[opendtv] Re: News: Cable Continues Revenue Growth, But Pace May Slow

The next time that you try to 'educate' me, I would suggest that you address
something that either 1) I've commented on incorrently, or 2) it's something
that I don't know.  Maybe I would even suggest 3) Something that you haven't
said her a tremendous number of times.

Remember when Lucie Salhany was CEO of Scripps-Howard broadcasting?  (I do.)

Let me also clue you into something.  "Scripps" is a big name in San Diego.
The company once oowned newspapers here, and they owned much land.  One of
E.W.'s granddaughters -- Ellen Browning Scripps -- is (was?) a local
benefactor.

The company has been in decline for many decades.  Remember when they sold
off their controlling interest in UPI to two meditating fools from Chicago?
(I do.)

Perhaps it is you that could use some education.  One of the two local
hospital groups is the "Scripps Clinic."  There's the E.B. Scripps Park
between Pacific Beach and La Jolla, not to mention the large community
called Scripps Ranch, because it was built on land that E.W. once had a
large ranch upon.  (I believe the ranch house is still there.)  

Now, just why was it relevant to anything to 'educate" me?  This is about
quarterly results.  To focus on such narrow time frames is to "smoke crack."

John Willkie

-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Craig Birkmaier
Enviado el: Thursday, July 26, 2007 4:32 AM
Para: OpenDTV Mail List
Asunto: [opendtv] News: Cable Continues Revenue Growth, But Pace May Slow

A bit of education here for John W.

E.W. Scripps is a relatively large media company with diverse 
holdings, that is NOT  one of the big media conglomerates. The 
company has a large newspaper group that is in decline; a fairly 
large broadcast station group that is a consistent performer (but is 
not a growth business); a small  on-line media group (it does not 
include Web operations for the cable networks group), and the crown 
jewel, the Networks group that includes HGTV, Food, Fine Living, DIY 
et al.

Whild John is not impressed by the cable network business, Scripps 
has managed to grow a new business segment that is carrying the 
company forward, even as its legacy businesses decline. One of the 
most important aspects of the Networks business is the way that it is 
driving not only ad revenues, but growth of the web portals for these 
networks. This is a sustainable and growing business opportunity. 
Even more important, the company has developed the ability to create 
content, something that the the stations group may need to learn in 
order to survive.

Regards
Craig


Scripps Cable Continues Revenue Growth, But Pace May Slow
by David Goetzl, Wednesday, Jul 25, 2007 8:45 AM ET

EVEN AS SCRIPPS' CABLE PROPERTIES continue to show growth, company 
CEO Ken Lowe said Tuesday that maintaining a double-digit pace would 
be a challenge going forward. Still, the network portfolio led by 
HGTV and Food Network is expected to continue the trend--albeit 
barely--with a 10% increase this year, executives said.

Growth at the two networks had been propelled in part by distribution 
expansion and the resulting ratings boost, but now both are just 
about fully distributed.

Lowe said it is becoming "increasingly difficult to maintain" the 
double-digit annual revenue growth, and HGTV and Food are "are in 
some ways burdened by their tremendous success."
He made his comments in a conference call to discuss second-quarter 
results, where the network group posted ad revenues up 4.8% to $245 
million. A year ago, the growth rate was higher (15%) but volume 
lower ($233 million).

CFO Joe NeCastro described the second quarter as "mixed." He said the 
growth rate ebbed at the cable networks--which also include DIY, Fine 
Living and GAC--due to softness in daytime ratings at HGTV and Food 
Network. But "we reacted quickly" with programming alterations.

To look for new revenue streams, the company is bulking up its 
interactive operations affiliated with each network's Web operations, 
and online revenue jumped 26% to $19.4 million in the quarter.

Going forward, Scripps is still wrapping its upfront business, but 
executives expressed optimism that its haul would yield a volume gain 
over a year ago, even with the new so-called "C3" commercial ratings 
covering three days of DVR use. Under the new currency, Scripps loses 
about 5% to 6% of impressions, but CPM increases should allow for 
unit prices to stabilize and perhaps increase, the executives 
indicated.

Regardless of the upfront results, executives said they expected to 
do well in the scatter market over the next 12 months, partly because 
in the most recent quarter at HGTV and Food, pricing was 25% higher 
than the 2006 upfront market.

Overall at Scripps, a 130-year company that has been transformed 
largely by the two leading cable networks, the newspaper business is 
its "most challenging" operation, Lowe said. Revenues fell from $182 
million a year ago to $166 million, and profit dropped considerably, 
in line with industry trends.

Also, Lowe said e-commerce businesses are experiencing some "growing 
pains." Revenue at Shopzilla and uSwitch came in at $59 million, down 
from $65 million last year.

But Lowe said the cable-propelled spirit that helped reinvent the 
company will continue, saying it "can't evolve as a media enterprise 
if we're timid or weak at heart."

Note - This article did not include results for the Scripps Broadcast 
Station Group. The following is from the Scripps release on second 
quarter earnings:

Second-quarter revenue at the Scripps Television Station Group was 
$84.5 million compared with $86.4 million during the same period a 
year earlier. Second quarter segment profit at the TV station group 
was $23.5 million vs. $26.4 million last year.

The decline in revenue and segment profit at the TV station group is 
attributable to the relative absence of political advertising during 
the quarter compared with the previous year. Political advertising 
during the second quarter of 2007 was $400,000 compared with $2.7 
million during the prior-year period. Local advertising sales at 
Scripps TV stations were up slightly, while national advertising 
sales were down 4.0 percent.
 
 
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