What Happens to U.S. Companies If Trump or Sanders Roll Back Free Trade?

In the event that Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders becomes president, the rules surrounding what’s known as “free trade” are likely to change. 

Trump says he’ll slap 45% tariffs on Chinese imports while Sanders says he would reject the Trans Pacific Partnership, the far-reaching trade deal with 12 countries including Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia. While Sanders stops short of promising high import tariffs, the Vermont senator has called the U.S. decision to grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China and embrace the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada nothing short of “abysmal failures.” 

The free trade crowd doesn’t like what they’re hearing. Countering Trump and Sanders, proponents of low tariffs charge that unwinding these complex trade agreements would invite catastrophic disruption to the U.S. economy.

An exit from the World Trade Organization or NAFTA, said Emily J. Blanchard, associate professor of business administration at Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business, would have a terrible ripple effect on prices, jobs and tax revenue.

“If the U.S. starts backing out of major agreements, there’s an unraveling that could occur, and no one knows how bad or how ugly that could get,” Blanchard said in a phone interview from Hanover, New Hampshire. “If you start violating parts of treaties, then all the rules of global commerce start to erode.”

While Trump has said he would break NAFTA or seek to renegotiate the agreement, Sanders has stopped short of advocating the end to any existing trade pact. 

Yet regardless of who wins the White House in November, the next president will have to take-up debate over the future of the TPP, a massive document that Trump and Sanders have ridiculed as being a bad deal for U.S. workers. Meanwhile, corporate donors for both Democrats and Republicans have urged its swift passage.

Companies, Consumers That Would Suffer

To scrap the TPP or even to leave the World Trade Organization or seek changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, would risk upsetting massive networks of global production based on reciprocally low tariffs, Blanchard said. And it’s not just about the tariffs applied to imported finished goods.

Take Apple, for instance. China’s Foxxconn does much of the assembly, but parts are produced in Germany, Japan and South Korea, with much of the intellectual capital coming from the U.S. When the final product is imported into the U.S., WTO norms maintain average tariffs of 3%, keeping a check on the finished product’s retail price.

Thousands of companies use similar networks to manufacture their products. And because roughly half of all trade are intra-company transactions, higher tariffs would add costs to every step of the manufacturing process, said Robert Z. Lawrence, a Harvard professor and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The ability of U.S. companies, Lawrence emphasizes, to produce in lower-wage countries makes products more affordable for U.S. consumers.

Leaving the WTO  for instance, would risk allowing most tariffs to skyrocket to 35%. Even industries such as pulp and paper, Blanchard said, which export far more than it imports in the U.S., might be negatively affected. Same with agriculture, especially wheat and corn producers, she said.

U.S. fruit and vegetable producers might benefit from high tariffs but they could eventually be hurt if wheat farmers, blocked from foreign markets, switched to growing carrots and tomatoes. 

“Consumer goods like clothing, footwear, electronics, would become more expensive, disproportionately hurting poorer people,” Lawrence said in a phone interview from Cambridge, Massachusetts. “These proposal against free trade would cause huge economic disruption.”

But for Trump and Sanders supporters, the disruption caused by free trade has already occurred. Back in 1960, 35% of all U.S. male workers were employed in manufacturing; today, it’s about 12%. That trend was accelerated by trade pacts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist David Autor has written in a study that shows that up to about half of the five million American factory jobs lost since 2000 are traceable to low-cost imports, largely due to China’s admission into the WTO in 2001.

Adherence to the norms of the WTO and NAFTA, argues Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research, have incentivized U.S. corporations to move operations or invest in overseas facilities and non-U.S. workers.

While some manufacturing is returning to the U.S. or being created by new businesses, the impact has already been felt. Free trade pacts, Baker says, have fostered complex production networks that rely on low-wage labor to increase profits for companies that export to the U.S.

General Electric is a high-profile case. Since the 1980s, GE has been moving facilities out of the U.S., while growing those that its built abroad. A reversal in trade policy could benefit smaller U.S.-based manufacturing firms that compete with GE and sell largely to U.S. consumers. Higher tariffs on products produced in China, or changes in currency valuations, might help U.S. companies that rely less on imports, Baker said. The same, he added, can be said for domestic competitors to large retailers such as WalMart.

“It would be more expensive for GE to import their goods from China, which would help their domestically-based competitors,” he said. “Lower-wage workers could also benefit from higher wages and more jobs.”

Pharmaceutical producers might also be hard hit by changes in trade policy.

Existing treaties have mostly succeeded in extending U.S. patents abroad, a major feature of the WTO and an essential element of the TPP. Without such pacts, companies such as Pfizer would have less protection overseas thereby allowing cheaper-priced versions of their products to be sold internationally, and eventually in the United States, Baker said.

Better Options to Help American Trade

Even if Trump or Sanders do win the election in November, Baker said it’s very unlikely they would succeed in getting approval for higher tariffs or a U.S. exit from the WTO. Trade agreements are integral parts of the global economy and upsetting them would cause economic panic and legal chaos, he said.

The more likely strategy is actively pursuing steps to lower the value of the dollar while pushing China to raise the value of its currency. 

Such measures, Baker said, are well within the parameters of existing free trade agreements, and would go a long way to disincentivizing U.S. companies to produce parts and products overseas for import into the country. 

“Everyone says this is impossible, but it’s a negotiation process,” Baker said. “China has kept the value of its currency down by buying massive amounts of dollars. At some point that has to change. China isn’t going to hold huge amounts of reserves indefinitely for no good reason. We’re really just talking about the timing.”

As a result of the current debate, the next president is certain to be pressured to include mechanisms within the TPP that would give the U.S. more ways to prevent trading partners from artificially undervaluing their currencies relative to the dollar. At present, there are such mechanisms in the TPP, but they’re non-binding since no country wants to give up sovereignty over its currency.

That’s what happened in Europe, and no country except possibly Germany is happy about that. 

“This is a glass house,” Blanchard said. “Every country, every central bank lives in a glass house, and I’m not sure the U.S. wants to start throwing stones.”

Morgan Stanley’s Rob Kindler Is Time’s Man for All Times

If Time Inc. does agree to sell, Rob Kindler is the man to do it.

The Morgan Stanley vice chairman and head of its mergers and acquisitions group was retained by Time over the summer for corporate strategy and the possibility that the publisher would receive unsolicited takeover offers. Time, which has undergone wholesale changes in its top executives this year, has been investing in new digital businesses in hopes of offsetting a long-running decline in print advertising.

Earlier this fall, Time also tapped Bank of America for banking advice.

Though Kindler, 62, may not be able to solve Time’s revenue challenges, he brings unparalleled perspective to the publisher, having worked with the company since the 1980s when it was led by Gerald Levin and media executives were hellbent on vertical integration, owning both content and distribution. If Time finds a new home for its roughly 100 brands including People, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly and Time magazine, it’s likely it will be with a digital distribution company looking for content.

In an e-mailed statement, the publisher said that “As a matter of policy, Time Inc. does not comment on speculation about such matters.”

Kindler encountered a similar situation at Time Inc. in the late 1980s when he was a young attorney with New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, long the company’s outside legal counsel. Time hired Cravath to represent it in its pursuit of Warner Communications, owner of a large film and television production studio, a record company (vinyl, that is) and a book publishing business.

The Time Inc. of the 1980s was a powerhouse. With Levin as its sage, Time embraced cable TV, buying urban networks while investing heavily in Home Box Office, which had become the darling of a relatively young industry. Time’s magazines were among the best-known and most profitable in the country — if not the world.

But Levin’s Time was eager to get bigger, and buying Warner was viewed as a means to owning more content for the company’s cable TV business, the country’s second-largest. In March 1989, Time agreed to acquire Warner in a $15.2 billion merger that would become historic not simply because it created a powerhouse media company in Time Warner.

Rather, the deal may be best known in legal circles because Time prevailed in a landmark battle in the Delaware Court of Chancery, which ruled that Time’s directors had a legal right to reject an unwanted offer — in this case a $12.2 billion hostile bid from Paramount Communications — despite it being quite lucrative.

The ruling, with Cravath and Kindler playing a major role, gave boards greater standing when faced with the demands of activist shareholders, a decision that has had far-reaching impact on corporate law.

Time Warner hired Kindler again in 1996 when it paid $7.5 billion to acquire Ted Turner’s Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System, owner of TBS and CNN. The two networks were among the most popular on cable TV, with the former known as the country’s “Superstation” and the latter an ambitious news upstart.

For better or worse, Kindler also was present when Time Warner agreed to be acquired in 2000 by America Online in the stunning and still-hard-to-read $147 billion all-stock deal that has become more infamous with age. At the time, Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen called the deal “amazing,” telling Bloomberg News that “it guarantees AOL getting broad access to consumers [and] it takes Time Warner to another level as far as new media and high-speed data connections.”

Of course, Time Warner-AOL never reached new levels or mountaintops but instead was a disaster for shareholders and the hundreds of employees who lost their jobs as the long list of assumed synergies failed to materialize.

Later that same year, Kindler moved to JPMorgan Chase to become head of its M&A group in a shift to investment banking. Kindler’s move from legal was unusual but not unprecedented. Bruce Wasserstein, who founded TheStreet‘s sister publication The Deal in 1999, is one notable example, having started at Cravath before heading to First Boston in 1977 and later launching his own firm with Joseph Perella. Yet Kindler’s move did turn heads considering that he had been at Cravath for 20 years, making him a senior member of a major New York law firm.

A fellow Cravath partner, Lewis Steinberg, said at the time that Kindler has “done everything a lawyer can do. At the age of 46, I think he was ready for some new challenges.”

Steinberg himself, interestingly enough, made a similar leap to UBS in 2005 and then Credit Suisse Group five years later. He now is at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and is an adjunct professor at New York University.

At JPMorgan, Kindler handled a variety of deals, though his specialty was telecommunications, the media and a sector still known as the internet. He represented Comcast (CMCSA – Get Report) in its ambitious but ultimately losing effort to acquire Disney (DIS – Get Report) and Nextel Communications in its successful sale to Sprint (S – Get Report) .

Time Warner again came calling in 2008 after Kindler had moved to Morgan Stanley’s banking division and leadership of the media company had passed from Levin to Richard Parsons to Jeff Bewkes. Eager to streamline Time Warner, Bewkes spun out Time Warner Cable, assets that were originally combined in the 1989 merger.

That transaction handed Time Warner a $9.3 billion payout that Bewkes used to reinvigorate the company’s television and film production businesses. Kindler also worked for Time Warner Cable when Charter Communications (CHTR – Get Report) purchased the pay-TV operator in a $78.7 billion transaction that closed earlier this year.

And then, coming full circle, Kindler again was brought on board when Time Warner chose to accept an $84.5 billion cash-and-stock buyout offer announced in late-October from AT&T (T – Get Report) to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the telecom giant. Some 27 years after Time Inc. merged with Warner Communications, the media conglomerate may soon lose its New York Stock Exchange listing.

As for Time’s legacy magazine business, Kindler worked with Bewkes to spin-out the publisher in June 2014 as a separately-traded stock after deal talks with Meredith (MDP – Get Report) of Des Moines, Iowa, failed to produce a change of ownership. The newly-independent Time no longer owned cable TV networks or HBO, its revenue having declined or tread water for more than two years.

Since going public, Time’s revenue stood at $750 million in the third quarter of 2016 compared with $820 million for the same period in 2014. Operating income dipped to $64 million last quarter whereas it totaled $100 million for the same period two years ago.

Sensing that Time’s stock was undervalued and its management in need of change, investment firm Jana Partners took a 5% stake in the company over the summer, prompting management to turn to Kindler and Morgan Stanley. 

In September, Time’s board replaced Joe Ripp as CEO with Rich Battista, elevating an executive who only had been with the company for about 18 months. Battista then replaced finance chief Jeff Bairstow, on the job for three years, with Time comptroller Sue D’Emic, and on Tuesday, he elevated the head of its digital sales group, Brad Elders, 49, to the position of chief revenue officer, taking over from Mark Ford, a 32-year company veteran.

Time’s reorganization may be a last ditch-effort to turn the company around by leveraging its many brands on video platforms such as its newly launched free and ad-supported People Entertainment Network. Nonetheless, an investor group headed by Seagram’s heir Edgar Bronfman recently offered Time’s board an $18 per share buyout, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bid, which was rejected, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

If Time and Kindler are looking for a model for a sale of the company, they need look no further than AT&T’s pending acquisition of Time Warner. Just as Time Inc. merged with Warner Communications some 28 years ago to gain vertical scale, AT&T aims to do the same with Time Warner.

Bernie Sanders Cries ‘Foul’

Another Democratic presidential debate on a Saturday? And just days before Christmas, too. Is anyone really going to watch when Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley gather in Manchester, N.H. for the Democrats’ third nationally televised debate?

Now they will.

There’s a new controversy in the race: The Democratic National Committee is punishing the Sanders campaign for allegedly accessing proprietary voter data maintained by the Clinton campaign. When the news broke, the Vermont senator accused the party leadership of giving Clinton the upper hand in penalizing his campaign by denying it access to the party’s 50-state voter file. His campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court against the DNC late Friday.

With another Democratic debate about to quietly pass without notice, what some at the DNC might have thought would be a sly and convenient means of bolstering Clinton’s campaign may have done just the opposite. 

“If the DNC thought they were helping Hillary Clinton, they were not helping Hillary Clinton — they’ve created a big mess,” Bob Shrum, a longtime Democratic strategist who teaches at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. “Now, there will be more interest in the debate because of this.”

Though ABC has yet to detail the agenda for Saturday’s Democratic debate, in addition to addressing the new conflict between the two leading candidates, it’s likely to pick up on many of the subjects at the center of the fifth Republican debate, held earlier this week: terrorism, national security and immigration.

The thrust of the Republican message was that America is at war, the Obama administration hasn’t done enough to destroy ISIS, and that immigration is out of control. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were among those calling for thousands of U.S. troops to fight ISIS, with Cruz demanding a full-scale “carpet bombing.”

