Paul Bond
Former Time Warner CEO Levin Returns to Media Biz
Convergent TV
Gerald Levin is getting back into the media business, though in a far more subdued manner than before. Levin, who once brokered controversial mega-deals as CEO of Time Warner, has [...]
Facebook Game Tracks Celebrity Heat
Brand Marketing
Your ability to predict whether a celebrity’s star power will rise or fall is about to come in handy. Launching on Saturday is FanSwarm, the first game to come from [...]
Exclusive: Twitter Ends Celeb-Tracker Partnership
Performance Marketing
Twitter has terminated its relationship with a Web site that will track the whereabouts of celebrities. On Thursday, after The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported the planned arrival of JustSpotted, Twitter [...]
Yahoo CEO: ‘Our Real Competitor Is TV’
Performance Marketing
In case it was ever in doubt, Yahoo’s competition is television. That’s what Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said yesterday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. “The real competitor is TV,” [...]
FCC Appeals TV Indecency Ruling
Convergent TV
The question of how far government bureaucrats should go to protect American families from profane television content has inched closer to the U.S. Supreme Court, where experts predict the issue [...]
Saban Buys Back Power Rangers
Brand Marketing
Haim Saban is buying back the Power Rangers from Walt Disney with the hope to take the entertainment franchise that he launched to TV and toy stardom in the 1990s [...]
‘Idol’ Ranks as TV’s Top Revenue Generator
Convergent TV
American Idol rakes in $8.1 million in ad sales each half-hour it is on the air, making it TV’s biggest revenue generator, according to the list makers at Forbes magazine [...]
Iger Keeps Options Open for ABC
Convergent TV
At Disney’s annual shareholders meeting, CEO Bob Iger didn’t dismiss the idea of selling ABC and rebuked one of the company’s classic animated films. Calling the movie “antiquated” and “fairly [...]
Activision Blizzard Suffers Wider Loss
Brand Marketing
Activision Blizzard posted a wider loss while tagging some of its corporate cash for a shareholder dividend. The company has $2.7 billion in cash and no debt. Activision Blizzard also [...]
TV Unit’s Strength Boosts Disney’s Q1 Revenue
Convergent TV
Disney made it a trifecta, reporting better-than-expected quarterly financial results after News Corp. and Time Warner did similarly in recent days. While cost-cutting at the film studio and good domestic [...]