Digimarc Corporation (DMRC)
Q4 2009 Earnings Call
February 24, 2010 11:00 AM EST
Archive for February, 2010
Glimpse of the New Reality for Concert Goers
On February - 24 - 2010
Ockham Research submits:
The merger between North America’s largest concert promoter, Live Nation (LYV), and the largest ticket seller, Ticketmaster (TKTM), has drawn the ire of consumer advocate groups in the United States and abroad. The merger of these two industry giants, it is feared, will lead to a virtual monopoly over the business of live music. As we all know, this sort of monopoly would be terrible for consumers and lead to higher prices and a lack of viable alternatives. The merger drew loud criticisms from anti-trust watchdogs, music lovers and even artists such as Bruce Springsteen. Despite antitrust hurdles in the U.K. and the US, the merger was approved in late January by the Department of Justice with little fanfare and just a few mandatory concessions.
Just a few weeks after the merger with Ticketmaster was approved, Bloomberg is reporting that Live Nation is starting to experiment with a new “dynamic” ticket pricing scheme that is similar to the way airlines price seats. Tickets will be divided into 10 or more different pricing levels based on expected demand, rather than the one to four levels that are common now. The obvious target of the new pricing operations would be ticket resellers or “scalpers” who take a profit from buying in-demand tickets for face value and then selling them on the secondary market, presumably for a higher price. Airlines that use this sort of pricing mechanism do not have to contend with a secondary market. Clearly, Live Nation sees this situation as profit left on the table and this new system aims to wring out that extra money.
Donnelley’s Beat, With an Acquisition Kicker
On February - 24 - 2010
Zacks.com submits:
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD), a leading provider of integrated communications and printing solutions, reported fourth quarter 2009 results that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents (see transcript here upon availability).
The challenging economic environment impacted RRD’s end-market demand and forced the company to lower prices in fiscal 2009. However, the company now expects demand to stabilize and even strengthen in future quarters. As a result, the company expects revenue growth in fiscal 2010.
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
On February - 24 - 2010
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (CETV)
Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
February 24, 2010 9:00 am ET
Wal-Mart / VUDU Matchup: Circumventing an Industry Stranglehold
On February - 24 - 2010
Diane Mermigas submits:
Wal-Mart’s (WMT) entry into the video-on-demand business, by acquiring Vudu, takes aim at Netflix (NFLX). But more notably, it’s the latest corporate end- run around cable and telco providers’ pricey direct-to-home stranglehold — and it’s eventually going to hurt.
Wal-Mart, Netflix, Amazon (AMZN) and Sony (SNE) lead a mushrooming list of video players that are forging real-time digital links to consumers on laptops, smart phones, video game consoles, e-readers and other wireless connected devices. They do this by relying on the so-called Internet bypass, which sidesteps gatekeepers such as Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon (VZ).
Attributor’s Anti-Piracy ‘Guardian’ Trial Begins
On February - 24 - 2010
Ken Doctor submits:
Attributor’s "Fair Share Consortium" got a fair amount of pub (Attributor’s "Fair Share Consortium Completes Newspaper Trifecta") last year with a blindingly simple idea: monetize illegal use of copyrighted news content. That’s otherwise known as anti-piracy as business development, one of favorite web jujitsu strategies.
Rather than huff and puff about taking down unauthorized usage, threatening uncertain court action, just make money on it. The notion: go to the ad servers providing the ads against the unauthorized content, and get them to share a piece of any ad money with original publishers, taking it from the distributor’s share. That was last year, and little progress has been made on that point.
American Reprographics Company Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript
On February - 24 - 2010
Bottomless New Home Sales
On February - 24 - 2010
Sold At The Top submits:
Although I’m not surprised by today’s new home sales results, the lack of coverage of this important housing indicator breaking to a new all time low leaves me with a sense of… let’s call it ironic incredulity.
For those who have not been following along, this series was fingered early last year as one of the most notable “Green Shoots” economic developments as, prompted by the immense government stimuli, it began turning up from an all time low of 329,000 seasonally adjusted annualized units.
Record Low New Home Sales
On February - 24 - 2010
Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
click to enlarge
Those banking on a recovery in housing may be having second thoughts this morning as New Home Sales for the month of January declined 11.2% to 309K. This was not only weaker than expected (consensus called for an increase of 3.8%), but it was a record low.
January 2010 New Home Sales Show Significant Declines
On February - 24 - 2010
Sold At The Top submits:
Today, the U.S. Census Department released its monthly New Residential Home Sales Report for January showing significant declines on a month-to-month and year-over-year basis resulting in a new home sales level that is far lower than the temporary low seen last year in advance of the government sponsored housing bounce, and in fact, is the lowest level seen in at least 47 years.
New single family home sales plunged 11.2% since December 2009 and 6.1% since January 2009 while median prices have continued to decline dropping 2.44% since January 2009.