Claire Atkinson

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Barclays downgrades Discovery; Upgrades Scripps

Barclays Capital is downgrading Discovery Communications today, February 23, and upgrading  Scripps Networks. Why? Discovery stock is up,  and Scripps Networks stock is down. That might seem like crazy logic, but in the world of stock buying, it’s all about identifying the upside and here the Scripps’ chefs beat the Discovery sharks. Media analyst Anthony DiClemente... More

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Cablevision Asks What Would You Pay for Fox/ABC?

Cablevision isn’t taking the retransmission wars lying down. According to our sources, the cable systems operator has been conducting customer phone polls to see precisely what channels they want to keep and how much they’re worth.Among the most surprising set of questions to consumers: “Do you watch broadcast TV?” If customers responded yes, then they were asked... More

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CBS Moonves: Upfront Prices Up 5% or More

My Madison Avenue sources, both buyers and sellers, have indicated this year’s upfront marketplace will likely rise to the extent it dropped last year. So if CPMs were down at CBS a percentage point or two, the market might reasonably expect CPM inflation in the May market to be of the same order. And now a word from Les Moonves: Fuggetaboutit. After CBS’s fourth quarter... More

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HBO Launches Buy One (TV); Get One (Online)

Time Warner unit HBO is expected to give more detail about its online TV service, known as HBOGo, at a press event at its New York headquarters, Wednesday, February 17.Time Warner’s chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes first unveiled HBOGo at a cable show in April 2009, saying, “We’re all being too slow,” Bewkes said. “We should put up all our networks on the... More

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Super Bowl Ads: Everyone's a Critic

Monday after Super Bowl is a tough day to get any work done, unless you’re writing about Super Bowl ads and the whole office provides an unscientific focus group of what connected and was just plain stupid or insulting. And these days everybody’s got an opinion, a poll and a megaphone in the shape of Twitter and Facebook feeds. Mars’ Snickers commercial starring Golden... More