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Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily, Thursday, May 4, 1995 Copyright [c] 1995 SIMBA Information Inc. All rights reserved. Vol. 3, No. 88
FCC SAYS MURDOCH DID NOT MISLEAD REGULATORS
He did not get all he wanted, but Rupert Murdoch is breathing somewhat easier following a 5-0 decision by the FCC rejecting a staff proposal that would have forced him to restructure his Fox TV Network.
AMERICA ONLINE REPORTS QUARTERLY LOSS
America Online Inc. says $7.9 million in special costs associated with acquisitions and development efforts contributed to a $2.8 million net loss for the period ended March 31.
COWLES MEDIA CO. FISCAL YEAR EARNINGS UP 16%
Cowles Media Co. says net earnings for the fiscal year ended April 1 increased 16% over a year ago on the strength of increased revenue from all business units.
HSN TO MERGE TWO SHOPPING CHANNELS
Home Shopping Network Inc. says it will merge its two largest Home Shopping Club channels, HSC1 and HSC2, into a single unit on June 5.
INGENIUS DELIVERS ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPER
Ingenius, a joint venture between Reuters NewMedia Inc. and Tele-Communications Inc., says that "What On Earth," an electronic newspaper for secondary and elementary schools and consumers, is now available nationwide.
PARK COMMUNICATIONS PROFITS UP 58%
Park Communications Inc., the Ithaca, NY-based newspaper and broadcasting company, says its first-quarter profits surged 58% to a record $5.8 million.
Playboy Enterprises Inc. says it narrowed its losses in the period ended March 31 due to improved results from its publishing business and entertainment group.
SNET WINS COURT RULING ON TV PROGRAMMING
Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. says it has won a court challenge allowing it to provide television programming in its Connecticut service area.
TCI LAUNCHES INTERNET ACCESS COMPANY
Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable company, says it has formed a company to provide high-speed Internet access through cable television systems.
He did not get all he wanted, but Rupert Murdoch is breathing somewhat easier following a 5-0 decision by the FCC rejecting a staff proposal that would have forced him to restructure his Fox TV Network.
FCC commissioners, did however, rule that Murdoch's News Corp. must show that the network serves the public interest and should be immune from U.S. foreign ownership laws.
The FCC action followed an 18-month-long investigation of the Australia-based company's 1985 purchase of television stations that form the basis of the Fox network.
Fox has 45 days to seek to demonstrate that foreign ownership limits should be waived.
The ownership law bans foreigners from owning more than 25% of a U.S. television station. Murdoch became a U.S. citizen to comply with the provisions of the law.
But the FCC noted that News Corp. provided nearly all of the money needed to buy the stations.
An emotional Murdoch with tears in his eyes praised the FCC's conclusion that the company did act with candor about its ownership structure back in 1985. "The bottom line is we're very happy about most of it," he said.
In a formal statement later, Murdoch said his company "will have absolutely no difficulty whatsoever in preparing a compelling public interest showing that will fully satisfy the statute."
Communications attorneys not involved in the proceeding agreed. They said Fox will no doubt argue that it has given people more viewing choices, has created jobs and spurred other companies- Time Warner and Paramount-to start up their own networks.
The Fox investigation was prompted by a complaint from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which alleged that Fox masked its true corporate identity in 1985 when seeking FCC approval to acquire the six TV stations. Fox's foreign ownership denied opportunities to members of U.S. minority groups, the NAACP said.
In his statement, Murdoch said "we are in the middle of intense competition with the other networks" and called on the FCC to not to hold up other pending Fox station sale and purchase applications while it settles the foreign ownership waiver issue.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable company, says it has formed a company to provide high-speed Internet access through cable television systems.
Called @home, the new company was formed with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a prominent Menlo Park, CA-based venture capital firm. It will headed initially by William Randolph Hearst 3d, a principal in the firm.
Hearst joined KPCB five months ago after resigning as publisher of The San Francisco Examiner, the flagship newspaper of the Hearst Corp.
Englewood, CO-based TCI said it aimed to begin the service in some cities by early next year. It said it would identify the first places for rollout this summer.
Bruce W. Ravenel, senior VP and chief operating officer of TCI Technology Ventures Inc., said he expected the service to go national in two to three years.
TCI, which has about 12 million subscribers in 49 states and foreign countries, has lagged behind other cable operators in testing Internet services over its lines. Those already testing Internet access include Continental Cablevision Inc. in the Boston area, Cox Cable in San Diego, CA, and Cablevision Systems Corp. in suburban New York.
While TCI has an equity stake in Microsoft's new online venture, TCI officials said the investment would not affect its plans to offer high-speed connections to all online services.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
America Online Inc. says $7.9 million in special costs associated with acquisitions and development efforts contributed to a $2.8 million net loss for the period ended March 31.
But the Vienna, VA-based company said without the special costs, it quadrupled net earnings as it added a record 734,000 new users during the period. The company said Wednesday it had surpassed 2.5 million members.
America Online stock, which had risen sharply in recent days, fell back $0.75 to close at $44.25.
AOL said the special costs, representing approximately $7.6 million of acquired research and development and about $300,000 in after-tax amortization expense, contributed to a loss of $2,817,000, or $0.08 per share in quarter. In the year ago period, it earned $1,272,000, or $0.03 per share.
The company said the charges include the remaining write-off of acquired in-process research and development relating to the approximately $50 million acquisition of BookLink Technologies Inc. and NaviSoft Inc. in the second quarter.
Excluding the special costs, AOL said it had earnings of $5.1 million, or the equivalent of $0.12 per share, in the third quarter, despite net losses of approximately $1.6 million from its new subsidiaries and its recently launched 2Market Inc. interactive shopping joint venture.
