First-quarter television station profit margins surged to 35% from 24% a year ago, on a 15% rise in revenue, media investment bank M.C. Alcamo & Co. says in a new analysis.
“The Great Recovery of 2010 is underway, and in broadcasting, it is strong,” said Michael Alcamo, the firm’s president, according to trade journal Radio Business Report/Television Business Report. “Not all broadcasters are recovering equally, however,” he noted. “Some have already shown sharply higher profitability margins, while others will no doubt catch up in coming quarters.”
The trade site's report doesn't detail profitability by company, such as Gannett's 23-station broadcasting division.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
10 comments:
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It's nice to see some good news, but weren't TV stations -- like newspapers -- cutting helter skelter the last few years. It's obscene that companies will cut employees loose while still carrying double digit profit margins. Some companies are pleased if they make five to 10 percent. No wonder the media has become such a joke.
ReplyDeleteI was going to make the same point as 11:32. The TV stations here have drastically cut back on local news, and now run infomercials instead of broadcasting news. So I guess it is no surprise that profits are up: if you don't have to pay a staff, and you bank all the money from the infomercials and network shows, of course you will make oodles of money. But what about quality? And what about that old commitment to the community concept?
ReplyDeleteThat's where some of the profits for both TV and newspapers will be coming from. You cut back on workers who produce content, and your bottom line improves -- for now. In the long run, it will be a disaster. But if you only care about the next quarterly result, it's fine.
ReplyDeleteTop line growth, though. That isn't from cuts, it's new money. If infomercials are what the public wants, and that is what the advertisers will pay for that is what the medium will have to deliver.
ReplyDeleteLiberal nanny-state social policies have led to an increasingly dependent, lazy, apathetic populace that could give a hoot about news, government, history or personal responsibility. They want infomercials, they want Springer, they want Survivor, for Christ's sake. And journalism, through it's support of politicians who foisted those policies upon us, is kind of reaping what it has indirectly sown.
Yes, but 7:49, Gannett boasted of its tradition of upholding the first amendment and the right of people to know what was going on. Maybe Frank Gannett was smaltzy and old fashioned, and certainly not reflecting modern views. But it made him rich and held this company in good standing for years. I thought it was a pretty good recipe for success, and I am sorry to see it go.
ReplyDeleteThe TV Division is a financial I-V for the ailing newspapers. Sadly if they view every dollar in equipment and salaries as an expense as opposed to an investment; the TV biz will be where many papers are (sadly) in 10 years.
ReplyDeleteThe mobile platform offers a tremendous opportunity to expand audience and station identity. That ultimately means $$$$. And because it is terrestrial based..the product cannot be duplicated by a satellite service.
But Gannett has cut costs to the point that compelling local content on their stations is often non existent (and thus on their mobile streams)so I find it had to envision the path to the future being successful.
There is simply no vision in this firm.
7:49 -- TV stations, at least the ones that require public airwaves, aren't suppossed to cater purely to the free market. To receive a broadcast license, you are supposed to show that you provide a valuable public service to the community that you operate in. That doesn't mean you can't show Springer, but the original idea was that you had to do a lot more than that.
ReplyDeleteNews is one way that TV and radio stations have historically shown that they provide a service to the community. And this is a completely fair requirement since they cannot operate without the using public airwaves. Cable and Internet stations are, of course, different.
Unfortunately, our politicians have let us down here. And it's not only the liberal politicians who have loosened the requirements for a broadcast license. Conservatives are equally if not more culpable in this regard. Sadly, this is one more sign of our entire political system selling out to corporate interests. In most cases, the public interest comes last.
I would argue that your belief that liberal ideals have somehow ruined the country is part of the problem too. By now, it should be perfectly clear to most Americans that there is almost no separation between Democrats and Republicans, as they are both catering to big money types. Yes, they fight a lot and call each other names, but that's just so people like us might believe they stand for the things they say they do.
Case in point: Obama is supposed to be an environmental president, but he's let BP fumble its way through this oil spill like the best "oil man" in the world.
And, on the other side of the aisle, you had republicans and Bush preaching about financial responsibility while spending more than any administration in history and spearheading (along with Obama) the huge corporate bailout.
We have been screwed by our leaders. But make no mistake, both parties have been actively involved.
7:49pm- Infomercials are what the public wants??? What red state are you from?
ReplyDelete3:12 a.m. -
ReplyDeleteThat is my conclusion based on the fact that advertisers are continually willing to pay for them, which they would not do without acceptable ROI. That means people are watching and responding.
On the political side, you'll get no argument from me that Republicans have proven any better in terms of irresponsible spending. During the compassionate conservative reign, much worse.
But, what I am referring to is the public education system and the shift from learning and accountability to anything goes, lower standards, social engineering and bureaucracy first. The culture of victimization and the rejection of conformity and assimilation in the name of the individual's right to be an asshole. The promise that government will get the rich guys and make your life better as long as you vote for us.
An evergrowing segment of the population bought into that thinking. And they are the ones who are lazy, apathetic, disinterested let-the-government-do-it, Springer watchers. They are not watching the news. And they are most certainly not reading, let alone paying for, newspapers.
The perverse thing about infomercials is that they are not interrupted by commercials. So if you want to watch a program all the way through, it is either some egg head discussion or British comedy on PBS, or an infomercial.
ReplyDelete