About 610,000 TV homes got ready in March for the DTV switchover, Nielsen said. That left about 3.8 million, or 3.4 percent of U.S. TV homes, “completely unready” for the switch, meaning they would at least briefly lose TV service if the transition were to happen today. The unready rate is higher among young people, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians, Nielsen said. Among those older than 55, 1.8 percent remain completely unready, while 6.3 percent of those younger than 35 fall in that category. Meanwhile, DTV converter box coupon redemptions have rebounded somewhat, averaging about 426,000 a week over the last two weeks, up from 347,000 over three weeks prior, NTIA data show.
Leap Wireless widened its loss in Q4, hurt by higher operating expenses. The company posted a loss of $54.8 million, compared to $18.1 million in the year-ago period. Operating expenses increased by 26 percent. But net customer additions jumped 153 percent over the year-ago quarter to 385,292. At the end of December, the carrier had 3.84 million customers, up 34.3 percent year-over-year. The company expects to add more than 1.5 million customers in 2009. Churn was 3.8 percent, down from 4.2 percent in the year-earlier period. The carrier expects capital expenditures of between $625 million and $725 million this year, CEO Doug Hutcheson said on a conference call late Thursday.
Growth in Norsat International’s satellite business offset declines in its microwave business, Norsat CEO Aimee Chan said. Norsat is seeing particular growth in demand for portable satellite systems, Chan said. The Canadian government put $5.97 million into Norsat through the Canadian Government’s Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative, Norsat said. The company will use the funds for research and development activities, Chan said. The money must be repaid with interest in 15 years. Norsat revenue grew to $4.9 million from $3.8 million for the same quarter in 2007, Norsat said.
Sony Ericsson cited “challenging business conditions” as a factor in its Q3 loss. The joint venture posted a loss of $33.6 million, versus net income of $359 million a year ago. Revenue of $3.8 billion was down 10 percent from a year earlier and little changed sequentially. It shipped 25.7 million units, down from 25.9 million a year ago. The firm reiterated its estimate for 10 percent annual growth this year for the handset industry. The company has no plans to pursue the low-end market, Global Head of Sales Anders Runebad said on a conference call. The financial situation’s impact on consumer behavior is unclear, said President Dick Komiyama. The company’s cost plans look “good enough” now, he said, when asked whether the firm would do more cost- cutting if the economy stays weak. In September the company cut 450 jobs at its North American headquarters.
Online advertising revenue grew 15 percent the first half of 2008 over that period last year, a new half-year record, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said. But a decline of 0.3 percent occurred between Q1 and Q2 of 2008, IAB said. The “essentially flat performance” between quarters, as opposed to half-year periods, stemmed partly from “cyclical advertising trends,” IAB President Randall Rothenberg said. Search and display ad revenue were up 24 percent and 19 percent the first half of the year, totaling $5.1 billion and $3.8 billion. Digital video revenue accounted for 3 percent of the display category through June, up from 1 percent through June 2007 -- the only display subcategory showing growth. Banner ads and rich-media revenue remained at 21 percent and 7 percent of the display category.
State and local officials in Ohio have offered Verizon Wireless tax credits worth $3.8 million if the company adds 500 new jobs at its customer service center in Hilliard. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority offered Verizon a yearly $380,100 tax credit if the company keeps customer service operations in the city for 10 years. That’s on top of $3.4 million in local property tax credits offered by the Hilliard City Council in a 15-year incentive package. Verizon has considered moving 300 jobs from elsewhere in the Midwest to Hilliard and shifting 200 more jobs there from other locations in Ohio as part of a $13 million expansion of customer service operations there.
Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile owner Deustche Telekom and Vonage were top display advertisers online in June, according to comScore. They ran 3.4 billion to 3.8 billion ad views. Microsoft was the top advertiser with 5.5 billion ad views.
Broadcast Q2 results: Tribune broadcasting and entertainment revenue rose 4 percent from a year ago to $409 million. Company TV stations added market share. But operating cash flow fell 4 percent to $116 million. Total Tribune sales slipped 6 percent to $1.1 billion. The loss from continuing operations was $3.8 billion, reversing a year-earlier profit. Tribune wrote down goodwill from its 2000 purchase of Times Mirror… Acme Communications sales from continuing operations rose 4 percent from a year ago to $8.7 million on higher TV station revenue. The loss from continuing operations widened to $11.2 million from $970,000 on writedowns and other costs.
Leap Wireless, hurt by investments, posted a second- quarter loss of $26.1 million. The company said “new initiatives,” which included its service expansion to cover an additional 8 million people and the launch of wireless Internet service. Total revenue rose 19.4 percent to $474.9 million but fell short of analysts’ average estimate of $483.4 million. Churn fell to 3.8 percent from 4.3 percent a year earlier, the company said. Customer activity is solid overall during the economic downturn, CEO Doug Hutcheson said on a conference call. The company is expecting “significant improvements” in long-term customer penetration and financial contribution from its major investments, he said. - YW
TV-station ad sales to auto makers dropped Q2, but some local dealers are still spending to clear their inventories, executives of Nexstar and LIN TV told investors on separate earnings teleconferences Tuesday. “We've worked very hard on the local dealer side and that may be why by comparison our automotive results might look a little better than others,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said. In general, local ad sales are holding up better than national ads, said LIN TV CEO Vincent Sadusky. “Local is clearly pacing better than national. It’s been pacing better than national all year and that continues into the third quarter as well, but it’s weak.” Both companies cited political ad sales, retransmission consent fees and online sales as revenue sources that help make up for the shortfall in national ad spending. Nexstar’s Q2 sales increased 2.9 percent from a year earlier to $70.7 million. The company swung to a $3.8 million profit from a $1.2 million loss a year earlier on lower interest costs. Nexstar shares gained 6 percent Tuesday. LIN TV Q2 sales gained 2 percent from a year earlier to $103.7 million. It swung to a $215.9 million net loss from a $3.5 million profit a year earlier after writing down $297 million of the value of its broadcast licenses and goodwill. LIN TV shares gained 16 percent.