KFC has a new item called the Go Cup, a container that houses chicken and fries and fits in your car's cupholder. Or at least it "will fit into 83 percent of cupholders out there," according to our story here last week. Challenge accepted. I put on my lab coatand went to work.
KFC says the Go Cup portions are snack sized, so don't expect to get a bucket of drumsticks and a vat of mashed potatoes and gravy. I ordered the Original Recipe Boneless Tenders (two large tenders) and the Chicken Little (a small sandwich with two nuggets, pickles and mayo). All chicken items come with potato wedges. These were good-sized portions ��I ate one for lunch ��KFC doesn't skimp on the amount of food for something labeled a snack. But what's required of the cup to accommodate all this food creates a headache.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: CBS Corporation(CBS)
CBS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mass media company in the United States and internationally. The company?s Entertainment segment distributes a schedule of news and public affairs broadcasts, sports, and entertainment programming; produces, acquires, and distributes programming, including series, specials, news, and public affairs; produces and distributes theatrical motion pictures across various genres; and operates online content networks for information and entertainment. Its Cable Networks segment owns and operates multiplexed channels that offers subscription program services, including recently released theatrical feature films, original series, documentaries, boxing, mixed martial arts and other sports-related programming, and special events; and CBS College Sports Network, a 24-hour cable program service related to college sports. This segment also owns and manages Smithsonian Networks, which operates Smithsonian Channel, a basic cab le service in the United States. The company?s Publishing segment publishes and distributes adult and children?s consumer books in printed, audio, and digital formats. Its Local Broadcasting segment owns 29 broadcast television stations; owns and operates 130 radio stations in 28 U.S. markets and related online properties; and owns local Websites that combine television and radio local media brands online to provide the latest news, traffic, weather, and sports information, as well as local discounts, directories, and reviews. The company?s Outdoor segment sells advertising space on various media, including billboards, transit shelters and other street furniture, buses, rail systems, mall kiosks, stadium signage, and in retail stores. CBS Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]
CBS provides maas multimedia products and services to a growing consumer base across the globe. The stock has been in a strong uptrend for the last several years and is now trading at all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been steadily increasing, in recent quarters, which has really pleased investors. Relative to its peers and sector, CBS has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for CBS to continue to OUTPERFORM.
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty ImagesStephen Colbert (left) practices his network performance with Jimmy Fallon. From a fallen dot-com darling scoring a rare hat trick to a discount retailer discounting its headcount, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. CBS (CBS) -- Winner David Letterman is leaving his late-night talk show next year, and CBS allowed only a week to pass between that announcement and naming his replacement. Stephen Colbert will take over "The Late Show." It may seem like a gutsy call. Colbert's satirical skewering of political conservatives is polarizing, even if his talk show persona is unlikely to embrace the character that made him a Comedy Central late-night star. It's still an attention-grabbing announcement and one that should benefit CBS as well as its sister company and Comedy Central parent Viacom (VIA). Time Warner (TWX) -- Loser "Game of Thrones" kicked off its highly anticipated fourth season on Time Warner's (TWX) HBO on Sunday, but it wasn't just the show's power-hungry characters that were out for blood. Online users were incensed to find an outage on HBO Go preventing them from watching the premiere for several hours. HBO Go has been a major component of the premium movie channel's success in recent years, included at no additional cost with HBO subscriptions to justify the platform's high cost relative to Netflix (NFLX) and other growing streaming video services. Subscribers expect reliability when they're paying up for a premium service, and they just didn't get it. A big reason why this outage is making news -- as HBO Go subscribers had to stay off social media to avoid spoilers -- is because there was a similar disruption last month during HBO's "True Detective." Yelp (YELP) -- Winner Yelp may not be very popular with its investors, nor with some irate merchants, but it got some love from Wall Street this week. Three analyst firms -- Oppenheimer, SunTrust and
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: DISH Network Corporation(DISH)