But another major topic of discussion was Clinton. 

A search of the debate’s transcript revealed that Cruz led all GOP nominees with eight “Hillary” mentions, followed by Chris Christie with seven and Carly Fiorina with six. The only GOP candidate in the main debate not to mention the former New York senator was the neurologist Ben Carson, who has been reluctant to attack opponents, even as his campaign is slowing.

And although Clinton has far from sewn-up the Democratic nomination, you wouldn’t have known that on Tuesday, considering how often the former secretary of state was mentioned by the Republican candidates. She does lead in many polls by a wide margin but Sanders, who has earned much more of the support of his party than most of the Republicans have earned from theirs, wasn’t mentioned by name once.

For Clinton, Saturday’s debate, was always going to pose an interesting challenge: How to counter Republicans on her right who are demanding firm action on national security and immigration, and Bernie Sanders on her Left, who generally focuses on income inequality, raising the minimum wage and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he warns will move jobs out of the U.S.

“She will seek to demonstrate her command of issues like national security and foreign policy — that’s a strong suit of hers,” Jim Papa, a Democratic strategist with the Global Strategy Group, said in a phone interview from Washington. “But she will also want to broaden the conversation to economic issues, job creation, education, topics that are important to American families.”

Democratic voters, Papa added, want to hear about both economic and national security issues. Clinton, Shrum said, will win points among her supporters criticizing the Republican positions on Syrian refugees and the Donald Trump-led call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.

Now, because of the latest controversy, Clinton will have to talk, too, about her much-maligned campaign. And expect her to take flak from Republicans on the issue as well, as it feeds into the Republican narrative that has long cast Clinton as underhanded and deceitful. 

If the DNC was trying to help Clinton, the plan backfired. 

“This was a matter that should have been handled at a very low level,” Shrum said. “It was just a stupid thing for the DNC to do.”

Cable Stocks Tumble as Obama Calls for ‘Free and Open Internet’

President Obama jumps into the net neutrality debate.

President Obama jumped into the debate over so-called net neutrality on Monday, and in the process sent stocks of the company’s largest cable-TV operators tumbling.

Shares of Comcast, Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Charter Communications fell after the White House issued a statement calling on the Federal Communications Commission to issue rules to guarantee a “free and open Internet.” Obama said that the Internet should be regulated in a manner similar to the way in which the FCC oversees telephone service.

Comcast, the country’s largest cable-TV operator, was falling 3.3% to $53.34 while Time Warner Cable was dropping 3.9% to $138.07. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are awaiting a ruling from the FCC over their all-stock merger proposal that is valued at $45 billion. The FCC is likely to issue a decision early next year. Charter, based in St. Louis, was losing 4.1% to $150.01.

Obama urged the FCC to issue the “strongest possible rules” to ensure that Internet providers cannot sell “fast lanes” to providers able to pay higher fees. Comcast and other pay-TV providers have said the government shouldn’t be allowed to regulate the fees they charge corporate or individual users to access their broadband networks.

Consumer advocates argue that smaller companies and competitors to dominate Web service providers would unfairly benefit if Internet service providers are allowed to establish tiered-plans that prioritize their traffic.   

“Simply put: No service should be stuck in a ‘slow lane’ because it does not pay a fee,” Obama said. “That kind of gatekeeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the Internet’s growth. So, as I have before, I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritization and any other restriction that has a similar effect.”

Although FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he agreed with Obama that the Internet access should be “free and open,” he stopped well short of agreeing that Internet should be regulated along the lines of electricity, water and telephone service.

“Like the President, I believe that the Internet must remain an open platform for free expression, innovation, and economic growth,” Wheeler said in an FCC statement. “We both oppose Internet fast lanes. The Internet must not advantage some to the detriment of others.”

Verizon also weighed in on the discussion, declaring that the “light-touch regulatory approach” had been beneficial to the Internet’s growth, and that expanded government regulation would be detrimental. Verizon, which sells Internet access, said in a statement that regulating the Internet similar to electricity would “threaten great harm to an open Internet.” The New York-based telephone provider warned that if the FCC were to classify the Internet as a utility, it would face “strong legal challenges.”

Comcast’s David Cohen has argued that current U.S. law does not prevent broadband providers from charging different amounts of money for different levels of Internet connectivity.

“Whatever it is, a fast lane, paid prioritization, whatever you want to call it, it has been completely legal for 15 or 20 years,” Cohen, Comcast’s executive vice president, said in May at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit in New York. “Whatever it is, we are allowed to do it.”

Cohen used that event to lash out at net neutrality advocates for fomenting a “hysterical reaction” to FCC rulings that have allowed broadband operators such as Comcast to sign deals with content providers like Netflix (NFLX) . In February, Netflix, which can account for as much as 30% of all Internet traffic during the average evening in the U.S., signed a deal with Comcast that guarantees faster and more reliable service. The FCC later said that the contract didn’t violate current FCC rules over net neutrality.

“It’s been an almost hysterical reaction to an attempt by the chairman of the FCC to put in place legally enforceable open Internet protections,” Cohen said. “It’s been the specter that’s been stirred up by the Netroots and the opponents to what Tom Wheeler is doing because it sounds bad. I think ‘fast lane’ sounds bad, but since we don’t know what it is or what definitions of it are, it’s a little bit hard to be able to react to it.” 

Tim Cook’s Gay Declaration Needs a Whole Lot More CEO Support

Ben Boyd knows a little of what Apple CEO Tim Cook must be feeling.

When Boyd, a group president at Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, was appointed to the firm’s executive committee in August, he made sure that the announcement explicitly stated that he is gay. In the days that followed, Boyd, 45, said he received dozens of e-mails from some of the firm’s more than 5,5000 employees worldwide saying they felt more likely to come out themselves after he had become the first openly gay member of the company’s leadership.

“The explicitness of what Tim Cook did is important for another ceiling has been broken,” Boyd said in a phone interview. “It’s an act of leadership. The example of being out is still the most powerful, impactful thing that anyone can do.”

Boyd doesn’t overstate the significance of Cook’s Thursday announcement. After all, Cook sits atop one of the world’s most innovative companies, Apple, which is based in Silicon Valley, a particularly progressive place in an already liberal state, California.

Nonetheless, Cook’s declaration makes him the first chief executive of a Fortune 500 U.S. corporation to announce that he is gay — and that is monumental, Boyd said.

The announcement, made in a first-person column for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, went viral. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

Declaring that he “is proud to be gay,” Cook explained that “I don’t consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I’ve benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy.”

Cook’s announcement was not a surprise for those like Boyd who follow Apple and work high up in corporate America. But it’s certain to become a touchstone for many people, especially young people who struggle with going public about their sexual orientation, Boyd said, adding that his Southern Baptist father has stopped well short of accepting that he’s gay. 

“Because the world is more accepting does not mean the world is easier for kids to be different,” said Boyd, who joined Edelman 9 years ago. “So role models like Tim Cook do matter. I hope that in my lifetime this is a non-issue, but the fact is that it remains one.”

For Apple, the decision to have Cook write a column for Bloomberg BusinessWeek was smart and bold, said Ronn Torossian, president of 5WPR, a New York-based public relations firm. Apple is already perceived as a trendsetter, and the announcement fits the company’s reputation.

Indeed, Cook recently blasted his home state of Alabama for failing to ensure the rights of gays and lesbians, much as it did for African-Americans who lived under the Jim Crow caste system for more than 100 years.

Cook’s announcement follows the efforts of former BP (BP – Get Report) CEO John Browne, who has made a campaign of attempting to persuade gay and lesbian executives to come out of the closet. Browne, author of The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business, was outed while still running the London-based oil company — and it drove him to resign.

Yet whether other chief executives will follow Cook remains less clear. Cook works in technology, a sector where innovation extends into social spheres. Apple has millions of young customers in urban areas, a cohort that is increasingly accepting of gays and lesbians.

It might not be so easy for the CEO of an oil company or big-box retail company to come out as gay or lesbian, said Torossian.

“This is a story because this is a very powerful CEO coming out,” Torossian said. “But it’s much easier for Cook to do it than others to do it, for the CEO of Apple than for a CEO of a bank or a car company. Tim Cook is also at the top of the food chain — he’s not a 35-year-old middle-manager making this announcement.”

“For that guy,” Torossian said. “It might be a lot harder.”

Zell invokes Viagra, F-word urging creativity, speed at Tribune

The real estate mogul turned chairman of Chicago-based Tribune has used the f-word and called himself the human equivalent of Viagra to address what ails one of the company’s newspapers, the 126-year-old Los Angeles Times.

Zell, 66, has been telling staff members at Tribune’s nine newspapers and 23 local television stations that he wants to cut bureaucracy and encourage quick decision-making and more collaboration among newspapers, TV and the Internet. Management experts say that while his choice of language risks offending people, he may succeed in forcing change.

“That free-wheeling, shake-things-up way of behaving isn’t for everyone, but it is effective for reaching those people who are willing to embrace new ways of doing their jobs,” said management consultant Karissa Thacker, an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware’s business school in Newark who works with executives at Pfizer Inc. and Morgan Stanley.

Some of Zell’s employees object to the language he uses and complain that he hasn’t clearly stated what Tribune’s new strategy should be.

`Doesn’t Need to Swear’

“He doesn’t need to swear to get our attention,” said Julie Cart, a 25-year metro reporter at the Los Angeles Times. “We see how newsrooms are shrinking. Zell makes a lot of noise but he hasn’t articulated the new model other than saying we’re doing it wrong.”

In a Jan. 31 meeting at the Orlando Sentinel, a female photographer asked whether Tribune’s newspapers risked being dumbed-down. Zell replied and, as the audience was applauding, added “f— you.” Zell later tried to reach the photographer to apologize, said Sentinel spokeswoman Ashley Allen.

On Feb. 7, he told Los Angeles Times employees that Internet pornography could be viewed at work provided it didn’t hamper productivity.

“Let me know if you find any good sites,” he said.

Zell, who has described himself as a “grave dancer” for his purchase of out-of-favor assets, became the object of discussion on media and journalism Web sites after videos of his talks were posted on the Internet. His speaking tour began in January and is expected to conclude this month.

`Over the Line’

“A number of people at the company, and especially women, have been deeply offended by some of the statements you’ve said at other places,” Chicago Tribune public editor Timothy McNulty told his new boss at a Feb. 19 gathering at the Chicago newspaper.

Zell said he meant to create urgency and intended no offense, adding that he had promoted many women to senior management positions.

“I went over the line on purpose to see if I could bring you to the edge,” he told the Tribune audience. “How soon is this organization, and this company, going to wake up to the fact that we’re on the edge?”

Through a spokeswoman, Zell declined a Bloomberg request for an interview.

Tribune and other newspaper publishers face declines in advertising sales and a preference among younger readers to get news from Web sites. Tribune is investing in its Internet operations and last month created an online venture with Gannett Co., New York Times Co. and Hearst Corp. to sell online advertising.

Job Cuts

Meanwhile, Zell’s company is cutting jobs to offset ad revenue decreases and trim more than $12 billion in debt. The number of positions eliminated will total as many as 150 at the Los Angeles Times, about 100 from the group that includes the Chicago Tribune and 120 at Newsday on Long Island, New York.

“Zell is trying to overthrow an industry model that needs a major correction,” said Jeremy Garlington, an Atlanta-based executive leadership consultant, who works with companies in financial services, private equity and technology. “The result may be to change the status quo.”

Tribune’s debt increased in December after Zell led an $8.2 billion transaction taking the company private. Tribune bonds due in 2015 are trading at 40 cents on the dollar.

Bruce Barry, a professor of management and sociology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, says encouraging change works best when employees believe their suggestions won’t be met with ridicule or retribution. Zell, he said, needs to tailor his message so that it jolts without offending.

“If a lot of people find his style offensive, then it probably is offensive and that doesn’t do any good,” Barry said. “If, however, what he’s doing is really loosening up the expressive aspects of his corporate culture, and not just being flamboyant, that’s a very good thing. It all depends on how he executes his vision.”

Why HBO’s Move to Streaming Web Service Is All About Netflix


Time Warner isn’t worried about whether a stand alone HBO will prompt pay-TV subscribers to cut the cord, or whether other networks will do the same. The decision, announced Wednesday, to offer the entertainment company’s popular HBO network as a stand-alone subscription service sometime in 2015, is all about Netflix.

In a decade, Netflix has gone from being an aggregator of movies and television shows to an aggressive buyer of original programming, an enormous transition. It’s also the same path HBO followed as it became the foremost producer of high-quality television serials.

Netflix’s steady revenue stream has given CEO Reed Hastings plenty of cash to get into original programming. The success of House of Cards and Orange is The New Black speaks to Netflix’s financial prowess, and its aspirations. Don’t forget, on any given evening in the U.S., Netflix accounts for more broadband usage than any other service, and that includes Google‘s YouTube.

At Time Warner’s investor conference Wednesday, HBO CEO Richard Plepler repeatedly rejected the notion that an HBO stand-alone service will cannibalize pay-TV. The decision to go “over-the-top,” the industry term for set-top boxes that stream video to the television, Plepler said, is all about going after the 10 million U.S. homes that have an Internet connection but don’t subscribe to pay-TV. It’s about going after the additional 70 million homes that get pay TV but don’t get HBO.

Plepler didn’t scream “Netflix,” but he could have.

“HBO had to do this, and in truth, they should have done this a year ago,” said Shahid Khan, co-founder of Mediamorph, the New York-based media industry software and data provider. “Netflix has basically taken a page from the HBO playbook, and they’re doing it as a digital network channel. HBO faces a much bigger threat from Netflix  than any other channel on pay-TV. They had to do this.”

Starting sometime next year and at a yet-to-be-announced price, fans of Game of Thrones or True Detective will no longer be required to have a cable-TV subscription to access HBO on their tablets and smart phones. That’s quite a change, and yes, it does have the potential to change the pay TV model. But for the moment, this isn’t about payTV, it’s about Netflix.

