Affiliate Programs and Affiliate Reviews
TiVo reported a narrower loss in the fourth quarter on Monday as lower costs buoyed the bottom line in the face of a 20 percent drop in revenue. The Alviso, Calif.-based maker of digital video recorders with time-shifting technology lost $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, compared to a loss of $6.4 million, or 6 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Struggling Charter Communications, the nation’s fourth largest cable operator, said Thursday that it plans to file a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy by April 1. Charter, which is controlled by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, said it has reached an agreement in principle with holders of $8 billion in debt who will give up repayment of their debt.
Porter McConnell gave up on pay TV last summer after noticing that monthly rates kept creeping up. Now with no satellite or cable TV, she watches her trusty old TV set with an antenna or she goes online to catch her favorite programs. Once in a while, she buys shows from Apple’s iTunes service.
How do you lose $7 billion? That’s a question for Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who has seen his massive investment in cable TV operator Charter Communications all but vanish. Charter was Allen’s biggest investment after he left Microsoft in 1983. He is Charter’s chairman and holds a 51 percent stake in the company.
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, on Wednesday reported a 38 percent increase in earnings for the third quarter as a sharp drop in capital spending and higher cable TV rates buoyed its bottom line. Bucking the trend among cash-strapped companies, Comcast also said it expects to exceed its free cash flow growth forecast of at least 20 percent in fiscal 2008.
If the nation’s largest cable TV operators have their way, the home digital video recorder could soon become a relic. Leading the way is Cablevision Systems, which plans to roll out a system in early 2009 that will let viewers record any show without a DVR, only a digital set-top box. Shows will be stored on Cablevision’s servers instead of a home DVR — a shift the company said could save it upward of $700 million.
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||