DISH Network Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides direct broadcast satellite (DBS) subscription television services in the United States. It offers programming that includes approximately 280 basic video channels, 60 Sirius satellite radio music channels, 30 premium movie channels, 35 regional and specialty sports channels, 2,800 local channels, 250 Latino and international channels, and 55 channels of pay-per-view content. The company also offers local HD channels in approximately 160 markets and 215 national HD channels; and receiver systems, including a small satellite dish, digital set-top receivers, and remote controls. In addition, it provides DISHOnline.com, which enables DISH Network subscribers to watch 150,000 movies, television shows, clips, and trailers; DISH Remote Access that enables subscribers to remotely manage their DVRs using compatible mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops through their broadband-connected receiver; and Go ogle TV that enables DISH Network subscribers to search the Internet, check email, interact with social media, and find additional online programming content while simultaneously watching television. As of March 31, 2011, the company had approximately 14.191 million customers. DISH Network provides receiver systems and programming through direct sales channels; and independent third parties, such as small satellite retailers, direct marketing groups, local and regional consumer electronics stores, nationwide retailers, and telecommunications companies. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Munarriz]
DIRECTV isn't just the largest satellite television service in the Americas. It also happens to be the most expensive. Over the past year, the average stateside subscriber has gone from paying $91.99 to $96.05 a month. Its closest rival -- DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH ) -- commands monthly average ransoms of just $78.54 a month.�
Hot Freight Companies To Invest In Right Now: Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI)
Gannett Co., Inc. operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States and internationally. Its Publishing segment publishes 83 U.S. daily newspapers with affiliated online sites, including USA TODAY, a national, general-interest daily newspaper; USATODAY.com; USA WEEKEND, a magazine supplement for newspapers; Clipper Magazine, a direct mail advertising magazine; bi-weekly Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek periodicals; and military and defense newspapers. This segment also includes 17 paid-for daily newspapers; approximately 200 weekly newspapers, magazines, and trade publications; and approximately 600 non-daily publications, as well as involves in commercial printing, newswire, marketing, and data services operations. The company?s Digital segment owns and operates CareerBuilder, an employment Web site, which offers online recruitment and career advancement services for employers, employees, recruiters, and job seekers; ShopLocal, which provides multicha nnel shopping and advertising services; Planet Discover, which offers hosted search and advertising services; PointRoll, which provides digital marketing services and technology; and Schedule Star, which offers scheduling solution for high school athletic departments. Its Broadcasting segment operates 23 television stations and affiliated Web sites, which produce local programming, such as news, sports, and entertainment programming. This segment also includes Captivate Network, a national news and entertainment network that delivers programming and full-motion video advertising on video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies in North America. The company has strategic business relationships with online affiliates, including Classified Ventures, ShopLocal.com, Topix, and Metromix LLC, as well as strategic marketing agreement with Microsoft. Gannett Co., Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Mitchell]
Gannett (NYSE: GCI ) and the Tribune Co. (NASDAQOTH: TRBAA ) , two companies that publish daily newspapers, have announced combined layoffs of 1,000 positions (not all in the newsroom). News magazines are feeling the same pinch. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 9% of adults get their news from print sources, with news magazines scoring the lowest. The Pew news study as early as 2010 listed online news as the primary source for 39% of adults. �One of Time's biggest competitors, Newsweek, ended its paper publication in early 2013 in favor of an online edition only.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Gannett (GCI) rose 3.6% to $26.67 after Belo (BLC) shareholders approved a merger of the two companies. Belo’s stock fell 0.6% to $13.72.
Carnival (CCL) fell 5.3% to $32.70 today, a day after falling nearly 8% on disappointing earnings. Barron’s says it’s time to buy.
- [By Mike Deane]
Early on Monday morning, Gannett (GCI) had its price target raised to $35 from $34 at FBR Capital. The ratings company also affirmed that Gannett is a “Top Pick.”�
Gannett, a publishing and broadcasting company that operates in the U.S. and the U.K., currently has a price of $29.76, and FBR’s new target suggests an 18% upside.