And although CBS (CBS)  said it plans to do something similar with Showtime, and somewhere down the road 21st Century Fox (FOXA – Get Report)  could do the same with FX or Viacom (VIAB – Get Report) with MTV, those channels don’t yet have compelling enough programming to expect that viewers will subscribe to them in meaningfully large enough numbers, Kahn said. For Showtime, FX and MTV, Netflix isn’t their biggest competitor.

(CBS did announce Thursday that it’s starting a $5.95 per month streaming subscription service called CBS All Access that will show primetime programming the day after they air as well as past seasons of series such as The Good Wife and Blue Bloods. For CBS, the move appears to be more about generating additional revenue than offsetting a particular rival.)

Thinking big picture, Plepler wants to win over the cord-cutters or ‘cord-nevers,’ viewers who aggregate their own entertainment menu with Netflix, Google‘s (GOOG – Get Report) YouTube and a myriad of other online sites. Judging by the fact that Netflix has 36.3 million paid U.S. subscribers (and another 14.4 million paid outside the U.S.), HBO wants to compete with its biggest rival on its home turf, the Internet. And these viewers just happen to be comprised largely of millennials, young people who don’t watch much of their television sitting on a couch. These are also consumers whom advertisers and brands such as HBO are keen to attract.

A stand-alone HBO offering, Plepler said could generate “hundreds of millions of dollars” of additional revenue, which is certainly nice, but it’s the fact that these particular viewers have embraced Netflix rather HBO that Time Warner made this move.

And while Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had to explain Wednesday during his company’s third-quarter investor call why its fourth-quarter subscriber forecast missed analyst estimates, the simple fact remains for Time Warner: Netflix isn’t going away. In fact, the miss had everything to do with expenses tied to growth: European expansion and the cost of original programming. If anything, Netflix is growing, albeit at a slower rate than it did in the second quarter.

“The magnitude of the threat that HBO faces from Netflix, most other cable networks don’t have that threat,” Kahn said. “For HBO, this is really a defensive move. There is no one else who is going to eat their lunch the way Netflix is eating HBO’s lunch.”

Time Warner gained 4.4% on Thursday to close $75.41 as Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the shares to buy from hold. Meanwhile, Netflix tumbled 19% to $361.70 after saying its fourth quarter would be challenging because of increased expenses.

Aereo May Be Dead, But Over-The-Top Television Is Just Beginning

Aereo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means its assets are likely for sale.

Having been shutdown by the Supreme Court in June, Aereo was left with a network of tiny antennas which functioned simultaneously to retransmit over-the-air broadcast signals to its customers. The technology allowed subscribers to bypass traditional cable operators and watch TV for as little as $8 a month. Broadcasters complained the company was in effect stealing their programming.

Aereo executives weren’t immediately available to comment. But the network may be worth buying for a start-up or even one of the media companies that fought its technology and business model. In its Chapter 11 filing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York the company, based in Boston, listed assets of $20.5 million and debt of $4.2 million.

An advertisement for Aereo

“I’m really tired of being accused of stealing anyone else’s programming when we’re not and I’d never be part of any service that was doing so,” Diller said in an April conference call with investors. “We are no more stealing programming than the person who puts up an antenna to receive the signals he’s entitled to receive. Kind of obnoxious for broadcasters to take away the signals they promised the public that they could receive directly simply because they want to squeeze every dollar they can from consumers.”

At its peak, Aereo’s service was only available in about a dozen U.S. markets, including New York, Atlanta and Houston.

Its engineer-turned-CEO, Chet Kanojia, created an interface that made for seamless movement between broadcast channels. The service spoke to consumer frustration with the cable-TV bundle: The requirement that to access the dozen or so channels watched by the average consumer, he or she had to pay for hundreds of channels.

The Supreme Court didn’t buy Diller’s argument thereby forcing IAC to write-off its investment in Aereo. In July, IAC recognized five losses totaling $66.6 million, of which it said Aereo was the largest.

The Supreme Court ruling, Aereo said in a statement, created substantial “regulatory and legal uncertainty,” that in turn created challenges that were “too difficult to overcome.” Following the court ruling, Aereo tried to win regulatory approval to be recognized as an online multi-channel distributor, same as any cable-TV or satellite-TV provider. The court did rule that because Aereo was “substantially similar to” a cable system, it was eligible for the same statutory licenses that pay-TV companies pay in order to carry the signals of broadcast-TV to their subscribers.

Under pressure from the same collection of media companies that opposed Aereo in court — 21st Century Fox, Disney‘s ABC, Comcast‘s NBC and CBS — the Federal Communications Commission rejected its application for licenses.

While Aereo has filed for bankruptcy, its model of distributing TV programming outside traditional cable channels is continuing to grow as more viewers, especially young folks, turn to Netflix, Google’s YouTube and Amazon Prime for their entertainment.

Traditional media companies including CBS, Time Warner and Viacom are creating stand-alone digital options to appeal to consumers uninterested in pay TV. CBS has started its All Access service and Time Warner is preparing to offer HBOGO as an online subscription service next year while Viacom is readying an online service with Sony.

For one of them, or a start-up, Aereo’s network might make for a nice acquisition.

Sinclair Broadcast Accused of Dodging FCC Rules

Poised to pre-empt programming on its 62 television stations to run a negative documentary about Sen. John Kerry, Sinclair Broadcast Group has come under fire from critics calling it partisan and questioning whether it is failing federal broadcast requirements to reflect local interests.

Members of Congress and independent media groups have questioned the company’s willingness to respect “localism,” a section of federal law that requires media companies to cover local issues and provide an outlet for local voices.

“Sinclair has turned localism on its head,” said Mark Cooper, research director of the Consumer Federation of America, a union of 300 consumer groups. “Instead of using its right to pre-empt national programming to preserve a local voice, it wants to impose its political will on 62 local stations.”

Sinclair’s practices as a television operator have also been criticized for removing local control. The company increasingly uses “distance-casting” whereby local news, sports and weather is uniformly broadcast to its many stations from Sinclair’s headquarters in suburban Baltimore.

Television viewers receive on-camera reports from “News Central” that appear to be coming from local stations. Sinclair spokesman Mark Hyman delivers conservative commentary that must be carried on local news reports.

“Their whole business model is about cutting operating costs,” said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president and CEO of the Media Access Project, a legal watchdog group. “They fake the localism by presenting the hometown station feel but without any of the presence and journalism that local communities deserve.”

Widespread ownership

Sinclair’s stations include 20 Fox affiliates, eight from ABC, six from UPN, four from NBC, three from CBS and 19 from the WB, a network partly owned by Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune. Sinclair has a “shared services” arrangement with two additional stations.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, Sinclair owns or operates two stations, called “duopolies,” in more markets–20–than any other media company in the country. The company, which reported 2003 revenues of $738 million, also owns or operates more television stations–62–than any media company.

Sinclair did not respond to repeated requests to comment for this article. However, a telephone recording at the company’s headquarters says, “The program has not been videotaped and the exact format of this unscripted event has not been finalized. Characterizations regarding the content are premature and are being promoted by groups pushing a political agenda.”

Listeners are given a phone number for Sen. Kerry’s campaign office in Washington, D.C., and asked to urge him to appear on the show. Kerry’s campaign on Friday asked that each station carrying the “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” documentary provide a similar amount of time to Kerry supporters.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and 84 other House Democrats on Thursday joined 19 senators in calling for the FCC to investigate Sinclair’s apparent intentions to air “Stolen Honor” on its stations just days before the Nov. 2 election.

Democrats strike back

Prompted by Sinclair’s plans to run the documentary, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) this week pledged to attach limits to media mergers to one of a handful of spending bills that must be approved before legislators adjourn at the end of the year.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell made clear that the commission would not attempt to stop Sinclair from airing the program. While emphasizing that he was unsure whether the program would trigger “equal-time” rules, Powell emphasized their importance when discussing controversial issues.

“We do have equal-time rules and I do think that in a political season it is beneficial for both sides of an issue to be heard,” Powell said at a public appearance Friday in New York City.

Launched in 1971 with a single UHF station in Baltimore, Sinclair grew rapidly during the 1990s, buying stations mostly in medium-size cities such as Milwaukee, Dayton and Nashville.

Using a business arrangement known as a Local Marketing Agreement, or LMA, Sinclair became the operator of stations in markets where it already owned a television broadcaster.

Sinclair operates six LMAs through a company called Cunningham Broadcasting, previously known as Glencairn Ltd. Cunningham is controlled by trusts in the name of Carolyn Smith, the mother of Sinclair president and CEO David Smith, as well as two Sinclair vice presidents, Duncan Smith and Frederick Smith, and Robert Smith, a director on Sinclair’s board.

The FCC established LMAs in the early-1990s to assist failing stations or to help start-ups share costs for such expenses as maintenance and advertising with older, established broadcasters.

However, Schwartzman says Sinclair used these business arrangements for the sole intention of eventually acquiring the stations themselves. “Sinclair has operated these LMAs as little more than a fig leaf for all but owning them outright,” he said. “They’ve been pressed on this but unfortunately this FCC has let them off the hook.”

Sinclair’s use of LMAs goes back to 1991 when it purchased WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh and then sold a Pittsburgh station it already owned, WCWB-TV, to a station employee, an African-American named Edwin Edwards. Edwards became the president of Glencairn, owning it under a minority tax-incentive program.

Between 1994 and 1997, Sinclair acquired second television stations in San Antonio, Greenville, S.C, Asheville, N.C. and elsewhere, placing them under Glencairn.

When the FCC liberalized its “duopoly rules” in 1999, permitting companies such as Sinclair to own two stations in markets with eight or more independent television owners, Sinclair applied to the FCC to purchase all of Glencairn’s stations.

However, Rainbow/PUSH, which has historically lobbied broadcasters to cover minority issues, filed a complaint charging that the company had “misrepresented facts and concealed the true extent of their business relationships” to own television stations that otherwise would not have been permitted under federal rules.

Pulitzer Broadcasting and Post-Newsweek Stations, a joint venture between the Washington Post Co. and the magazine by the same name, filed similar complaints with the FCC alleging that Glencairn was a Sinclair shell operation.

Practices called `disquieting’

In November 2001, the FCC fined both Sinclair and Glencairn $40,000 for violations to the 1934 Communications Act. However, FCC Chairman Powell and two other Republican appointees approved Sinclair’s request to purchase all but six stations. Shortly afterward, Glencairn’s name was changed to Cunningham Broadcasting.

In his dissent, Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, called Sinclair’s practices “disquieting.” He said the company’s maneuvering “raises questions of whether these stations were merely owned by Glencairn but controlled by Sinclair until such times as Sinclair could own them under our revised multiple ownership rules”

Rainbow/PUSH filed a follow-up petition in 2003, still pending before the FCC, that calls on the commission to determine whether Sinclair’s present and past conduct of its LMAs makes it qualified to hold licenses to use the public airwaves.

At present, rules governing duopolies are in flux.

In June, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ordered the FCC to rewrite rules that would have allowed one company to own as many as three TV stations, eight radio stations and a newspaper in a single market.

The FCC has not announced whether it will appeal the 3rd Circuit Court’s decision.

Disney CEO Eisner’s day of reckoning in Comcast’s hometown

A multilayered media war will begin Wednesday in Philadelphia, pitting Walt Disney Co. against Comcast Corp., Disney factions against each other, and media activists against an industry bent on consolidation.

Investor demands to unseat Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner may be the main event at the media giant’s annual meeting, which was scheduled for Philadelphia long before Comcast made a roughly $50 billion hostile takeover bid. Comcast’s headquarters are three blocks from meeting site.

While investors for and against Eisner face off inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, activists opposed to media consolidation are planning a rally Wednesday to stanch attempts to merge the entertainment powerhouse with the country’s largest cable TV company.

“Those are a lot of pieces,” said Reed Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Bill Clinton. “The main drama here is a drama about financial markets, and what stockholders want. Comcast wants to expand into content; they’re not being driven by the Disney drama.”

Plenty of drama surrounds Eisner, Disney’s CEO since 1984. He faces what amounts to a confidence vote.

Normally, when a corporate board puts up a slate of executives for re-election, approval is nearly unanimous. But a series of missteps at Disney’s theme parks, its animation unit and its ratings-challenged television network, ABC, has brought Eisner stockholder dissent.

Multimillion-dollar payouts to former executives, such as Michael Ovitz, who Eisner hired and then fired 14 months later, only exacerbated angry calls for change.

Roy Disney, nephew of company founder Walt Disney, ignited the effort to dethrone Eisner in November, when the company’s board of directors, citing a mandatory retirement clause, asked for the 74-year-old Disney’s resignation.

Rather than resign, Disney quit. But as the company’s largest individual shareholder, with about 17 million shares, he still carries considerable clout. Eisner is the second-largest individual shareholder, with about 14 million shares.

On Tuesday, Roy Disney plans to hold a “Save Disney” gathering at a Philadelphia hotel. Organizers are expecting about 300 people, while 2,000 shareholders are expected at Wednesday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, state employee pension funds with large holdings in Disney stock, including those in Ohio, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon and California, started last week to call for Eisner’s reign to end.

“Momentum on this has really been growing,” said Kevin Calabrese, media analyst at Argus Research Corp. “Investors are expressing a collective frustration with share price and five years in which the company has underperformed.”

At last year’s shareholder meeting in Denver, the vote against Eisner totaled 8 percent. Calabrese said that number is likely to reach at least 30 percent this year.

At a minimum, Calabrese said, Disney’s board is likely to adopt a call by proxy adviser group Institutional Shareholder Services to create separate posts for chairman and CEO. Eisner holds both positions, but if the shareholder meeting goes poorly, he may lose the chairmanship.

ISS, which supports removing Eisner, represents clients who control about 35 percent of Disney’s shareholder base.

It won’t be clear until Wednesday afternoon just how many shareholders oppose Eisner. Technically, because Eisner is running unopposed, Disney’s corporate bylaws say he can retain both executive positions as long as he receives at least one vote, said David Koenig, a Disney shareholder activist.