The company said its revenues in the quarter jumped 236% to $106,414,000, from $31,689,000 a year ago reflecting the increased number of subscribers and the fact that they're spending more time on the service.
AOL noted that its third period revenues were 44% higher than the $73,998,000 in revenues reported for fiscal 1995's second quarter.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Cowles Media Co. says net earnings for the fiscal year ended April 1 increased 16% over a year ago on the strength of increased revenue from all business units.
The Minneapolis-based newspaper, magazine and information services company said net earnings for the period were $22.5 million, compared to $19.4 million in the previous year.
Earnings per share increased 15% to $1.61 from $1.40 a year ago.
The company, whose flagship newspaper is the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, said the increase in revenue included one-time gains on sale of real estate.
Offsetting these factors were expenses related to increased paper costs, continued investment in strategic business initiatives, and increased amortization expense, the company said.
"Our solid 1995 results reflect satisfying results from strategic investments we have made in targeted areas of our businesses to support Cowles' continued growth," said David C. Cox, president and CEO.
He noted that fiscal 1995 is the fourth consecutive year in which the company's earnings increased by 15% or more.
Operating revenue of $449.7 million in fiscal 1995 was 26% greater than in fiscal 1994. Cowles said the increase would have been 11% excluding revenue of recently acquired businesses.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 1995, the company said it earned $5.4 million compared with $0.9 million in the comparable period a year ago. It said last year's fourth quarter included $2 million of pretax non-recurring charges, a Star Tribune labor settlement charge and year-end incentive expenses.
Cowles' units include Cowles Business Media, an affiliate of SIMBA Information, publisher of this newswire.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Park Communications Inc., the Ithaca, NY-based newspaper and broadcasting company, says its first-quarter profits surged 58% to a record $5.8 million.
Wright M. Thomas, president and chief operating officer, attributed the strong performance to lower interest expenses and efficiency improvements at each of the company's three divisions.
The company said it earned $0.26 a share, up from $0.18, or $3.7 million, a year ago. Revenue rose to $42.7 million from $40.1 million.
Park's shareholders are scheduled to vote next week on an agreement to sell the media company for $711.4 million to two Southern investors, Donald R. Tomlin and Gary B. Knapp.
Park Communications, one of the nation's biggest media groups, was put up for sale after its founder, Roy H. Park, died at age 83 in October 1993. It owns nine television stations, 22 radio stations and 107 newspaper publications.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Home Shopping Network Inc. says it will merge its two largest Home Shopping Club channels, HSC1 and HSC2, into a single unit on June 5.
The new HSN, which will air live 24-hours a day, will reach more than 65 million American households, the company said.
"In HSN's early days, it was important to program separately for cable channels and broadcast TV stations. But in today's environment, separate operations are needless and inefficient." said Gerald F. Hogan, president and CEO of HSN.
Home Shopping Network rival QVC Network Inc. recently combined two new shopping services to cut costs.
Following its June launch, the new HSN will gradually roll out a new look, including revamped sets, redesigned graphics, new music and new programming, the company said.
Cable systems that carried both HSC1 and HSC2 will instead carry the new HSN and another shopping channel called Spree, the company said.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. says it has won
a court challenge allowing it to provide television programming
in its Connecticut service area.
New Haven, CT-based SNET said a U.S. District Court in Connecticut
delivered a favorable ruling on a suit it filed last year challenging
the constitutionality of the Cable Communications Policy Act of
1984.
"It just didn't make sense to be banned from providing programming
on our own network while we have a policy of allowing everyone
else who wants to provide programming, including the cable companies
we compete with, to provide programs on our network," said
Cory Mitchell, SNET's president of multimedia service.
SNET said it is now waiting for a go-ahead from the FCC.
"With this step, we'll have a lot more to offer our Connecticut
customers in the future with programming packages and features
that are not available from anyone else," Mitchell said.
The company is building a $4.5 billion communications network
called I-SNET to carry information, communication and entertainment
services to all of its 1.5 million Connecticut customers by 2009.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Ingenius, a joint venture between Reuters NewMedia Inc. and Tele-Communications
Inc., says that "What On Earth," an electronic newspaper
for secondary and elementary schools and consumers, is now available
nationwide.
Each weekday, the newspaper, which will be delivered through cable
lines and accessed via personal computers, will deliver six news
stories of the day containing text, video, audio pronunciation
of key words, a glossary and lesson plans for parents and teachers,
the company said.
Yearly subscriptions to "What On Earth" cost $150 for
consumer use, and $100 (per user) for schools.
Denver-based Ingenius has been testing the newspaper in about
100 schools for several months. The news content of the newspaper
is provided by Reuters NewMedia Inc., the U.S.-based unit of parent
Reuters Holdings Plc.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
Playboy Enterprises Inc. says it narrowed its losses in the period
ended March 31 due to improved results from its publishing business
and entertainment group.
The Chicago-based company said it had a net loss for the quarter
of $300,000, or $0.02 per share, compared to a net loss of $8.4
million, or $0.42 per share in the comparable year ago period.
The company said a good performance in its product marketing group
also contributed to its improved results.
Last year's quarter included $4.7 million of charges related to
unusual items, establishment of reserves, write-down of inventories
and restructuring, the company said.
Chairman and CEO Christie Hefner said the company was working
hard to offset anticipated increases in postage and paper costs,
which Playboy estimates will increase costs for its publishing
businesses and catalogs by $10 million in fiscal 1996.
Playboy closed unchanged at $8 in Thursday trading.
=Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily 5/4/95=Return to Headlines
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