AT&T added 551,000 postpaid subscribers during Q2 -- its best data for the quarter in four years, said the carrier Tuesday. The carrier said net income totaled $3.8 billion on $32.1 billion in consolidated revenue. The carrier’s 4G LTE network covers more than 225 million potential customers in the U.S., and AT&T expects to expand to an area covering almost 270 million potential customers in 400 markets by the end of the year. The carrier expects its LTE network will be “substantially complete” by summer 2014, it said (http://soc.att.com/1aH5qUW).
The Wireless Bureau still hopes to issue an NPRM touching on various wireless infrastructure concerns this summer for FCC commissioners to vote on, which would have implications for state and local municipalities, said Spectrum Policy Division Deputy Chief Jeff Steinberg: “That is still our plan.” The earliest timeframe would be August, he said. The NPRM will likely “work off of” the Jan. 25 public notice offering staff guidance. How the NPRM proceeds will also depend on acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, he said.
Q1 media company results: CBS revenue rose 6 percent from the year-ago quarter to $4.04 billion, the broadcaster said in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/12nMK6u). CEO Les Moonves said it was the company’s strongest quarter ever in revenue, operating income and other financial measures, and cited the broadcaster’s “big-event” content for its success. Along with events, the revenue rise included a 14 percent increase in affiliate and subscription fee revenue, which the release said was “driven” by a 62 percent increase in retransmission revenue. Cable networks sales rose 6 percent to $478 million, also driven by higher affiliate revenue, the release said. CBS said local broadcasting revenue increased 3 percent to $638 million on showing the Super Bowl and higher retrans sales. “What a Difference a Quarter Makes -- Nice Q1 results,” was the subject line of an email to investors from Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker. CBS executives said that Aereo, which the broadcaster has sued to block from streaming stations online without paying retrans (CD April 16 p7), isn’t a concern, said Ryvicker. “While a straight-to-cable model would be ‘easy to do,’ CBS doesn’t think it will amount to that since 1) Aereo is not a compelling product, 2) the legality remains questionable, and 3) we do not believe that Aereo has been a topic in any retrans negotiations to date.” CBS like other broadcasters has said it might move the over-the-air network to pay-TV if Aereo prevails in litigation and no changes were made to copyright law. Subscription VOD (SVOD) revenue will rise this year “even WITHOUT a new Netflix deal,” Ryvicker wrote. CBS stock closed up 2.1 percent to $47.35 Thursday. ... Scripps Networks Interactive sales rose 11 percent to $594 million from the year-ago quarter. Profit fell 6.2 percent to $107.8 million, SNI said (http://bit.ly/105b2Av). Ad revenue exceeded the expectations of Nomura Securities’ Michael Nathanson, but an 8.5 percent increase in affiliate fees was below his forecast, he wrote investors Thursday. SNI shares closed up 2.9 percent at $68.73. ... WWE revenue rose less than 1 percent from Q1 2012, to $124 million, as operating income fell 62 percent to $6.1 million. Results were hurt by “investments in our content production and talent, lower profits from home entertainment and weakness in international licensing sales,” the cable programmer said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/ZXZi73). ... Journal Communications sales rose 15 percent to $94.7 million from the year-ago quarter as TV revenue rose 43 percent partly because of an acquired station, the company said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/163cOdJ). “On a same-station basis, television revenue increased almost 8 percent, driven, in part, by increased retransmission revenue.” Companywide profit rose 30 percent to $3.8 million. ... Crown Media sales rose 2 percent to $85.6 million as ad revenue and subscriber fees increased by that percentage, the cable programmer said in a news release (http://bit.ly/XQU6g6). It said “programming costs decreased 7 percent due to the expiration of a number of programming license agreements and the end of ‘The Martha Stewart Show’ agreement,” and such expenses likely will rise. Profit rose 18 percent to $14.5 million. ... Gray Television sales fell 3 percent to $78.2 million “due to the expected decrease in political advertising revenue,” the company said in a news release (http://bit.ly/16uA9oE). Retrans sales rose on “increased subscriber counts and rates,” Gray said. Profit fell 74 percent to $870,000. “Q1 came in stronger than expected across the board and core Q2 guidance indicates acceleration in the core business,” Ryvicker wrote. Gray shares closed up 2.4 percent at $6.53 Thursday.