Although Eisner hopes to cool a budding palace coup, Brian Roberts, Comcast’s president and CEO, is betting that shareholder dissatisfaction will strengthen interest in his takeover offer, valued at $49.3 billion at the close of trading Monday.

Roberts’ immediate problem is that since Feb. 11, when Comcast’s takeover offer was made public, Disney’s stock is up 10 percent. Under terms of the deal and based on Monday’s share price, Disney shareholders would receive $23.63 a share if they agreed to sell to Comcast, well below the company’s closing price of $26.87.

Roberts has said he does not plan to raise his offer.

Disney shareholder groups, sources say, are likely to take advantage of the proximity to Comcast to touch base with officials of the cable giant. Disney selected Philadelphia as the site of this year’s annual shareholder gathering because the company owns a local ABC-TV affiliate.

Disney Roars: Strips Michael Eisner of Chairman Post

Walt Disney Co. directors stripped Chief Executive Michael Eisner of his board chairmanship Wednesday night after an unprecedented show of shareholder ire at the company’s annual meeting.

Eisner, 61, will continue as CEO while former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell will take over the responsibilities of chairman in a non-executive role.

The board voted unanimously to elevate Mitchell, a board member and former Democratic senator from Maine, after the contentious five-hour meeting, during which shareholders withheld 43 percent of their votes from Eisner’s re-election bid to the board of directors.

The board acknowledged the move was a response to swelling shareholder dissatisfaction, but stated it separated the chief executive and chairman roles in the interests of good governance–not because of Eisner’s performance.

“While making this change in governance, the board remains unanimous in its support of the company’s management team and of Michael Eisner,” a board statement said. “While there appear to have been a number of different forces at work in the shareholder vote . . . there was substantial focus on the question of whether the chair and the CEO function should be split.”

Though the unopposed Eisner retained his seat on the board, the shareholder action was effectively a vote of no confidence in the man who has led Disney for nearly 20 years and was once lauded as the company’s savior. Normally, corporate executives receive nearly unanimous support at annual meetings.

“This is a historic moment. This is incredible,” Cynthia Richson, the corporate governance officer at the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, said about the withheld votes. Richson said she withheld votes from Eisner and three other directors.

In fact, Eisner’s removal as chairman appeared to have been due, in part, to pressure from major shareholders. Wednesday afternoon, the California Public Employees Retirement System–the largest pension fund in the nation and owner of nearly 10 million shares of Disney stock–called for Eisner’s departure from Disney by the end of the year.

At the annual meeting, Eisner tried but failed to quell the long-brewing revolt by investors critical of stock price stagnation, low ratings at the company’s struggling ABC network and the breakdown of a movie distribution deal with Pixar Animation Studios Inc.

The movement to eject Eisner was led by former directors Stanley Gold and Roy E. Disney, who have been traveling the country during the last three months to meet with shareholders and investors under a “Save Disney” banner. In a Wednesday statement, they called the vote “a clear and dramatic message that change is needed now and Michael Eisner must go.”

A defiant Eisner remained steadfast throughout the meeting, telling the 2,000 shareholders gathered at the Pennsylvania Convention Center that Disney’s stock and operating performance was improving and that current management deserved to stay on.

“You have heard a lot of rhetoric from our critics,” Eisner said in a voice that grew hoarse as the day went on. “We do not believe that the allegations are correct or in the best interest of the company. Disney’s record of creating value is indisputable. … We are a very well-managed company.”

Cheers for opponents

Muted applause for Eisner contrasted sharply with the spirited cheers given Gold and Roy Disney, the 74-year-old member of the founding family who was pushed off the board in November through a forced retirement.

Given a short time to speak at the meeting, Gold lashed out at the company’s board as beholden to Eisner, and incapable or unwilling to criticize management. Gold excoriated Eisner for continuing to receive a multimillion-dollar salary even as the company’s operations have faltered. Last year, Eisner’s total compensation in cash and stock was about $7.3 million.

“While we the shareholders watched our equity decline, Michael Eisner never had a bad year,” Gold said. “The Disney board has been notoriously insular, famously gullible and blindly loyal to Mr. Eisner.”

Attempting to head off Gold and Disney, Eisner said company earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2003 were 33 cents, up from 5 cents in the year-earlier period. The “Finding Nemo” movie was an Oscar winner, he added, and Disney’s share price is up by 60 percent from a year ago.

Eisner, chief executive since 1984, acknowledged that the performance of Disney’s ABC network was “disappointing” but also told shareholders Disney has the “management skills and creative talent to continue its growth path.” He dismissed his critics as vindictive and wrongheaded.

“I love this company. The board loves this company. And, we are all passionate about the output from this company,” Eisner said.

No mention of Comcast

Conspicuously absent from Eisner’s comments was any mention of Comcast’s bid–a pursuit that has pushed up Disney’s stock price 10 percent since it was made public in mid-February.

The board, in its rebuke of Comcast’s Wednesday request, stated “it does not believe today’s reiteration by Comcast of its previous proposal, which we rejected as inadequate, would lead to a transaction beneficial to Disney shareholders.”

Three weeks ago, Disney’s board unanimously rejected Comcast’s offer, which is currently valued at below Disney’s stock price. Comcast, which is based in Philadelphia, said Wednesday it would not raise its roughly $50 billion offer.

Disney’s stock was down 11 cents Wednesday, closing at $26.65. Comcast shares closed up 1.5 percent at $30.40.

Mitchell left the Senate in 1995 after serving as majority leader. He later presided over peace negotiations in Northern Ireland.

Bernie Ebbers loses just about everything

Bernard J. Ebbers, the former WorldCom chief executive once worth more than $1.5 billion, will be left with just $50,000 in cash and a modest house for his wife in Jackson, Miss., under a settlement approved by a federal court judge Monday.

The proposed civil settlement would strip Ebbers of more than $40 million in assets and require him to pay $5.5 million in cash to a fund for WorldCom shareholders.

“Basically we left them with their furniture and the silverware,” said Sean Coffey, a lawyer for New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, the lead plaintiff in the investor suit and head of the state’s Common Retirement Fund.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s preliminary approval of the class-action civil settlement comes two days before his scheduled sentencing on fraud and conspiracy charges–convictions expected to result in lengthy prison time.

Cote termed the settlement in the WorldCom securities suit “an excellent recovery for the class,” at a hearing in a lower Manhattan courtroom.

The one-time swashbuckling executive, 63, will lose everything: his 800-acre Mississippi farm and mansion, a timber company, a marina and an 18-hole golf course.

Roughly 75 percent of Ebbers’ non-cash assets will be added to the shareholder fund. The remaining 25 percent will go to MCI Inc., the successor to WorldCom, which filed claims against Ebbers for $338 million.

In addition, Ebbers must transfer $5.5 million in cash from his personal accounts to the shareholder fund.

Any shareholder who purchased WorldCom stock between April 29, 1999, and June 25, 2002, is eligible for the fund. As a result of the settlement, Cote reopened the claims filing period until August 26.

As a result of previous settlements with the investment banks, as well as WorldCom’s former auditor Andersen, the shareholder reimbursement fund already contains $6.1 billion.

As part of the civil settlement, an undisclosed amount of money was set aside for Ebbers to pay lawyers who have represented him for more than three years in civil and criminal proceedings. Final approval for the civil settlement is expected in the fall.

Sentencing set for Wednesday

On Wednesday, Ebbers is scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction on one count each of fraud and conspiracy and seven counts of filing false reports with regulators.

The conviction stemmed from the $11 billion accounting scandal at WorldCom that triggered the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Ebbers faces up to 85 years in prison.

Prosecutors have asked the judge sentencing Ebbers in his criminal trial to follow a U.S. probation report that calls for the former telecom tycoon to receive a life sentence.

Coffey applauded the U.S. attorney general’s office, which presided over extensive negotiations between Ebbers’ attorneys and Hevesi, for allowing the settlement money to go directly to former WorldCom shareholders rather than through a government-sponsored claim process.

Coffey’s law firm, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP of New York, plans to hire a trustee to administer the fund.

“We’re thrilled,” he said. “I’m thrilled not just from the extent that Ebbers must give up nearly all of which he has, but that the money will go directly to the class.”

In a statement, Hevesi said that, “As the man in charge at WorldCom, Bernie Ebbers was responsible for the loss of billions of dollars belonging to WorldCom investors, and it is entirely appropriate that he pay both financially and by going to jail.”

The New York State Common Retirement Fund holds $120 billion in assets and is the second-largest public pension fund in the country.

Ebbers’ attorney in the civil suit, R. David Kaufman of the Jackson, Miss., law firm Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, would not comment on the settlement.

Ebbers’ agreement in the civil suit follows settlements that Hevesi negotiated with Citigroup Inc. for $2.58 billion, as well as $2 billion from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and roughly $1.5 billion from a group of banks led by Bank of America.

Hevesi, the lead plaintiff in the case, also forced 12 former WorldCom directors to pay $60 million, including almost $25 million from their personal holdings, to the shareholder fund.

In April, Andersen agreed to terminate a nearly five-week-old trial in the case and settle for a $65 million cash payment to the fund.

Two settlements still pending

The only remaining defendants in the WorldCom class-action suit are Scott Sullivan, the former WorldCom finance chief, who testified against Ebbers in his criminal trial, and Buford Yates, the company’s former accounting director.

Coffey said he expected both to settle in the very near future.

At its 1999 peak, WorldCom had a market value of $144 billion; by July 2002, the company was bankrupt, shackled with $41 billion in debt. An MCI spokeswoman would not comment on the Ebbers’ civil settlement.

Fox’s Roger Ailes Strikes Back at Gretchn Carlson, Says Sexual Harassment Lawsuit is ‘False’

Roger Ailes, the powerful founder and chairman of Fox News, struck back at former anchor Gretchen Carlson on Wednesday, blasting her sexual harassment lawsuit as an attempt at revenge. 

“Gretchen Carlson’s allegations are false,” Ailes said in an emailed statement. “This is a retaliatory suit for the network’s decision not to renew her contract, which was due to the fact that her disappointingly low ratings were dragging down the afternoon lineup.”

Ailes’ statement came shortly after Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, owner of the cable-TV news network, issued its own comment late on Wednesday, saying it had begun a review of the allegations. Ailes and Fox had come under criticism earlier in the day from commentators, including its chief rival Time Warner’s (TWX) CNN, for not commenting earlier on the lawsuit, which became public before noon in New York.

Gretchen Carlson, former Fox News anchor

In its statement, Fox appeared to circle its wagons around Ailes, whose leadership at Fox News has provided the company with billions of dollars in profits. Fox, though, took care to demonstrate sensitivity to charges of workplace sexual harassment. 

“The company has seen the allegations against Mr. Ailes and Mr. Doocy,” New York-based 21st Century Fox said in its emailed statement. “We take these matters seriously. While we have full confidence in Mr. Ailes and Mr. Doocy, who have served the company brilliantly for over two decades, we have commenced an internal review of the matter.”

Fox’s statement also named Steve Doocy, who co-hosted the morning show Fox & Friends with Carlson. Although Doocy isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit, he is accused of making sarcastic and insulting statements about Carlson. The lawsuit charges that Carlson was removed from anchoring the show after complaining about Doocy.

Filed in Superior Court in New Jersey, where Ailes has a home, the lawsuit alleges that Fox terminated Carlson’s employment at the network on June 23 after “she refused his sexual advances and complained about severe and pervasive sexual harassment.”

The suit claims that when Carlson, who joined Fox in 2005, met with Ailes to discuss what she describes as a pervasive culture of sexual harassment, he was said to say in a conversation in the fall of 2015 that, “I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better,” adding that “sometimes problems are easier to solve” that way.

As for damages, Carlson doesn’t ask for a specific dollar amount though she does make clear she will pursue compensation for “damage to career path, damage to reputation and paid and suffering,” as well as “punitive damages” and “attorneys’ fees and costs of suit.”

Ailes’ supporters were quick to counter that when Carlson left Fox and Friends in 2013 she said on air that “I am going to be leaving Fox & Friends after seven great years with the guys here on the curvy couch – thanks so much to both of you. Thanks very much to Roger Ailes who runs this corporation for believing me and giving me this opportunity.”

Ailes, 76, pulled no punches, portraying Carlson, 50, as a jilted employee, seeking retribution for having lost her job.

“When Fox News did not commence any negotiations to renew her contract, Ms. Carlson became aware that her career with the network was likely over and conveniently began to pursue a lawsuit,” Ailes said in the statement. “Ironically, Fox News provided her with more on-air opportunities over her 11-year tenure than any other employer in the industry, for which she thanked me in her recent book. This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously.” 

Carlson, a graduate of Stanford University and a former Miss America, was a host of Fox & Friends from 2006 until 2013 when she was replaced by Elisabeth Hasselbeck and given her own show, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson. Carlson joined Fox after a five-year stint at CBS where she was a news correspondent and co-host of The Saturday Early Show.

According to Ailes, Fox chose not to renew Carlson’s contract at the network when ratings for The Real Story, a one-hour afternoon show, sagged. The program has yet to name a permanent replacement.

Apart from her allegations of sexual harassment, Carlson demonstrated an occasional willingness to deviate from Fox News’ strict platform of conservative pro-Republican talking points.

A little over a week before Fox chose not to renew her contract, Carlson piqued political attention during a June 14 segment of The Real Story focused on the Orlando shooting massacre at the gay Pulse nightclub when she called for congressional action on gun control.

“Yes, the Orlando massacre was terror, but there is no doubt that Omar Mateen was able to kill so many people because he was firing an AR-15,” Carlson said on Fox News, traditionally a staunch opponent of gun control. “Do we need AR-15s to hunt and kill deer? Do we need them to protect our families?”

She went on to say: “I know a lot of you aren’t going to agree with me today. That’s fine, but I’m also with the majority today taking a stand.” 

