Category Archives: Communications

Super Bowl Ads Heading for Touchdown

Communications, Economy, , ,

Apparently “You get what you pay for” is as true for Super Bowl advertising as it is for other purchases; at least marketing experts believe it. Take for instance the fact that despite asking record fees for ads at last year’s Super Bowl XLV, all the ad space was sold. And the same phenomenon is happening this year for Super Bowl XLVI.

Part of Super Sunday

Super Bowl XLVI

Experts are saying that next month’s Super Bowl will most likely surpass the take for last year’s, and next year will do better than this year. Companies and their marketing agents strongly believe, to the tune of millions of dollars, that it is an honor and a privilege to be a part of Super Sunday.

Profitable, Too

But it’s not just a privilege; its lucrative as well, say experts such as Brian Steinberg, the television editor for Advertising Age. “It’s a huge investments but it’s also one of the best ways to maximize their time. Fewer TV properties have that reach thanks to DVR and the Web. The Super Bowl is increasing, rather than losing, its audience.”

And as long as that audience continues to drink, snack and continue to watch TV, there is no end in sight to the money that can be made at the Super Bowl.

Sold Out

NBC is the network which will be broadcasting the game on February 5th, from Indianapolis. NBC has already announced that there is no more time left for ads during the game itself, but there are still a few spots left during the pre-game show. Despite the fact that NBC has not publicly disclosed how much each spot costs, the Associated Press estimates the charge to advertisers is somewhere between $3.5 million and $4 million for each 30 second time slot. Just 20 years before a half-minute cost advertisers only $1 million or less.

BIG Audience

That amount of money, however, buys the ad-men the largest TV audience in the United States all year. Last year’s figure was 111 million Americans who were glued to the game, many of whom watched with fascination the tens of commercials which were broadcast during the time-outs and other game breaks.

“There’s nothing to compare it to. Maybe the Oscars or some of the music (awards) shows, but not really,” said Stephen Master, head of sports for Nielsen, which tracks viewership.

“The Super Bowl works for different kinds of companies. It’s a wonderful venue for companies with a new product since it builds brand awareness so quickly. But it also allows the ability to rebuild or to recast a brand,” said Tim Calkins, professor of marketing at Northwestern University.

Saudi Billionaire Buys Shares in Twitter

Communications, Investments, , , , , ,

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, active Saudi global investor, has just become part owner of the

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal

famous micro-blogging website Twitter for $300 million.

Breaking Into Global Communications

Alwaleed is one of the Saudi King’s nephews was estimated to be worth at least $19 billion and is already has a 7% stake in News Corps and is considering beginning his own cable news channel.

It is interesting to note that Twitter was one of the major tools used for communications between the protestors during the famed Arab Spring revolts a year ago, including violence which posed a threat to the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. The revolt was quelled after the kingdom proposed a $130 billion social spending package.

Months of Negotiations

The purchase of Twitter came after months of intense negotiations between Twitter and the Prince and his Kingdom Holding Company investment firm.

The investment transaction was what is known as a secondary transaction, which means that the shares that Alwaleed and his Kingdom Holding Company purchased were from shareholders already invested in Twitter, and not a direct investment in the company.

Owns Four Percent of Twitter

Chief executive of Twitter Dick Costolo said that the company is valued at about $8 billon in the secondary markets as of October, making Alwaleed’s investment worth about 4 percent of the company.

The co-founder of Social Media, a firm specializing in analysis and advice, Bernhard Warner said,

“The Arab world, of course, knows full well the value of Twitter. In the past year, it has been a force in politics, in regime change, so there is not a single person in that region in a position of influence who is not following the increasing power of Twitter.”

“(Alwaleed) must see Twitter as something that is going to be a really powerful broadcast channel,” he said, and added that the Saudis got into the internet craze relatively late, which has been a bit of a problem, and it could still be “kind of late” again to this game.

Funniest Commercials of 2011 Announced

Communications, ,

The Turner Broadcasting System announced their picks for this year’s funniest commercials. Included in the top three were ads for Cravendale milk, which was the winner; second place for the Norwegian bank DnB NOR called “Finally Married,” and in third place for Vigorsol gum called “Air Action.”

This year’s funniest commercials are featured as part of a special program which showed last week called “Funniest Commercials of the Year” hosted by actor Isiah Mustafa, who himself appeared in a popular Old Spice commercial.

Participants were invited to watch and then vote for their favorite commercial on TBS’s website VeryFunnyAds.com. The ten ads that received the most votes were then shown on the program.

The first place ad was for Cravendale Milk, which imagined what might happen if cats developed opposable thumbs. Cats would of course read books called “Military Strategy,” take up embroidery, and most important, would be able to unlock your screen door and march in and demand some milk.

“Cats with Thumbs” was created by the advertising agency Weiden + Kennedy .

B Communications

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B Communications (BCOM) owns a controlling interest in Bezek (Tase:BZEK), the major telecom group in Israel. Bezek is the largest Israeli communication group and it, together with its subsidiaries offer the entire spectrum of telecom services such as domestic, international and mobile phone services; multi-channel TV, rental lines, data communications and broadband internet service, etc. Bezek has a extensive digitized infrastructure. In May, 2010, about 25% of Israeli households were connected to Bezek’s  all-IP Network.

Bezek had a strong third quarter showing operating profits of $254 million.  Bezeq’s EBITDA for the third quarter of 2011 equaled US$ 350 million which represented an EBITDA margin of 44.5%.

B Communications LTD. (BCOM) is 78% owned by Internet Gold-Golden lines Ltd. Internet Gold is controlled by Eurocom.

Directors and managers of B Communications include: Debbie Saperia, Ehud Yahalom, Aliza Schloss, Shaul Elovitch and Doron Turgeman.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is insufficient to base investment decisions on. All decisions should be based on a thorough analysis of the investment.

How Do Telecommunications Companies Remain Viable?

Communications, Companies, , , ,

Where are the telephone companies headed? For years and years telephone and communication companies fought to build up wire networks. They tried to gain control over as much land area as possible. They put up poles with wires to every home, business and office. After the invention of wireless these companies get less revenue from their wire services. Now they are building, buying and or renting broadcast towers. Those companies that have the money and wherewithal to make the needed technology changes will survive and flourish. Those that are unable to adjust will be bought up or will go bankrupt.

One such company is Shenandoah Telecommunications Company. It supplies telecommunications services to both communications suppliers and also to end-users in the area between Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. Shenandoah provides video, voice and data communications services. It also owns communication towers and leases tower space to other communication providers. The company also provides internet services thorough fiber optic cables. Aside from other communication suppliers, the company has approximately 130,000 end-user customers for all of its varieties of services.

This company has a market capitalization of $253 million and plant property and equipment worth $280 million. The enterprise value is $424 million. They are adapting to the changing reality of communications technology and we will watch how they proceed.

Some of the managers of Shenandoah Telecommunications Company are Adele M. Skolits, William L. Pirtle, Jonelle St. John, and Edward H. McKay.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is insufficient to base investment decisions on. All decisions should be based on a thorough analysis of the investment.