Wall St., Broadcasters Bounce Back Late Tuesday

Some broadcasting stocks gain; cable stocks mostly battered.

By Robert Marich -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/16/2008 6:01:00 PM

Wall Street recovered some lost ground Tuesday from the prior day’s steep selloff, as some broadcasting stocks managed gains, although big-capitalization cable stocks were mostly battered.

It was another white-knuckles day as stocks declined in early trading Tuesday but rallied in the final 90 minutes.

Representing the broad market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% after diving 4.5% on Monday. The blue-chip index closed at 11,059.02 Tuesday, up 141.51 points for that 1.3% gain. Tuesday’s rebound came as investors found bargains from the prior day’s selloff and judged the rattled financial sector was settling.

For media stocks, investors fear that companies will cut back on advertising if Wall Street dives and they were downbeat on cable.

At Tuesday’s close, Comcast, Dish Network and Mediacom Communications fell about 1.5% each. But Cablevision Systems, a big loser Monday, gained a modest 0.7% Tuesday, or 18 cents per share, to finish at $26.29. It closed Friday at $29.78 apiece then dove on Monday’s open.

On Tuesday, pure basic-cable-network companies were mostly gainers, continuing a long-term trend of rising share prices and profits.

The broadcasting sector was mostly up, led by Hispanic media outfit Entravision Communications (up 7.8%), Fisher Communications (up 6%) and Hearst-Argyle Television (3.3%). But ACME Communications dived 15.5% and Nexstar Broadcasting Group was off 11.6%.

Among diversified media conglomerates, News Corp. fell 1.8%, or 25 cents, to $13.56 per share, and Time Warner slipped 0.3%, or 4 cents per share, to close at $14.08. But Disney moved up, gaining 0.5%, or 15 cents, to close at $32.51 per share.