Monty Python Revives Silly Walks for New York Celebration

Silly walks, spam and medieval armor may not seem like a recipe for racking up $100 million in sales.

Yet as the Monty Python comedy troupe prepares for 40th-anniversary events this month in New York — the “Flying Circus” television shows began on BBC Oct. 5, 1969 — business is great. The ensemble’s signature skits continue to sell millions of dollars in DVDs, and clips have drawn more than 18 million views on Google Inc.’s YouTube since signing a content deal last November.

The success stems from copyright ownership of the original 45 TV shows and all but one of the group’s films, the 1983 “Monty Python’s Meaning of Life,” said John Goldstone, producer of the movies “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” in an interview.

“It’s given us a lot of stuff to work with, without any interference or censorship,” said Goldstone, who manages new projects for Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd., the group’s three-person London-based management company. “For the last 10 years, the business we’ve been able to do has been astounding.”

Revenue at Python (Monty) Pictures has averaged about $10 million a year since 1999, when DVD sales began to escalate, said Roger Saunders, the company’s London-based manager, in an interview. Sales of DVDs, distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment and A&E, account for about half of the revenue. Since 2003, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Spamalot” has brought in one-third of sales, he said. Leasing movies to theaters, licensing deals and other televised Python showings make up the remainder.

The original cast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus

“Spamalot” grossed $168 million before it closed at New York’s Shubert Theater in January, according to the Broadway League, a trade association of landlords and producers.

The cast members — John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Terry Jones — and the family of the late Graham Chapman earn $500,000 to $800,000 a year each, Saunders said. Idle has received more Python money in recent years for having co-written “Spamalot” with John Duprez, Saunders added.

“Nearly all of the revenue is net because the work itself was done years ago,” said Saunders, who has worked for the Pythons since 1989. “It’s the pension plan.”

The Pythons will gather Oct. 15 at New York’s Ziegfeld Theater to reminisce and show a new documentary about the group’s history titled “Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut),” which pieces together old and new interviews. IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Group, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Diminishing Squalor of The Bowery of New York City

Gus Chuises isn’t wistful for the old Bowery.

“When I first got here, it was just winos and derelicts,” said Chuises, 79, a longtime resident of the Bowery, the wide boulevard in Lower Manhattan long synonymous with Skid Row. “Now, you have all sorts of people.”

Indeed, as the gentrification of Lower Manhattan continues, a much different Bowery is emerging.

This summer, five multimillion-dollar residential buildings, two luxury hotels and a giant Whole Foods Market will open on the thoroughfare that begins in Chinatown and ends 16 blocks later on the eastern edge of Greenwich Village.

Fifty years ago, so-called Bowery bums filled more than 100 grim flophouses. Today, just seven of these single-room-occupancy hotels, or SROs, remain.

Chuises, a retired waiter who battled alcoholism for most of his life, has lived on the Bowery for most of the past 40 years in an SRO called The Palace. Now he has a small, clean apartment administered by the Bowery Residents’ Committee, a nonprofit group providing services for the homeless.

Having seen the Bowery become more dangerous in the late 1970s, as homelessness, drugs and street crime soared, Chuises is quite pleased with the avenue’s new wave of fancy condo developments, fashionable bistros and hipster nightclubs.

But, as is often the case when old, distinctive neighborhoods show signs of stark change, these newer, glossier buildings of steel and glass have put many longtime residents and business owners on edge.

“I can’t stand the thought that this neighborhood will turn out looking like any other neighborhood,” said Phil Hartman, creator of the annual Howl! Festival of East Village Arts and owner of the Pioneer Theater, an independent movie house.

Hartman said he fears the upscale developments will destroy the diversity and eccentricity of a neighborhood whose former affordability long attracted a colorful mix of new immigrants, young artists and left-wing activists.

A symbol of the new Bowery can be found at its busy intersection with Houston Street.

There, the Alexandria, Va.-based AvalonBay Communities Inc. has nearly completed a $350 million apartment development that features a block-long, 14-story, glass-paneled building scheduled to open this summer. An 85,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market will occupy the ground floor. AvalonBay also has two additional nine-story residential buildings under construction on the Bowery.

One building AvalonBay is razing for its developments once housed an infamous saloon and brothel known as McGurk’s Suicide Hall, so-called because several women were said to have committed suicide while working there in the 1890s.

At the Bowery’s northern end, a futuristic, 21-story residential tower that calls itself “The Sculpture for Living” features units ranging from $3 million lofts to a $12 million penthouse.

At the street’s opposite end, in Chinatown, 11 stories of luxury lofts are being built atop a five-story brick building dating from about 1830. Prices there start at $825,000; the penthouse is tagged at $4.1 million.

Many of these new structures tower over the Bowery’s primarily low-rise landscape of 19th century tenements, the ground floors of which still house many restaurant suppliers and lighting retailers.

Such juxtapositions of 19th and 21st century architecture on the Bowery do not sit well with Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who called many of the new projects “hugely inappropriate designs for that street.” He said he worries that many of the Bowery’s oldest buildings are not distinguished enough to be granted landmark protection and will eventually meet the wrecking ball.

But Shaun Donovan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, sees the Bowery’s transformation as evidence of the city’s appeal, reflected in record-high housing prices and a 3 percent vacancy rate for residential rental units.

“There is a similar process going on in neighborhoods all around the city,” Donovan said. “Because the city is doing well, and crime rates are down, people want to live here.”

Donovan points out that there is a shortage of luxury housing in Manhattan, one reason that multimillion-dollar condos are being built and purchased in such formerly unlikely spots as the Bowery.

The appearance of high-end housing on the Bowery is the most recent step in a sweeping makeover of Lower Manhattan that began in the 1970s, when bohemian artists were pushed out of their lofts and studios in SoHo, the neighborhood south of Houston Street, and replaced by high-end boutiques, restaurants and art galleries.

But, until now, this gentrification had largely bypassed the Bowery, said Ella Howard, a Boston University historian who is writing a book about homelessness on the Bowery in the second half of the 20th century. Until recently, Howard said, real estate investors skipped the Bowery because it contained many SRO hotels, working-class bars and shuttered storefronts.

“The Bowery’s association with poverty and homelessness kept the development away,” she said.

In the late 1950s, its dirt and disarray prompted Robert Moses, the city’s master builder, to propose that many of the Bowery’s 19th century buildings be razed, but community activists defeated the plan.

When homelessness exploded in the late 1970s, not just single men, but also families uprooted by rising rents and cuts in federally subsidized housing, flocked to the Bowery’s soup kitchens, aid missions and the few homeless shelters established by the city at that time.

“The flophouses were effectively the shelter system,” said Muzzy Rosenblatt, executive director of the Bowery Residents’ Committee and the acting commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services under then-Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Since then, New York’s shelter system has grown to 224 facilities dispersed throughout the five boroughs.

As the Bowery development moves ahead, Rosenblatt said the kind of visible homelessness that once defined the street, already far rarer than a decade ago, will largely disappear. Rosenblatt credits an expanded city shelter system for the decrease in the number of people living on the street.

But others such as Patrick Markee, spokesman for the Coalition for the Homeless, counter that the city has underestimated the number of street homeless, and that by moving its central intake center from Manhattan to the Bronx it merely moved the problem to poorer neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, some are trying to preserve a bit of the Bowery’s counterculture past. Bob Holman, a writer who arrived on the Lower East Side in the late 1960s, said the neighborhood’s gentrification prompted him to open the Bowery Poetry Club three years ago. Holman said his nightclub aims to feature the kind of poetry and music performed during the Beat years of the 1950s and 1960s.

“Change is an inevitable essence of New York,” said Holman, outfitted in a colorful fez and loose-fitting black sports coat. “At the same time,” he said, “to forget what the Bowery was would be a crime.”

The bank building at the Bowery and Grand Street in New York reflects faded grandeur, but the area’s seediness is being reversed by upscale redevelopment.Bob Holman, owner of the Bowery Poetry Club and Cafe, says that “to forget what the Bowery was would be a crime.”Gus Chuises, 79, has witnessed the transformation of the Bowery.

Big Media Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You

Old Media just keeps chugging along. Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, the young and sexy online platforms fast replacing traditional forms of communications (including talking to a friend while walking down the street together), continue to dominate media industry headlines. But the old line “content producers” have been the ones generating the profits.

Time Warner Inc., which reports its first-quarter numbers before the market opens in New York on Wednesday, has gained 61% in the past 12 months, 26% since the beginning of the year. Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon, MTV and Paramount Pictures, has gained 39% over the past year and 22% in 2013. Investors have liked what they’ve seen. Viacom also reports Wednesday morning.

Tuna Amobi, the media analyst at S&P Capital IQ, points out that Time Warner, Viacom and CBS, which reports at the end of trading on Wednesday, have thus far been able to make money selling access to their content to Netflix, Amazon and Hulu while simultaneously winning increased retransmission fees from cable/satellite operators and regional television affiliates.

These companies, Amobi says, have been able to gradually mix traditional advertising with video-on-demand sales and digital advertising.CBS has trimmed its dependence on advertising revenue, which last year comprised 60% of the company’s $14 billion in sales, a drop from 65% in 2010.

“The media sector has been on a tear coming out of the worst years of the recession,” Amobi said. “The nascent revenue streams are starting to accelerate, and investors like that.”

Time Warner has been enjoying the additional catalyst of its impending spin-off of Time Inc., the largest U.S. magazine publisher, a split that the company has said will take place toward the end of 2013. CBS, likewise, has been bolstered by CEO Leslie Moonves’s plan to convert the company’s U.S. outdoor advertising division into a real estate investment trust and sell the international parts of that business. CBS is expected to use the proceeds from those transactions to fund further stock repurchases.

As a result, analysts are expecting Time Warner and CBS to show double-digit earnings growth for the first quarter while Viacom, harder hit by the downturn in traditional advertising, is forecast to report a 3% drop in earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Time Warner is also growing its international sales, as evidenced by increasing sales from HBO Latin America, and Viacom’s Paramount channels with pay-TV operators globally.

Univision’s Ramos Takes Aim at Media Hypocrisy

LAS VEGAS (TheStreet) — Jorge Ramos, the longtime Univision anchorman, cited the labor leader Cesar Chavez as a “great man, a wise man” as he accepted an award this week from the National Association of Broadcasters, the first Latino to receive the television industry group’s most prestigious prize.

Ramos, a journalist who has become the face of news reporting at Univision, the country’s most popular network regardless of language, cited the words of the United Farm Workers leader Chavez, the country’s first nationally known Latino leader, to illustrate how U.S. Hispanics have gone from being a marginal if exploited minority to a group whose population is taking an increasing higher profile in American life. 

“We have seen the future, and the future is ours,” Chavez said at one point during the long years of strikes and organizing as he attempted to force the U.S. government to extend labor protections to migrant worker toiling in the farm fields of California in the 1960s and 1970s. Chavez was a deeply divisive figure at the time, revered by many while scorned by large agriculture companies and the California governor at the time, Ronald Reagan. 

Ramos went on to say  that House Speaker John Boehner and his Republican leaders are blocking immigration reform in the House, and if they continue with this “anti-immigration position,” they will lose the White House in 2016, 2020, 2024, and so on. For good measure, the Univision anchor added that if President Obama “really wants to be a friend of the Latino community, he has to stop deporting us.” Obama has deported more people than any other president in this history of the United States, Ramos said, and “that has to stop.”

Ramos’ citing of Chavez, Boehner on immigration reform and Obama on deportations was especially notable because they are the kinds of associations and assertions that prompted outrage from self-appointed media-watchers.

The Media Research Council said as much in one of those “oh-my-goodness” reports that pundits love to parse over. The Reston, Va.-based media monitor, which would hardly deny its conservative leanings, said in a study made public on April 1 that when Univision chooses guests to appear on the network, there are “left-leaning sources overwhelmingly dominating domestic coverage.” 

The council’s report, which also included Univision’s Spanish-language rival Telemundo, said that out of 667 stories on domestic events and politics recorded from November through February, more than six times as many “tilted left/liberal” as those deemed “right/conservative.” That is, 45% to 6% with the remainder, 49%, characterized as “neutral.” 

In his speech, Ramos didn’t mention the Media Research study, but he did take aim at the slippery benchmark of impartiality. 

“Sometime we say that to be neutral is what we should do as journalists,” he said, after accepting the award from NAB President Gordon Smith, the former Republican senator from Oregon. “But I think we’re wrong on that. To be neutral has sometimes been an excuse not to do our job. Many, many times journalists in this country are way too close to the powerful, and as journalists we have to make them uncomfortable.” 

Indeed, Ramos has done that. Bolivian President Evo Morales ended a 2006 interview after six minutes during which Ramos asserted that Cuba was anything but a democracy. Morales couldn’t handle the questions, so he got up and left. Ramos did the same with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and has charged his successors with murdering student protestors. 

The assertion that journalists lean left has been around for a long time. Of course, it’s probably a natural interaction. Those in power tend to defend the status quo while those “tilting liberal/left” tend to question it. It’s a natural dichotomy, and journalism can provide the platform to exert dissent. Ramos makes no excuses for his politics. He views immigration reform and the end to deportations as unequivocal positives for U.S. Latinos. 

“We have to say in Venezuela, that the leader of the regime, because it’s not a democracy, is responsible for the killings of dozens of students,” Ramos said. “We have to say that as journalists.” 

“The role for journalists is to question those who are in power. We have to speak truth to power.”

New York Times Is Not for Sale, Got It?

A few days after Jeff Bezos, the Amazon  founder, purchased The Washington Post from the Graham Family, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the fourth-generation publisher and chairman of New York Times , joined his cousin and vice-chairman, Michael Golden, for a conference call with the large and extended Ochs-Sulzberger family.

The topic was the future of family ownership of the country’s best-known newspaper. Sulzberger wanted to get a sense of the family’s mood following news of the Graham sale, a transaction he said sent “a shock through the institution.” That Donald Graham chose to sell the Post turned speculation to The New York Times, the country’s last family-owned major metropolitan newspaper.

