Weekly Media Stocks Roundup: Beatdowns All Around

Shares in media companies took a major drubbing this week, as the broader market likewise got pounded. Over the past five days, the S&P 500 lost 3.8% to end at 1079. Interesting news about Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS), parent of The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and a host of other publications and TV networks across the globe. The Los Angeles Times reported today that the company is working on a national newspaper to be distributed exclusively on the iPad and other mobile devices. It was also revealed this week that News Corp. has been engaged in a legal spat with Skype over the purported similarity between the Internet phone service provider's name and that of News Corp.-owned satellite TV provider BSkyB, aka "Sky." Meanwhile, coupons in The Wall Street Journal! Shares in News Corp. dropped 8% to $14.51. Ouch. Things were even worse for The Washington Post Co. (WPO), which hit a 52-week low this week as investors continued to fret over how new federal regulations would impact its Kaplan education unit. In media-related Post Co. news, a 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed Wednesday that Newsweek's finances remained in rough shape, and that the company would record additional charges related to the magazine in the third quarter. Sidney Harman, who last week bought Newsweek from the Post Co., is not a billionaire, according to Forbes. Oh and also, Post Co.-owned Slate launched an iPad app. The stock got pounded down 9.1% to $343.48. Debby Krenek, editor of Long Island daily Newsday, on Wednesday announced that her newsroom would add 34 journalists in an effort to step up the paper's hyperlocal coverage. Shares of parent company Cablevision (CVC) skidded down 4.4% to $25.56. Weekly stock results for The New York Times Co., Playboy Enterprises and more after the jump. The New York Times Co. (NYT) announced that it had launched an international weekly in Singapore and also hired Jeff Moriarty, formerly of Times Co.'s about.com, as the Boston Globe's vice president for digital content development, a newly created position. Shares tumbled 12% to $7.71. Playboy hit the iPad in PG-13 form, because the magazine's well-known nude pictorials break the no-porno rules set up at Apple's iTunes store. Shares in Playboy Enterprises (PLA) slipped 3.2% to $5.37. More media stock results: Time Warner (TWX): Down 4.8% at $30.81 Meredith Corp. (MDP): Down 5.2% at $31.33 AOL (AOL): Down 2.4% at $21.91 • A. H. Belo (AHC): Down 16% at $7.62 • IAC/InterActive (IACI): Down 6% at $23.55 • Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO): Down 11% at $4.59 • Thomson Reuters (TRI): Down 3.5% at $35.54 • Gannett (GCI): Down 3.7% at $12.66

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Weekly Media Stocks Roundup: Beatdowns All Around

Mike Taylor

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