Deutsche Telekom made its “best and final offer” late Wednesday in its bid to merge its T-Mobile USA wireless carrier with MetroPCS. Deutsche Telekom’s new offer would still give MetroPCS shareholders $1.5 billion in cash and 26 percent ownership of the combined carrier, but it does address concerns about debt. Deutsche Telekom is now proposing to transfer $11.2 billion in debt to the combined carrier -- $3.8 billion less than in the original offer -- and has cut the interest rate on the debt by half a percentage point (bit.ly/14eCSCX). MetroPCS said it has moved a full vote on the merger to April 24; it had previously been set to occur Friday. The original merger proposal faced increased opposition in recent weeks, with two major MetroPCS investors saying they would vote against the deal, after several proxy advisory firms found Deutsche Telekom’s original offer did not reflect the true value of MetroPCS’s assets and involved too much debt (CD April 2 p9). Hedge fund Paulson & Co., one of the two MetroPCS shareholders leading opposition to the merger with T-Mobile, said in a statement it “intends to vote for the” revised deal, which it said was an improvement. P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, the other leading opponent of the original deal, said in a statement it’s reviewing the new offer.
Federal agencies with more than $100 million in research and development expenditures will have to draw up plans to make the results of federally funded research available free online a year after academic publication, the White House said Friday. A “We the People” petition filed at Whitehouse.gov in May, asking the administration to “require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research,” did not prompt the policy change but was “important to our discussions of this issue,” Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director John Holdren said in an official response to the petition (http://1.usa.gov/VBjPwi).
Cablevision executives said they have received unsolicited bids on the cable systems it acquired from Bresnan and now operates as its Optimum West division. Business at those systems “is going gangbusters,” said Chief Financial Officer Gregg Seibert during a teleconference with analysts Tuesday. “We've had these unsolicited indications. We're going to listen to them, but there is no assurance a transaction is going to take place here.” Cablevision took control of the Bresnan systems in the Western U.S. in December 2010 in a deal valued at about $1.4 billion.
The FCC auction task force co-head said critics’ fears won’t likely be realized when the agency in 2014 auctions frequencies of TV stations volunteering to be paid to give up all or some spectrum. Gary Epstein said concerns that the auction will be too complex won’t be borne out, and the agency is sticking to its plan to finish voluntary incentive auction rules next year. Commissioners approved the notice of proposed rulemaking at their Sept. 28 meeting (CD Oct 1 p1), with Robert McDowell saying he’s concerned about the agency’s efforts to possibly impose a spectrum cap.
ValueVision Media Q2 sales increased 2.3 percent from a year earlier to $135.2 million, the company said Wednesday. Its net loss shrank 15 percent from a year earlier to $3.8 million.
The Telecom Act needs updating because the now outdated law is hurting all stakeholders, including minorities, the top Washington executives at the two largest telcos said Wednesday. What’s worse, large portions of the 1996 law are based on language in the original 1934 Communications Act, said AT&T’s Jim Cicconi. Verizon’s Tom Tauke said if lawmakers get the policy right, it will lead to the deployment of more infrastructure and services, and “therefore more economic opportunities made available for people who want to part of the industry infrastructure,” as well as for “everybody who uses it.” They spoke at Wednesday’s Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference.
FairPoint claimed its recent move to offer voluntary retirement to its union workers and other labor reductions have enabled it to save $6.6 million. Earlier this month, FairPoint offered its Communications Workers of America employees an early retirement package. Forty-six union workers accepted the program, which took effect March 30. The move would result in annualized operating expense savings of around $3.8 million, the company said. Under the program, FairPoint will provide severance payments of about $2.3 million. Additionally, the company is laying off 32 non-union employees in an effort to “consolidate operating functions.” This would enable savings of about $2.8 million.