Indeed, the Ochs-Sulzberger’s continued ownership of the Times is a subject with no shortage of prognosticators and pretenders. Pundits and investors frequently weigh in on the subject, arguing that declining print advertising revenue combined with the challenges of making money online and the allure of a multibillion-dollar buyout should be enough to convince the family to sell.

“Everybody, as you might recall, said The Times is next, the Times is next,” Sulzberger said on Thursday at an event organized by Media Matters and moderated by Alex Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. “Michael and I said we would like to send out a memo and want to sign it from the family. It was amazing, they all said ‘yes, sign-it,’ we are not selling The New York Times.”

“The family is united around its ownership and its responsibility to maintaining The New York Times and its journalistic integrity and its journalistic independence,” he added.

While the Graham’s sale to Bezos did prompt the family to demonstrate its commitment to ownership, Sulzberger said the decline in the company’s stock price from $40.54 at the start of in 2005 to a low of $3.51 in February 2009 had provoked its own anxieties. The rapid decline in revenue caused by the 2008 banking implosion and the accelerated migration away from print advertising compelled the company’s board to eliminate its quarterly dividend in 2008.

“The family said we don’t like it, but if this is what we have to do, suck it up,” he recalled. The dividend was restored in December, five years after it was completely eliminated.

Since February 2009, New York Times has gained 365%, trading on Thursday at $16.24.

Rather than looking for an exit strategy, Sulzberger said he and Golden are grooming six members of the fifth generation of the Ochs-Sulzberger family to eventually take over the company once he retires, a development the chairman hastened to add isn’t coming anytime soon.

“We are going to develop them,” he said. “There will be at some point, choices to be made. But yes, there is a succession plan.”

As for the nitty-gritty of running the company, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson said the company is investing in numerous online platforms and digital applications to grow revenue, which fell 21% in 2013 to $1.58 billion. Advertising revenue has fallen for 13 straight quarters.

Digital subscriptions have increased, boosted by a variety of online offerings and a sometimes controversial native advertising campaign that allows marketers to format content that looks similar to the newspaper’s articles. Additionally, New York Times rebranded the International Herald Tribune as the International New York Times, seeking to grow revenue outside North America.

“Is it possible to believe that revenue at New York Times will increase, yes it is,” said Thompson, who was hired in late-2012 from the British Broadcasting System, the first CEO hired from outside the company since Adolf Ochs purchased the newspaper out of bankruptcy in 1896. “As a company, we have to get used to the idea of experimenting and innovating and trying new things while recognizing not everything is going to work.”

One area of concern for both the publisher and CEO has been China’s efforts to hamper the newspaper’s coverage of the country’s Communist Party, which dominates all facets of daily life in the world’s second-largest economy. Thompson said that even as the government has refused to grant some reporters visas in the wake of investigations, that alleged corruption among high-ranking party members and their families, “traffic via VPNs through our Chinese-language Web site…suggests we’re getting some extensive both and indrect readership in China.”

“We think that what we’re doing in China will continue to command interest and respect, and will be valued in China, and in what will probably be a long time rather than a short time, that will lead to potentially, ultimately, commercial success for the New York Times in China,” Thompson added.

As for Carlos Slim, the billionaire owner of Latin American telecom giant America Movil , Sulzberger said the Mexican tycoon, who is sometimes cited as a possible buyer of the New York Times, is a passive investor who has never asked for a board seat. Slim owns 11.9 million shares in the company, good for an 8% stake. 

“Carlos is an investor, it’s really that simple,” Sulzberger said. “He’s a shareholder, a major shareholder. And by the way, great one. he’s never asked for a place on our board of directors, or anything. The Spanish term is, he’s a mensch.”

Major League Soccer Wants a Brand New Television Deal

Major League Soccer is poised for a breakout, and the league is determined to get a television deal to secure profitability.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) – Mark Abbott has been waiting for this moment for 20 years.

At the end of 2014, the television rights for Major League Soccer, currently held by Disney‘s (DIS – Get Report) ESPN, Comcast‘s (CMCSA – Get Report) NBC Sports Network and Univision’s UniMas, will expire, affording Abbott, the league’s president and its first employee, the opportunity to cement a deal that could catapult the 19-team MLS into territory it hasn’t known since beginning play in 1996: profitability.

Major League Soccer’s chance to negotiate a new television contract comes at a uniquely opportune time for a league that has sometimes struggled to forge a place in the consciousness of the U.S. sports fan. Yet a new television contract could change that dynamic by generating more upfront revenue to support teams operating in the red while providing wider exposure to boost ticket sales.

Talks for a new contract are taking place as pay-TV providers, led by Comcast and Time Warner Cable (TWC), are eager to secure sports programming. With Netflix (NFLX) drawing more subscribers than Time Warner’s HBO, live sporting events have become the one bloc of programming that can still sustain traditional pay-TV packages even as fees continue to climb.

“We’re very optimistic about the outcome of these discussions for us as we look at our agreement post-2014,” said Abbott, who came to MLS in 1993 from the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins where he worked for the league’s founder, Alan I. Rothenberg. “The market right now for sports rights is robust.”

MLS’ TV contract also happens to be expiring as only one other major professional and college sports league — the National Basketball Association in 2016 — will be negotiating a broadcast rights deal over the next seven years, through 2020. And though MLS TV ratings are low (a 220,000 average on ESPN, according to Sports Business Journal), game attendance is higher than the NBA or the National Hockey League. 

The sport’s heightening popularity – think youth participation — bodes well for securing a deal more than double the size of its current $30 million annual contract with ESPN and NBCSN, and in Spanish on Univision’s UniMas. The 18th MLS championship game is Saturday on ESPN at 4pm New York time, pitting two small-market teams that have built lively followings, Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City.

“Ratings are small but the potential for dollars is large because there isn’t a lot of sport content still available,” Rob Tilliss, founder of Inner Circle Sports, a sports investment banking boutique, said in a phone interview. “Ultimately, the MLS’s TV contact will be driven by advertising rates. Even on low ratings points, they can still get good ad rates because it’s live content.”

Competition among television and online media networks has also intensified, giving MLS more potential bidders. Fox Sports 1, 21stCentury Fox‘s (FOXA – Get Report) ambitious effort to compete with ESPN, began airing in June, entering a field already occupied by CBS (CBS – Get Report) Sports, Time Warner‘s (TWX) Turner Broadcasting, Comcast’s NBC Sports and a variety of other specialty networks and streaming Web sites. Making matters more interesting, Google(GOOG – Get Report) and Apple (AAPL) are considering entering the televised sports market.

Besides extracting more money for its broadcasting rights, MLS Commissioner Don Garber has emphasized the need for a consistent schedule, arguing that viewing has been hurt by the lack of a uniform days and times for nationally-televised games. 

“To grow your television ratings, you have to grow your fan base first, and we’ve been growing our fan base,” Garber said during a webcast speech on Tuesday. “We have to find a partner that gives us the right schedule, that gives us the right promotion and marketing, that is embracing us in ways that will allow us to have our programming be valuable, and be a priority both for the broadcaster and for our fans.”

The ability of Abbott and Garber to bargain with Disney or Fox could be strengthened if the U.S. national team, of which half will be comprised by MLS players such as Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez, does well in the World Cup in Brazil in June.

“It’s important, very important, for Major League Soccer to secure another TV deal that underscores its overall growth,” says David M. Carter, a principal at the Los Angeles-based Sports Business Group and Executive Director of the University of Southern California’s Marshall Sports Business Institute. “Any time there are multiple bidders, there are emerging technologies and there seems to be an insatiable appetite for live entertainment that bodes well for those in the sports space.”

While MLS isn’t likely to command the fees afforded the NFL or MLB, a rejuvenated TV deal could strengthen its overall financial health.

Major League Soccer’s unique structure requires each team owner to own a share in the costs and benefits of the entire league. By structuring MLS as something of a cooperative, Abbott has been able to mandate certain projects, such as allocating $20 million-a-year to finance youth academy player-development programs at each club (90 current MLS players began at one of the academies), and the construction of soccer-specific stadiums. At present, 15 of 19 teams play in soccer stadiums, with San Jose slated to enter its new facility in 2015.

By pooling some costs, healthier clubs can help those in need. Forbes reported last month that ten of the league’s 19 teams are making a profit based on the metric of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. According to the Forbes report, the average MLS franchise is worth $103 million compared to $37 million in 2008. 

Financially, the league may still be in start-up mode but operationally there is much to support Abbott’s characterization of the MLS as a “growth stock” poised to benefit from the addition of a New York City-based team in 2015 and the possibility that English star and former MLS player David Beckham will be successful in bringing a team to Miami. 

“The investments that we’ve made over the last 18 years, but the last 10 years in particular have provided the foundation and infrastructure for growth,” he said. “We’re seeing that growth already particularly over the past five years. If we continue to grow over the next 10 years as we have over the last five years, the league will be an entirely different place than it is now.”

The league’s central planning has helped to control costs by mandating a salary budget currently at $2.95 million. (By comparison, the NBA’s 2013-14 salary cap is $58.7 million.) Exceptions to the salary limit, approved by the front office, have allowed for the signing of international stars such as Beckham, Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, deals that help to boost attendance throughout the league.

Average game attendance for the 2013 season was 18,594, a higher total than either the NBA (17,348 for the 2011-12 season) or the NHL (17,721 for 2012-13 season). Total league attendance topped 6 million. Before its 2012 season, the MLS had never exceeded 5.5 million.

Seattle especially, but Portland, Kansas City, Houston and Columbus demonstrated that soccer, when properly marketed with a compelling product, can turn a nice profit. Seattle’s average game attendance of 44,038 is more than twice the Seattle Mariners baseball team and double the L.A. Galaxy, the league’s second-most popular team.

The challenge for Abbott is convincing ESPN or another network to pay more for a product whose biggest growth may lie in the future.

In an e-mailed statement, ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer said, “We continue to believe in soccer and in MLS as we think it is important that the US has a vibrant and growing domestic soccer league. We are looking forward to discussing the future with Soccer United Marketing and finding ways to grow the television audience for MLS.” Soccer United Marketing is MLS’ commercial arm.

The timing for a new television contract does appear inviting. Major League Baseball last year secured an eight-year $12.4 billion media rights contract with ESPN, Fox and Turner, a more than 50% increase over its prior deal. The NFL in 2011 agreed to a roughly $3 billion annual TV television package with CBS, Fox and NBC through the 2022 season, an increase from the league’s previous $1.9 billion-a-year deal. The NBA receives a combined $930 million a year from ESPN and Time Warner’s Turner Sports, according to Sports Business Journal.

When Abbott meets with television executives, he also talks about the demographics of MLS fan. Besides a base of recent immigrants from countries where soccer is king, educated, reasonably affluent, 20-and-30-somethings have emerged as active supporters of the league, devotees who like soccer as much or more than football, baseball and basketball. The under-35 fan, Abbott says, doesn’t remember when MLS wasn’t created or when the World Cup wasn’t broadcast on national television, or when the U.S. team wasn’t poised to compete at a high level. Youth participation is also sky-high.

The U.S. soccer fan may be emerging at a time when the sport’s popularity looks to be accelerating. The question of Abbott is translating those trends into a handsome TV deal.

“The demographics are moving in their direction,” Tilliss said. “There’s all these NFL concussion stories, and the fact that unless you’re tall or a gifted shooter, it’s very hard to make it in the NBA, whereas the youth participation rates for soccer are way, way up. The growth rate for the MLS is pretty amazing.”

