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GE has lowered profit projections for the fourth quarter for its NBC Universal unit, claiming the writers strike has already hurt profits short-term.
Rather than the 10 percent to 15 percent growth previously projected, GE is now saying growth will come in at the low end, closer to 10 percent, MediaPost writes.
GE is also looking to cut costs at NBCU that will lower its investment in prime time programming at NBC.
The company’s CEO Jeff Immelt says NBCU could be hurt further by the writers strike, particularly since the network was already suffering from ratings challenges. Due to those challenges, NBC has begun offering cash back to advertisers because of ratings shortfalls.
Those refunds represent only an “extremely small portion” of NBC’s business, the company said in a statement yesterday, Bloomberg writes.
While GE had said earlier in the fall that it would “decide the fate” of NBCU after the Beijing Olympics, Immelt said during an interview yesterday on CNBC that “this is the wrong time to think about exiting” the business. “The TV network business is going to change. The fact of the matter is GE is better positioned to win through these changes than any competitors.”
He called the company’s cable group, which includes USA and MSNBC, the heart of NBCU, and said that cable and overseas growth have been and should continue to be tremendous.
Katz Media Group has added another new client, Lincoln Financial Media, and will sell ad time on the company’s 15 stations beginning immediately.
Katz also added CBS Radio and Entercom last week, picking them off from Interep’s list.
Katz has also…
Last week, Aegis Group CEO Robert Lerwill resigned unexpectedly, sparking speculation that a takeover may be on the horizon.
Lerwill stepped down officially today (Monday), with Aegis chairman John Napier taking over his duties on an interim basis, writes MediaPost. People…
Out-of-home companies are bracing for the recession like everyone else, but they may not feel the sting as badly as other media.
Though the third quarter brought negative growth to the nation’s three largest OOH companies - Clear Channel Outdoor,…
The 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade pulled an average 12.6 rating/26 share on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 27, according to Nielsen.
That was 8% higher than its telecast last year, Mediaweek writes. NBC estimated that a total 44.7 million viewers…
Time magazine ousted Cosmo as the top magazine for college students in this year’s Anderson Analytics fall survey.
Time also jumped past People, which was last year’s No. 2, writes Ad Age. A Time spokesperson said the magazine did not run…
Email, news gathering and paying bills continue to be the most widely used online activities among U.S. adults, but downloading TV programs, watching videos and making web phone calls posted the biggest overall growth, according to data from Mediamark Research…