FBR analyst William Bird had the following comments about GCI’s PT raise: “Based on our analysis, we estimate that Gannett’s spectrum is worth approximately $2.2 billion, or $9 per share, roughly doubling in value from the�acquisition�of BLC (i.e., pre-deal valuation of ~$1.1 billion). Separately, we are lowering our 2014 EPS estimate by $0.07 to reflect the previously announced sale of three stations to MDP (note: an expected midyear close means that the stations will not be in operating results from January 1, but the proceeds will not be received until midyear). We are increasing our price target to $35 from $34 to reflect shareholder accretion from the sale. We like Gannett’s improving business mix, growth profile, and ability to drive growth with its own propeller through higher retrans, synergies, and potential TV acquisitions.”
Gannett stock was inactive in pre-market trading. So far this year, the company’s stock is up 0.61%.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: Comcast Corporation(CMCSA)
Comcast Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides entertainment, information, and communications products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Cable Communications segment provides video, high-speed Internet, and phone services to residential and business customers. As of June 30, 2011, its cable systems served approximately 22.5 million video customers, 17.5 million high-speed Internet customers, and 9.1 million phone customers. The company?s Cable Networks segment operates cable entertainment networks, such as USA Network, Syfy, E!, Bravo, Oxygen, Style, G4, Chiller, Sleuth, and Universal HD; news and information networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and CNBC World; cable sports networks comprising Golf Channel and VERSUS; regional sports and news networks; international entertainment, and news and information networks, such as CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, and Universal Networks International portfolio of networks; cable television production oper ations; and digital media properties consisting primarily of brand-aligned Websites and other Websites, such as DailyCandy, Fandango, and iVillage. Its Broadcast Television segment operates the U.S. broadcast networks, NBC and Telemundo; 10 NBC and 15 Telemundo owned local television stations; broadcast television productions; and related digital media properties. The company?s Filmed Entertainment segment operates Universal Pictures, which produces, acquires, markets, and distributes filmed entertainment and stage plays worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television, and other distribution platforms. Its Theme Parks segment operates Universal Studios Hollywood park and Wet ?n Wild water park, as well as licenses intellectual properties and provides services to third parties that own and operate Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore. Comcast Corporation was founded in 1963 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
The third player in this game is Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), which is said to have agreed to purchase some of Time Warner’s assets from Charter if that company can make the acquisition. Comcast is interested in Time Warner’s cable operations in New York City and parts of New England.
- [By Anders Bylund]
Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA ) just introduced a far more powerful cable modem, boasting gigabit download speeds and digital video decoding right in the box. With this tool in your wiring closet, you can match the bandwidth of Verizon FiOS customers, thus joining the next generation of high-speed networking without abandoning your trusty coaxial cable fee. It's so powerful, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) wanted to brag on providing the Atom-style chips that power this new beast.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: Time Warner Inc.(TWX)
Time Warner Inc. operates as a media and entertainment company in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Networks, Filmed Entertainment, and Publishing. The Networks segment provides domestic and international networks, premium pay and basic tier television programming services, and digital media properties, which primarily consist of brand-aligned Websites. Its premium pay television services consist of the multi-channel HBO and Cinemax premium pay television services. This segment provides programming to cable system operators, satellite service distributors, telephone companies, and other distributors; sells advertising; and licenses original programming to domestic and international television networks. The Filmed Entertainment segment produces and distributes feature films, television and other programming, and videogames; distributes home video products; and licenses rights to its feature films, television programming, and characters. T he Publishing segment publishes magazines and books; and operates various Websites, as well as engages in marketing services and direct-marketing businesses. This segment publishes magazines on style and entertainment, lifestyle, news, and sports. The company?s brands include TNT, TBS, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, People, Sports Illustrated, and Time. Time Warner Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Beyers]
Consider Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX ) success with Christopher Nolan's Batman series.�The Dark Knight may very well be rated PG-13, but only the clinically unconscious would call it a kids' film. Heath Ledger's Joker is as dark a character as you'll find in a comic-book film, and that one earned a billion at the box office when doing so was a rarity. Overall, Nolan's�Batman series earned Warner more than $2.4 billion in global box-office receipts.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: DIRECTV(DTV)
DIRECTV provides digital television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. The company provides direct-to-home (DTH) digital television services, as well as multi-channel video programming distribution services in the United States. It offers various channels of digital-quality video entertainment and CD-quality audio programming directly to subscribers' homes or businesses, as well as video-on-demand services; and approximately 160 national high-definition television channels and 4 3D channels. The company also provides premium professional and collegiate sports programming, such as the NFL SUNDAY TICKET package, which allows subscribers to view the NFL games. In addition, it offers DTH digital television services in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. The company provides its local and international programming under the DIRECTV and SKY brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it served approximately 19.2 million subscribers in the United States; and 8.9 million subscribers in Latin America. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in El Segundo, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Lewis]
At the same time, there is renewed interest in a possible merger between Dish and DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV ) . With Comcast and Time Warner Cable attempting to tie the knot, industry consolidation appears inevitable. If federal regulators accept one deal, they will have to deeply consider a corresponding merger between the two leading satellite providers.