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to Eight-Month Low After Sales Forecast Cu January 3, 2013, 5:43 PM EST Technology Allot Sinks as Oppenheimer Says Sales to Miss Analyst Estimates January 3, 2013, 11:02 AM EST Technology MagicJack Surges as CEO Says Departure to Cut Shorts December 28, 2012, 4:41 PM EST Technology Teva’s Record Retreat on Outlook Signals Buy to Gabelli December 27, 2012, 6:05 PM EST Technology MagicJack CEO Sees Revenue Exceeding Estimates: Israel Overnight December 27, 2012, 1:25 PM EST Business MagicJack’s Borislow Says Fourth-Quarter Sales to Beat Estimates December 26, 2012, 3:09 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Slip as Oil Bets Pull Back: Russia Overnight December 25, 2012, 4:06 PM EST Technology Tel Aviv Shares Beat New York on Gas Outlook: Israel Overnight December 23, 2012, 9:44 AM EST Technology Gazit-Globe Targets Sweden, Brazil After Rally: Israel Overnight December 20, 2012, 11:21 AM EST Technology Teva CEO Outlook Leaves Investors Wanting More: Israel Overnight December 16, 2012, 9:35 AM EST Technology Gazit Discount Narrows on Demand as Teva Sinks: Israel Overnight December 13, 2012, 2:58 AM EST Technology LivePerson Targets Share Buyback After Tumble: Israel Overnight December 12, 2012, 3:06 AM EST Technology Bullish Teva Bets Hit 7-Month High on Strategy: Israel Overnight December 11, 2012, 11:08 AM EST Technology Cellcom Cheapens to Partner on Outlook: Israel Overnight December 9, 2012, 2:57 AM EST Technology SodaStream Counts on Super Bowl Ads for Sales: Israel Overnight December 6, 2012, 5:38 PM EST deals Retalix Has Record Climb as NCR Clinches 3rd-Biggest Deal November 29, 2012, 10:04 AM EST deals Retalix Surges on Report of Sale to NCR for $800 Million November 28, 2012, 3:40 PM EST Business Ceragon Targets Africa as Shares Jump on Deals: Israel Overnight November 28, 2012, 10:43 AM EST Technology Trina Stokes Slide on Loss as FDI Pared: China Overnight November 20, 2012, 4:42 PM EST Technology Tower Jumps in N.Y. as Cease-Fire Efforts Boost Outlook November 19, 2012, 5:56 PM EST Technology Futures Gain as Mechel Discount Swells: Russia Overnight November 18, 2012, 11:19 PM EST Markets Worst Week Since July Widens Allot’s Discount: Israel Overnight November 17, 2012, 5:00 PM EST Markets Israeli Stocks Tumble in New York on Jerusalem Missile November 16, 2012, 2:32 PM EST Markets Oil Hits Futures as MSCI Lifts Sberbank: Russia Overnight November 15, 2012, 10:05 PM EST Technology Troop Call-Up Sends Blue Square Lower: Israel Overnight November 15, 2012, 6:48 PM EST Technology Gaza Strike Spurs Biggest Drop in Three Months: Israel Overnight November 15, 2012, 3:58 AM EST Business Emerging-Market Stocks Post Longest Rout Since August November 14, 2012, 5:59 PM EST Business MagicJack Rallies on Prospects Lower Costs to Boost Earnings November 9, 2012, 4:45 PM EST Business Perrigo Premium Rises on Bets OTC Sales Gained: Israel Overnight November 6, 2012, 10:58 AM EST Business Hong Kong Volatility at Year Low Versus VIX: China Overnight November 4, 2012, 8:27 PM EST Business Macau Golden Week Sends Melco to Six-Month High November 2, 2012, 4:46 PM EDT Technology Nice to ClickSoftware Jump Pares Monthly Slump: Israel Overnight November 1, 2012, 10:38 AM EDT Technology Allot to Ceragon Widen Premium After Storm: Israel Overnight October 31, 2012, 11:25 AM EDT Technology ETF Discount to Peers Swells as MegaFon Delays October 29, 2012, 12:28 AM EDT Business Rosneft Narrowing Gap to Exxon on Buyout Deal: Russia Overnight October 24, 2012, 10:52 PM EDT Technology Check Point Sees Cyber Attacks Aiding Revenue: Israel Overnight October 18, 2012, 10:48 AM EDT Technology Check Point Slumps Most in Nine Years as Europe Cuts Billings October 17, 2012, 11:43 AM EDT Business Tourist Stocks Drive Longest Rally Since April: China Overnight October 14, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Technology Infosys Sinks Most in 3 Months in New York on Sales Outlook October 12, 2012, 4:34 PM EDT Business New Oriental Gains as Stimulus Bets Boost ADRs: China Overnight October 11, 2012, 5:13 PM EDT Business Guangshen Jumps as New Leaders to Stoke Economy: China Ov October 10, 2012, 5:05 PM EDT Technology Baidu Leads Internet Drop as IMF Cuts Economic Outlook October 9, 2012, 4:58 PM EDT Technology Baidu Sinks as Credit Suisse Is Third Bank to Cut Rating October 9, 2012, 11:27 AM EDT Business SouFun Sinks as Housing Woes Worsen Outlook: Overnight October 8, 2012, 4:53 PM EDT economics Cnooc Discounted as Oil Stocks Slide on Economy: China Overnight October 3, 2012, 5:05 PM EDT Technology AutoNavi Sinks to Four-Month Low on Apple Mapping Debacle October 2, 2012, 4:44 PM EDT economics Apple Maps Fiasco Sinks AutoNavi; Ctrip Gains: Overnight October 2, 2012, 4:41 PM EDT Technology New Oriental Sinks as Block Renews Allegations October 1, 2012, 8:19 PM EDT Business Arthur Sulzberger, Ex-New York Times Publisher, Dies at 86 September 29, 2012, 7:15 PM EDT Business New Oriental Jumps as Oppenheimer Reports on SEC Cooperation September 28, 2012, 4:21 PM EDT Technology New Oriental Jumps on Stimulus Bets: China Overnight September 27, 2012, 9:45 PM EDT deals Suntech Leads Tumble on Plosser Growth Comments: China Overnight September 25, 2012, 6:28 PM EDT deals 7 Days Leads Consumer Bounce on Economy: China Overnight September 25, 2012, 2:00 PM EDT Business Focus Media Falls to Lowest Since Proposed Buyout Offer September 24, 2012, 4:58 PM EDT economics E-House Tops Biggest Loss in Two Months: China Overnight September 21, 2012, 4:48 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Fund Inflows Reach 32-Week High, EPFR Says September 21, 2012, 2:40 PM EDT Technology Ctrip Surges as ADRs Rebound on Japan Stimulus: China Overnight September 19, 2012, 4:41 PM EDT Technology Yanzhou Slumps as Japan Land Dispute Sinks ADRs: China Overnight September 18, 2012, 4:53 PM EDT economics Wen Growth Pledge Lures Back Janney Montgomery: China Overnight September 16, 2012, 12:01 PM EDT Technology Cnooc Rallies as ADRs Post Biggest Gain in 2012: China Overnight September 14, 2012, 4:42 PM EDT Technology Dangdang Jumps as Fed Stimulus Plan Boosts ADRs: China Overnight September 13, 2012, 5:36 PM EDT Business Emerging Stocks Rise to One-Month High on Stimulus Bets September 12, 2012, 5:58 PM EDT Technology Youku Leads Internet ADR Rally on Citigroup Buy: China Overnight September 12, 2012, 4:57 PM EDT Business Emerging Stocks Gain on Stimulus Expectations September 11, 2012, 5:39 PM EDT Business Qihoo Rises as Wen Stimulus Comment Buoys ADRs: China Overnight September 11, 2012, 4:51 PM EDT pursuits Emerging Stocks Rise to Two-Week High on Stimulus Bets September 10, 2012, 5:37 PM EDT Technology Guangshen Slumps as Falling Imports Sink ADRs: China Overnight September 10, 2012, 5:04 PM EDT Technology Carlyle-Focus Media Buyout Doubted as Puts Jump: China Overnight September 9, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Technology Yanzhou Coal Jumps as Stimulus Bets Spur Rally: China Overnight September 7, 2012, 4:20 PM EDT Business Ambow Rebounds as ECB Bond Plan Spurs ADR Rally: China Overnight September 6, 2012, 4:55 PM EDT economics Yanzhou Tumbles as Rate-Cut Doubts Sink ADRs: China Overnight September 5, 2012, 4:29 PM EDT Technology Ambow Trading Halted on Company’s Probe Into Unit’s Schools September 5, 2012, 4:22 PM EDT economics Solars Lead Weekly ADR Slump Before PMI Report: China Overnight August 31, 2012, 4:36 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Record Fifth Week of Inflows, EPFR Says August 31, 2012, 1:22 PM EDT Business Yingli Plunges as Earnings Concerns Sink ADRs: China Overnight August 30, 2012, 4:39 PM EDT Business Qihoo Gains After Saying Search Engine Is Own Technology August 29, 2012, 4:54 PM EDT Technology Baidu Drops as Slower Growth Outlook Damps ADRs: China Overnight August 29, 2012, 4:46 PM EDT Technology Sberbank Shares Advance on Bet Earnings to Beat Estimates August 28, 2012, 11:07 PM EDT Technology Emerging Stocks Fall to Three-Week Low as Chinese Profits Slump August 27, 2012, 6:08 PM EDT Technology Chalco Drops as ADRs Slide to Three-Week Low: China Overnight August 27, 2012, 5:23 PM EDT Business Perfect World Falls Most in Three Weeks on Earnings Speculation August 27, 2012, 2:58 PM EDT Technology Emerging Stocks Snap Five-Day Rally on China Trade Data August 10, 2012, 5:55 PM EDT Technology Spreadtrum Tumbles on Outlook as 51Job Surges: Overnight August 10, 2012, 5:00 PM EDT Technology VanceInfo Falls Most in Eight Months as Profit Misses Estimates August 10, 2012, 3:02 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post Second Week of Inflows, EPFR Says August 10, 2012, 1:37 PM EDT Business 51Job Jumps Most Since 2010 as Sales Forecast Beats Estimate August 10, 2012, 12:55 PM EDT pursuits Earnings Miss Sinks ADRs as Renren Tumbles: China Overnight August 8, 2012, 6:21 PM EDT pursuits Renren Leads ADR Slump as Slowdown Swells Loss: Overnight August 8, 2012, 2:49 PM EDT Business Mindray Medical Jumps as Policy Bets Boost ADRs: China Overnight August 7, 2012, 4:29 PM EDT Technology Emerging Stocks Rise to 3-Month as Europe Concerns Ease August 6, 2012, 6:27 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post $1.52 Billion of Inflows, EPFR Says August 3, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT pursuits Stimulus Doubts Sink ADRs as PetroChina Tumbles: China Overnight August 2, 2012, 5:24 PM EDT pursuits Manufacturing Index Sinks ADRs as Suntech Down: Overnight August 1, 2012, 4:47 PM EDT pursuits New Oriental Tops July Rout as Growth Hits ADRs: China Overnight July 31, 2012, 4:38 PM EDT Business AsiaInfo Falls Amid Concern Buyout Proposal May Not Be Completed July 31, 2012, 1:54 PM EDT Technology Growth Concern Widens Gap in Volatility Indexes: China Overnight July 29, 2012, 11:22 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post $101 Million of Outflows, EPFR Says July 27, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Technology Emerging Stocks Rise Most in Week on Earnings, Stimulus July 26, 2012, 5:44 PM EDT Technology Spreadtrum Jumps as City Stimulus Spurs Rally: China Overnight July 26, 2012, 4:43 PM EDT pursuits Ctrip Slumps on Declining Margin as SMI Jumps: China Overnight July 25, 2012, 3:31 PM EDT economics Emerging Stocks Fall for Third Day on Worsening Europe Crisis July 24, 2012, 5:54 PM EDT Business Emerging Stock Funds Post Outflow on Growth Concerns, EPFR Says July 20, 2012, 4:26 PM EDT Markets Yandex Leads Consumer Rally on Ruble Strength July 19, 2012, 6:43 PM EDT Business CTC Media’s Russia TV Audience Shares Steady, TNS-Global Says July 19, 2012, 6:24 PM EDT Technology Sberbank Hits Two-Month High on Fitch Rating: Russia Overnight July 18, 2012, 6:52 PM EDT Business Surgut Premium Widens on Brent’s Five-Day Gain July 17, 2012, 8:15 PM EDT Technology Emerging Stocks Gain on Prospect Central Banks to Take Action July 16, 2012, 6:57 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post Second Week of Inflows, EPFR Says July 13, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Technology Budget Hotels Drop as Growth Concerns Sink ADRs: China Overnight July 12, 2012, 4:28 PM EDT Business LDK, Trina Solar Tumble as Piper Jaffray Reduces Recommendations July 12, 2012, 1:55 PM EDT Technology COO Resignation News Report Spurs Tudou Slump: China Overnight July 11, 2012, 6:09 PM EDT Business Youku Falls to 6-Month Low as China Targets Web Pornography July 10, 2012, 5:25 PM EDT Technology Youku Leads ADRs’ Decline on Trade Data: China Overnight July 10, 2012, 4:52 PM EDT Business Ambow Declines for a Sixth Day as Macquarie Reduces Target Price July 10, 2012, 1:44 PM EDT Business Inflation at Two-Year Low Spurs Commodity Slump: China Overnight July 9, 2012, 4:43 PM EDT Business Tech ADRs Lead Biggest Slump in Week on Growth: Overnight July 8, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Business Sinopec Falls to 10-Month Low on Report Diesel Prices May Be Cut July 6, 2012, 2:35 PM EDT deals ShangPharma Surges Most in 10 Months on Acquisition Offer July 6, 2012, 1:33 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post Inflows on Bank Rate Cuts, EPFR Says July 6, 2012, 1:25 PM EDT Business Ambow Education Falls as Finance Chief Resigns on Net Loss July 5, 2012, 5:23 PM EDT Technology Baidu Hits 2-Week High as Rate Cut Spurs Rally July 5, 2012, 4:37 PM EDT Business Brent Above $100 Spurs Jump to Seven-Week High: Russia Overnight July 4, 2012, 12:07 AM EDT economics Internet Stocks Lead Retreat on Manufacturing: China Overnight July 2, 2012, 4:33 PM EDT Business Sina Falls to Lowest Since January as Maxim Cuts Forecast July 2, 2012, 4:10 PM EDT Business Emerging-Market Equity Funds Post Outflows, EPFR Global Says June 29, 2012, 12:04 PM EDT Technology Asset Sale Delays Bolster Cheapest Valuations: Russia Overnight June 29, 2012, 3:26 AM EDT Business Giant Jumps as Stimulus Bets Trigger ADR Rally: China Overnight June 27, 2012, 4:37 PM EDT Business Mauritius Rating Raised at Moody’s on Outlook for Economy June 26, 2012, 3:53 PM EDT Business NetEase Leads Gain From 3-Week Low on Trade: Overnight June 26, 2012, 4:41 PM EDT Markets Melco Falls to 3-Week Low After Credit Suisse Cuts Price Target June 25, 2012, 11:48 AM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post Outflow on Slowing Growth, EPFR Says June 22, 2012, 1:33 PM EDT economics Unicom Leads Mobile Carriers Tumble on 3G Users: China Overnight June 20, 2012, 4:55 PM EDT Markets Melco Crown Rises to Three-Week High on Resort Construction June 20, 2012, 1:50 PM EDT Business Sina Advances in New York on Report of Premium Weibo Service June 19, 2012, 4:57 PM EDT Technology Suntech Jumps on Japan Subsidies as Elong Gains: China Overnight June 18, 2012, 5:35 PM EDT deals AsiaInfo Jumps Most in Five Months on Acquisition Report June 15, 2012, 4:47 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Snap Five Weeks of Outflows, EPFR Says June 15, 2012, 4:12 PM EDT Business Youku Leads Slide as Credit Suisse Cuts Outlook: China Overnight June 14, 2012, 4:22 PM EDT Business Melco Discount Grows as Euro Woes Spur ADR Drop: China Overnight June 13, 2012, 5:43 PM EDT Business Chinese Solar Stocks Fall on Forecast for Slower European Demand June 13, 2012, 4:27 PM EDT Business HSBC Boosts Foreign-Currency Emerging Bonds After Yields Surge June 13, 2012, 2:38 PM EDT Technology LDK Leads Surge on First Solar Demand in Europe: China Overnight June 12, 2012, 4:53 PM EDT pursuits Ctrip Leads Slump as Index Erases Gain on Year: China Overnight June 11, 2012, 6:13 PM EDT Business China Eastern Rises to Four-Week High on Budget Airline Outlook June 11, 2012, 4:20 PM EDT Business Shanda Gains Most in Six Weeks Before Earnings Report June 11, 2012, 1:45 PM EDT pursuits Wen Stimulus Helps Mid-Size Stocks, Semple Says: China Overnight June 10, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post Fifth Week of Outflows, EPFR Says June 8, 2012, 6:03 PM EDT Technology Dangdang Leads Biggest ADR Rally in Eight Weeks: China Overnight June 6, 2012, 4:27 PM EDT Business Huaneng Power Climbs to 3-Month High on Appliance Subsidy June 5, 2012, 4:13 PM EDT Business ETF Bearish Bets Drop to Year Low on Discount: Russia Overnight June 3, 2012, 11:40 PM EDT Business Emerging Stock Funds Post Outflow on Growth Concerns, EPFR Says June 1, 2012, 7:08 PM EDT Business CTC Media’s 18-Plus Audience Share Increases, TNS-Global Says June 1, 2012, 7:01 PM EDT Business Rostelecom Tumbles as MSCI Inc. Cuts Country Index Weighting May 31, 2012, 4:37 PM EDT Markets Brent Oil’s Tumble to Five-Year Low Spurs Lukoil Retreat May 30, 2012, 11:12 PM EDT Business CTC Media’s 4 Years-Plus Moscow Audience Rises, TNS Global Says May 30, 2012, 3:01 PM EDT pursuits Sberbank Shares Jump as ADRs Climb From Seven-Month Low May 29, 2012, 10:31 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post Outflow on Europe Concerns, EPFR Says May 25, 2012, 1:35 PM EDT pursuits Solar Companies Tumble as Profit Outlook Sours: China Overnight May 27, 2012, 12:01 PM EDT

