Fox announced this week that it will launch a new 24-hour cable sports network, a direct challenge to ESPN. Sports programming is one of the main reasons many people pay big monthly fees to cable and satellite companies, even those who aren't sports fans.
A federal jury on Thursday found sports programmer ESPN liable for only one breach-of-contract claim made by Dish Network Corp and awarded Dish $4.86 million, a mere fraction of the more than $152 million it had sought.
Disney won over more fans on Wall Street with its latest quarterly performance, despite a slight drop in its earnings. Disney digested higher programming costs at its ESPN television network and dealt with a less appealing line-up of home video releases in its movie studio.
Among the things sure to help shape the week ahead on Wall Street, Visa will tell us whether we've been choosing plastic over paper; Disney will tell us how much magic it has in its financials; and Panera and Chipotle will serve up their quarterly results.
The New York Yankees are a money-making machine and on Tuesday, the company's television subsidiary cashed in. The YES Network is selling 49 percent of its business in a deal that values the network at $3 billion. And the numbers get even bigger from there.
This week on Wall Street, everyone will be watching Netflix; mutual funds will talk assets under management; we'll see earnings from some stock freshmen; NFL teams will pick their own fresh stock; and a few companies are likely to issue deja vu quarterly reports.
Comcast just signed a major new deal with Disney that will give subscribers to the country's largest cable provider access to a ton of content across a range of devices -- not just TVs. Of course, those customers are sure to end up paying for it in higher cable bills.
The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it reached a long-term agreement with the nation's largest TV signal provider, Comcast Corp., that extends their partnership into the next decade. The deal covers major pay channels ESPN, Disney Channel and ABC Family and the retransmission of free ABC broadcast network programs through seven ABC TV stations. It allows Comcast subscribers to gain greater access to shows on demand over the Internet on multiple devices.
The next time you find yourself bellyaching over your expanding monthly cable bill, don't blame your provider. Blame ESPN, the biggest offender when it comes to basic cable, setting distributors back $4.69 a month for every subscriber.
After months of bitter negotiations, NBA owners and players finally agreed to terms, and a pro basketball season will start on Christmas Day. So who besides players, owners and fans will benefit? Let's start with stockholders in these companies.
As the NFL lockout continues, television networks -- which spent billions of dollars to secure broadcasting rights to National Football League games -- are scrambling to fill what could become a gaping hole in their programming schedules.
Comcast's takeover of NBC Universal got the green light from the FCC and the Justice Department on Tuesday. The deal creates an entertainment colossus in television, movies, the Internet and theme parks. Will it also make Comcast a formidable challenger to Walt Disney's ESPN?
Disney is considering lending some of the keys to its television kingdom to Yahoo for its Yahoo Connected TV. If Yahoo is successful in inking such a deal, it would bolster its Internet TV efforts and put on better footing to compete against rival products such as Google TV and Apple TV.
Profit fell 6.7% in Disney's fourth quarter. The company saw lower revenues from its theme parks and cruise line, and changed the way it booked revenue at ESPN. Movie revenues, though, were a bright spot.
The NFL's TV ratings are stronger than ever, but it's facing its third straight year of declining season ticket sales. With the economy still sputtering, and real prices for tickets soaring, teams are struggling to attract fans to watch America's most popular pro sport in person.