- [By Kenny Yang]
Suncor's trading multiples have been depressed in recent years because of poor capital allocation and operational issues such as low utilization of its facilities. Nonetheless, when Steve Williams was promoted to CEO in May 2012, he made concrete plans to improve capital allocation and increase reliability at existing facilities. Not only has operational and financial results improved considerably since May 2012, but also Suncor attracted Warren Buffett's attention. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) bought 17.8 million shares of Suncor in Q2 and the author expects Buffett to continue to build his stake further similar to how Berkshire built its stake in DirectTV (DTV) and General Motors (GM). For Suncor investors, keep an eye out for Berkshire's 13F that is scheduled to release in mid-November.
- [By Richard Moroney]
Since launching its share-repurchase program in 2006, DirecTV (DTV) has spent nearly $29 billion to shrink its share count by 61%. For the 31 quarters ended September, the company paid an average price of $32 per share.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: Liberty Global Inc.(LBTYA)
Liberty Global, Inc. provides video, broadband Internet, and telephony services primarily in Europe and Chile. The company offers broadband services over cable distribution systems, including video, broadband Internet, and telephony; and video services through direct-to-home satellite, or through multichannel multipoint distribution systems. Its analog video services comprise basic and expanded basic programming; and digital cable services include basic and premium programming, digital video recorders, and high definition programming, as well as pay-per-view programming, such as video-on-demand and near video-on-demand. In addition, the company offers voice-over-Internet-protocol and circuit-switched telephony services, as well as mobile telephony services using third-party networks. Further, it owns programming networks that provide video programming channels to multi-channel distribution systems owned by the company and the third parties. As of December 31, 2011, the com pany owned and operated networks that passed 33,262,100 homes; and served 18,405,500 video subscribers, 8,159,300 broadband Internet subscribers, and 6,225,300 telephony subscribers. Liberty Global, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is based in Englewood, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sam Robson]
LONDON -- Vodafone� (LSE: VOD ) (NASDAQ: VOD ) �is believed to have increased its offer for Kabel Deutschland following a rival bid from�Liberty Global� (NASDAQ: LBTYA ) .
- [By GuruFocus]
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) added to his holdings in Wal-Mart Stores Inc by 17.32%. His purchase prices were between $72.66 and $78.91, with an estimated average price of $75.43. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.62%. His holdings were 58,052,412 shares as of 03/31/2014.
Added: Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA)Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) added to his holdings in Liberty Global PLC by 149.19%. His purchase prices were between $40.36 and $45.96, with an estimated average price of $43.34. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.17%. His holdings were 7,346,968 shares as of 03/31/2014.
