the Outback Bowl. Sinclair owns 32 other stations in areas of the country where Time Warner or Bright House has customers.

A last minute deal could still head off any game day disappointments.

But Joe Smith, who operates Sinclair's ABC station in Pensacola, said the outlook for Florida Gators fans in the area wasn't good. "It is quite possible we will be off out there on game day," he said.

Bright House did not return several phone messages left by The Associated Press. Time Warner has said it remained ready to negotiate.

Consumers would still be able to get the stations with an antenna if they have a digital TV or converter box, but most Americans these days get broadcast channels through subscription services such as cable TV or satellite.

Disputes such as these are cropping up more frequently as the broadcast TV industry looks for a sturdier business model. Broadcast companies used to allow cable providers to carry their channels for free and made their money selling commercial time. But they face growing competition from cable channels. And the recession drove home how quickly cash-strapped businesses will rein in ad spending.

A few months ago, in a similar dispute, Cablevision Systems Corp. customers went without Fox programming for 15 days -- missing two World Series games.

As cable providers resist higher program fees demanded by broadcasters, TV viewers are getting caught in the middle.

Montey Chapel and his sons aren't sure what they will do if they can't watch the Outback Bowl at home. "That's the biggest game of the entire day," said Chris Chapel, a Florida graduate.

Bright House subscriber Billy Dortch -- an Alabama fan, himself -- may have bad news for his fiance, who roots for Florida.

"I don't know how I will break it to her if we don't get the Florida game," he said, unloading groceries in the parking lot of Cantonment store.

Shane Wiley, dressed in a Florida Gators' sweat shirt, pulled into a parking spot nearby. Wiley said he has been a Florida fan for the last 15 years and wasn't going to let the cable dispute cause him to miss the game. He has already looked into switching from Bright House to a satellite service. If he can't do that in time, he will go to a friend's house, he said.

Jennifer Stokes' SUV is adorned with a Florida Gator on the front license plate. The Bright House subscriber said there is no way she and her large group of family and friends will miss the Outback Bowl.

"We will just go somewhere else and watch it. It's a big deal," she said.

It wasn't known how many Time Warner and Bright House subscribers are in markets served by Sinclair. Potentially affected are 33 Sinclair stations in 21 markets -- among them Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates.

However, Fox owner News Corp. has agreed to provide Time Warner with network programming in case a local station operator withholds its signal. That means Time Warner customers would still get shows such as "Glee," "House" and "The Simpsons," even if they couldn't watch the local Fox newscast.

Besides Pensacola, the potentially affected ABC stations are in Charleston, W.Va., Greensboro, N.C. and Dayton and Columbus, Ohio.

Rick Kolloff, who helps organize Penn State alumni gatherings to watch football games in the Columbus area, said he's received no questions or complaints from fans about the cable dispute. His Penn State Alumni Association chapter plans to watch the Outback Bowl at a pub that uses a satellite TV service.

"I guess I'll be interested to see whether folks that are anxious to see that game will leave their house when they normally might not have and come out and join us," he said.

Distributed by IntelBuilder Social Media Platform

Microsoft TV Coming Soon to an Xbox Near You

Microsoft Corp (NasdaqGS:MSFT) has held talks with media companies to license TV networks for a new online pay-television subscription service through devices such as its Xbox video game console, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

The software giant's possible push into the television business comes as Google Inc (NasdaqGS:GOOG), Apple Inc (NasdaqGS:AAPL) and Netflix have jostled for a seat at the table of television's future -- a main topic of discussion at the Reuters Global Media Summit to be held this week.

The maker of the Windows operating system has proposed a range of possibilities in these early talks including creating a "virtual cable operator" delivered over the Internet for which users pay a monthly fee.

Other options include using the Xbox to authenticate existing cable subscribers to watch shows with enhanced interactivity similar to how pay TV operators have sought to do over the Web, said these people.

Microsoft is also exploring the possibility of creating content silos and selling more individual channels directly such as an HBO or Showtime. It already has Walt Disney Co's (NYSE:DIS) ESPN on the XBox Live online service for example.

These people said a service may not arrive for another 12 months, but early discussions have been productive.
Microsoft said it does not comment on rumor or speculation. The people involved in the talks asked not to identified as the discussions were confidential.

News of Microsoft's plans come as the pay-television industry has sought to allay investor concerns that consumers are fleeing expensive subscription packages for cheaper online services operated by companies such as Netflix Inc (NasdaqGS:NFLX) and Hulu, which both charge $7.99 per month for streamed shows and movies. The phenomenon is called "cord-cutting."

The worry is that so-called over-the-top services could undermine the lucrative cable TV industry, whose dual-revenue stream model -- cable networks such as ESPN are paid carriage fees by pay TV operators and also earn revenue from advertisers -- has made pay-TV one of the most resilient sectors during the economic recession.

But programmers would welcome new types of competition to the cable and satellite companies, senior media executives said.

"We think the more competition the better, we will price and package it in such a way that we still make the dual revenue stream," said one of the people who spoke to Reuters. "We could probably charge more for interactive advertising."

Microsoft has long held ambitions to be a major player in the TV business and has previously invested in interactive television initiatives including Web TV and MSN TV set-top box software.

Its latest plans include offering interactivity to engage viewers through social media, interactive advertising and motion control technology, say people who have seen early demonstrations.

Microsoft has bet on new "gesture" technology that lets users of its Xbox, who buy a camera accessory called the Kinect, control on-screen functions using voice to launch channels and waving arms to fast-forward or rewind videos on ESPN.

The Redmond, Washington, company is said to be mulling feedback it has received from programmers including the expense of such a plan but it is not likely to roll out a service in the next 12 months, said one person.

The market to determine the future of television distribution and technology has accelerated over the past year.
Google has already launched Google TV, an enhanced Web-TV service with partners including Sony Corp (Tokyo:6758.T) televisions and Logitech set-top boxes. While Google has also announced Time Warner Inc's (NYSE:TWX) Turner Networks as a programing partner, it is not yet planning to offer a full suite of cable networks in the near future.

Apple has also held talks with programmers, but faced resistance industry-wide over its plans to offer a lower-cost subscription TV plan, people familiar with the talks have said. Apple has begun to offer 99-cent TV show rentals for a limited number shows through News Corp's (NasdaqGS:NWSA) Fox and Disney.