- [By Leo Fasciocco]
The company, Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA), owns interests in broadband distribution and content companies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, although the company is based in California.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: Time Warner Cable Inc(TWC)
Time Warner Cable Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a cable operator in the United States. It offers video, high-speed data, and voice services over its broadband cable systems to residential and commercial customers. The company provides a range of video services, including on-demand, high-definition (HD), and digital video recorder (DVR) services; residential high-speed data services with connection to the Internet; wireless mobile broadband Internet services; and digital phone services to residential customers. It offers video programming tiers and music services; high-speed data, networking, and transport services; and commercial digital phone service to small and medium-sized businesses under the Time Warner Cable Business Class brand. Further, Time Warner Cable Inc. sells advertising to various national, regional, and local customers. As of June 30, 2011, the company served approximately 14.5 million residential and commercial customers in the New Yor k State, the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California, and Texas. Time Warner Cable Inc. is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
Seeing how its initial bid of $132.50 per share ($37.3 billion) for Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) produced an immediate rejection, cable operator Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) is reported to be considering sweetening its offer to somewhere in the low $140s.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: Charter Communications Inc.(CHTR)
Charter Communications, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides entertainment, information, and communications solutions to residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company offers cable video programming services, such as basic and digital video, premium channels, OnDemand, pay-per-view, high definition television, digital video recorder, and online video services; Internet services; Charter.net, which provides multiple e-mail addresses, as well as various entertainment, games, news, and sports content; and telephone services. It also provides broadband communications solutions, such as Internet access, data networking, fiber connectivity to cellular towers and office buildings, video entertainment services, and business telephone services under the Charter Business brand name to business and carrier organizations. As of December 31, 2011, the company served approximately 4.1 million video customers; approximately 3.5 million Internet customers; appr oximately 1.7 million telephone customers; and approximately 476,200 commercial primary service units. Charter Communications, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Lewis]
Most recently, the company took a 27.3% stake in cable operator Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR ) . The deal cost Liberty $2.62 �billion in cash with proceeds from the Starz spinoff. Charter is the eighth biggest pay-TV provider in the United States. After a period of struggle, Charter is quickly approaching profitability -- an effect of a very capable management team that Maffei strongly supports. Liberty's motive was probably the seemingly endless demand for broadband services in the country.
- [By Sean Williams]
Leading the charge is cable operator Cablevision (NYSE: CVC ) again found itself in the spotlight, up 9.6%, following the completion of its sale of Optimum West to Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR ) for $1.625 billion. While shareholders are likely to be pleased seeing this deal completed, shares are really ramping up in expectation that Charter may make a bid for Cablevision. Rumors have been circulating for a week based on a report from Bloomberg News that Charter may look to make a bid for Time Warner Cable�or Cablevision. My stance remains not to chase rumors higher, so I'd suggest watching Cablevision from the sidelines.
- [By Michael Lewis]
In case you haven't noticed, there are some serious consolidation efforts going around the cable and telecom industries. On one end, there are satellite TV providers chasing spectrum as if it's the gold rush of 1849. Now, it appears that Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC ) may be courting Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA ) for a merger in an attempt to leverage Charter Communications' (NASDAQ: CHTR ) �highly coveted network. Let's determine who is the biggest winner in this latest media M&A dance, and where you should be putting your funds.
Top 10 Media Stocks To Buy For 2015: Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC)
Cablevision Systems Corporation provides telecommunications and media services. It operates in two segments, Telecommunications Services and Other. The Telecommunications Services segment is involved in television business, including video, high-speed data, and VoIP operations, as well as the provision of commercial data and voice services. The Other segment offers Newsday, a daily newspaper; amNewYork, a free daily newspaper; and Star Community Publishing, a group of weekly shopper publications; and newsday.com and exploreLI.com. This segment also engages in motion picture theatre business, Clearview Cinemas; provision of the News 12 Networks, a regional news programming services; and the MSG Varsity network, a network covering high school sports and activities, and other local programs, as well as cable television advertising. Cablevision Systems Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Bethpage, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
If other cable companies — like Charter Communications (CHTR), Cablevision (CVC) and Cox Communications — decide to merge in order to keep pace with Comcast, content providers could be under the gun once more.
- [By Tim Beyers]
Who loses in all this? Pure-play content distributors such as Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC ) and DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH ) . Like partner Netflix, Apple is taking steps to eliminate the barriers between viewers and content created by these gatekeepers. Color me grateful -- both as an investor and as a fan of great television.
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