economics RTS Tumbles as Mechel Retreats on China Growth: Russia Overnight May 24, 2012, 8:14 PM EDT Business Trina Solar Leads ADR Drop on Earnings Outlook: China Overnight May 22, 2012, 4:50 PM EDT deals Tudou Gains Most in 10 Weeks as Cost Controls Boost Profit May 21, 2012, 4:38 PM EDT Business Chinese Solar Stocks Gain on Bet U.S. Duties Won’t Cut Sales May 21, 2012, 4:27 PM EDT Business Renren Drops Most on Record as Facebook Optimism Fades May 21, 2012, 10:50 AM EDT Business ADR Premium to BRICs Narrows on Europe Concerns: China Overnight May 20, 2012, 12:01 PM EDT Business Emerging Stock Funds Post Biggest Outflow in 5 Months, EPFR Says May 18, 2012, 4:03 PM EDT Business Dangdang Falls to 10-Week Low After Outlook Trails Estimates May 17, 2012, 4:36 PM EDT Technology Dangdang Pushes ADRs to 4-Month Low: China Overnight May 17, 2012, 4:34 PM EDT Technology Dangdang Gains as Yanzhou Coal Discount Widens: China Overnight May 15, 2012, 5:48 PM EDT Technology Renren Leads ADRs Rebound on Facebook IPO Price: China Overnight May 15, 2012, 12:52 PM EDT Business Melco Leads ADRs Record Losing Streak on Growth: China Overnight May 14, 2012, 5:06 PM EDT Technology ADRs Slump Most in 2012 on Earnings Woes: China Overnight May 13, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Business Emerging Stock Funds Post Biggest 2012 Weekly Outflow, EPFR Says May 11, 2012, 3:54 PM EDT Business 51Job Down Most in 2012 as Growth Sours: China Overnight May 10, 2012, 5:48 PM EDT Business China Nuokang Posts Record Gain as Chairman Proposes Buyout May 9, 2012, 5:41 PM EDT Business Emerging Stocks Fall to 4-Month Low on Europe Concerns May 9, 2012, 5:02 PM EDT Pursuits Michael Kors Declines After Fossil Lowers 2012 Forecast May 8, 2012, 4:47 PM EDT pursuits SouFun Drops as ADR Valuations Sink on Housing: China Overnight May 7, 2012, 5:02 PM EDT Technology China to Capitalize on Nasdaq Jump With Tech IPOs, BNY Says May 7, 2012, 4:29 PM EDT Business Sohu Drives First ADR Index Tumble Since March May 6, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT Business Dangdang Leads Decline as Services Stall: China Overnight May 3, 2012, 5:15 PM EDT economics Renren Leads ADR Gains as Manufacturing Grows: China Overnight May 2, 2012, 4:27 PM EDT Technology Facebook Holder Accel Leads Investment in Russian Website May 2, 2012, 1:01 AM EDT Technology Cnooc Climbs to Biggest Premium as Output Grows: China Overnight May 1, 2012, 5:22 PM EDT pursuits Sohu Declines as Easing Growth Curbs Profits: China Overnight April 30, 2012, 5:22 PM EDT deals Second IPO Below Target as Economy Slows: China Overnight April 29, 2012, 12:01 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Record Third Week of Outflows, EPFR Says April 27, 2012, 4:23 PM EDT Technology Spreadtrum Boosts Index Gains on Chips Shipment: China Overnight April 26, 2012, 5:06 PM EDT Business Consumer Stocks Climb as Wen Bolsters Outlook: China Overnight April 25, 2012, 4:41 PM EDT Technology India ADRs Gain as S&P Cuts Nation’s Outlook; Wipro Sinks April 25, 2012, 9:43 AM EDT Technology Renren Leads Internet Slide as Facebook Falters: China Overnight April 24, 2012, 5:38 PM EDT economics LDK Leads Solar Slump on Manufacturing, First Solar Downgrade April 23, 2012, 5:25 PM EDT economics Best Rally Since February on Easing Prospects: China Overnight April 22, 2012, 9:21 PM EDT Technology Qihoo Boosts New York Stocks as PBOC Signals Adding Cash April 19, 2012, 5:39 PM EDT Business Qihoo Rises Most Since June as Auditor Backs Financial Statement April 19, 2012, 3:39 PM EDT Business Spreadtrum Falls to Eight-Month Low on Rival’s Buy Rating April 18, 2012, 4:44 PM EDT Business Trina Solar Climbs Most in a Month as Auriga Upgrades to Buy April 17, 2012, 4:20 PM EDT Technology Better IMF Outlook Boosts Equities After Slump: China Overnight April 17, 2012, 5:37 PM EDT Business Dangdang Falls Most in 10 Months as Finance Chief Resigns April 16, 2012, 4:22 PM EDT Markets Melco Crown Surges in New York as Goldman Upgrades to Buy April 11, 2012, 4:35 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post $42 Million of Inflows, EPFR Says April 6, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT deals Youku Climbs on Internet Video License for Tablets, Smartphones April 5, 2012, 1:12 PM EDT deals Suntech Power and LDK Solar Decline on China Loan-Cost Concerns April 4, 2012, 4:56 PM EDT deals Sina Drops to 5-Week Low After Suspending Weibo Commentary April 2, 2012, 5:21 PM EDT Business China Southern Gains Most in 8 Weeks as A380s May Fly Abroad March 30, 2012, 5:54 PM EDT Business NetEase Drops Most in Three Weeks as Deutsche Cuts to Hold March 29, 2012, 6:20 PM EDT Business China Eastern Falls to Five-Month Low on Air China Outlook March 28, 2012, 5:45 PM EDT Technology Baidu Leads Stock Climb on Fed Prospects: China Overnight March 26, 2012, 5:02 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Post 12th Week of Inflows, EPFR Says March 23, 2012, 2:51 PM EDT Technology Renren Facebook Boost to Be Shortlived on Ads, Maxim Says March 22, 2012, 4:33 PM EDT Business JA Solar Rallies as U.S. Sets Duties on Chinese Solar Imports March 20, 2012, 5:35 PM EDT Business China Unicom Falls to One-Year Low as Subscriber Gains Slow March 19, 2012, 4:58 PM EDT Cybersecurity Check Point Rally Curbed as Dell Eyes Market: Israel Overnight March 18, 2012, 10:38 AM EDT deals Mellanox Sees More M&A After RadVision Buyout: Israel Overnight March 15, 2012, 7:31 PM EDT Technology SodaStream Surges Most in Three Months on New Machine March 13, 2012, 11:08 AM EDT Technology MagicJack Jumps as Economy Pushes Calls to Web: Israel Overnight March 11, 2012, 5:00 PM EDT Business Emerging Equity Funds Record 10th Week of Inflows, EPFR Says March 9, 2012, 4:32 PM EST deals EZchip a Buy to MKM at Double Nasdaq Valuation: Israel Overnight March 8, 2012, 8:23 PM EST Business Nice Premium Widens After Meetings: Israel Overnight March 8, 2012, 2:42 PM EST Business Fear Fueled Putin’s Strong-Arm Rise to Power: Book Review March 7, 2012, 7:00 PM EST Technology Cellcom Calls Jump on Earnings-Surprise Wagers: Israel Overnight March 6, 2012, 10:56 AM EST Technology Prolor to ‘Transform’ Market as Shares Rebound: Israel Overnight March 4, 2012, 10:03 AM EST deals Putin Favored Spurs SocGen to Recommend Calls: Russia Overnight March 2, 2012, 10:13 AM EST economics Putin Buyback for VTB Denounced as Political Interference March 2, 2012, 7:43 AM EST economics BRIC Investors Lose Out as Statists Forgo Earnings March 2, 2012, 6:59 AM EST Technology Perrigo Premium Widens on FDA Generics Hearing: Israel Overnight March 1, 2012, 6:49 PM EST Business SodaStream Drops Most in Six Months as Unit Sales Slow February 29, 2012, 4:24 PM EST Technology Oil Jump Buoys Fund Flows as N.Y. Stocks Climb: Russia Overnight February 19, 2012, 9:13 PM EST Business Emerging Stock Inflows Halved on Greece Aid Concerns, EPFR Says February 17, 2012, 4:15 PM EST pursuits Gazprom Chases China as Europe Demand Falters: Russia Overnight February 16, 2012, 7:27 PM EST Markets Mechel Discount Deepens as Metals Drop on U.S.: Russia Overnight February 14, 2012, 11:05 PM EST Business Norilsk ADRs Gain Most in Three Weeks as Commodity Prices Rise February 13, 2012, 1:00 PM EST Technology ETF Has First Drop of 2012 as Greece Slams Oil: Russia Overnight February 12, 2012, 10:08 PM EST Business Mechel Falls Most in Eight Weeks as Work Suspended for Safety February 10, 2012, 4:12 PM EST Business Emerging Stock Inflows Climb to 15-Month High, EPFR Global Says February 10, 2012, 1:05 PM EST Business Futures Climb on Rising Oil as Norilsk Gains: Russia Overnight February 8, 2012, 7:14 PM EST Business Discount of 50% to Emerging Markets Lures HSBC: Russia Overnight February 7, 2012, 10:23 PM EST Technology Futures Jump as Barclays Downplays Protests: Russia Overnight February 6, 2012, 6:27 PM EST Technology Mechel Premium Swells as U.S. Jobs Buoy Metals: Russia Overnight February 5, 2012, 10:29 PM EST Business Emerging Stock Fund Flows Show Best Start Since 2006, EPFR Says February 3, 2012, 1:39 PM EST Technology Yandex Boosted by Facebook as Cheapness Lures: Russia Overnight February 2, 2012, 7:06 PM EST deals CEDC Surges in New York on Russian Standard Stake Proposal February 2, 2012, 10:06 AM EST Business Mechel Gains in U.S as Factories Show Strength: Russia Overnight February 1, 2012, 10:22 PM EST Technology Micex Extending Gains to Aberdeen on Consumers: Russia Overnight January 31, 2012, 10:09 PM EST Markets Futures Rise as Putin Vows to Cut State Role: Russia Overnight January 30, 2012, 10:30 PM EST Business Micex Slides as Greece Impasse Curbs Risk Wagers, Crude Retreats January 24, 2012, 10:58 AM EST Technology Futures Volumes Slide as Vote Concerns Mount: Russia Overnight January 23, 2012, 6:19 PM EST economics Gazprom Pares Index Gain as Oil Drops on China: Russia Overnight January 22, 2012, 3:00 PM EST Markets Futures Buoyed by U.S. Jobs as Copper Surges: Russia Overnight January 19, 2012, 6:54 PM EST Business Futures Slip as Embargo Delay Hits Lukoil ADRs: Russia Overnight January 12, 2012, 6:54 PM EST Markets Goldman Buoys VimpelCom, Yandex on Economy Bet: Russia Overnight January 11, 2012, 11:01 PM EST Markets Stock Futures Slip on Resurgent Global Concern: Russia Overnight January 10, 2012, 5:51 PM EST Business Hedging at 18-Month High to Europe on Protests: Russia Overnight January 9, 2012, 10:34 PM EST deals VimpelCom Gains on Plan to Sell Stake in Algerian Joint Venture January 9, 2012, 2:42 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Fall as European Confidence Drops: Russia Overnight January 8, 2012, 11:04 PM EST Technology MTS’s Biggest Gain in a Month Widens Premium: Russia Overnight January 5, 2012, 10:20 PM EST Markets RTS Futures Rise as Oil Gains on Iran Dispute: Russia Overnight January 4, 2012, 5:59 PM EST Business Gazprom Leads Biggest Index Gain in Two Weeks: Russia Overnight January 3, 2012, 10:44 PM EST Technology Polyus Leads Gain as Oil Rises for Third Year: Russia Overnight January 2, 2012, 10:36 PM EST Business RTS Futures Rise as U.S. Economy Shows Gains: Russia Overnight December 29, 2011, 5:56 PM EST Business Mechel, Gazprom Fall on ECB Balance Sheet Jump: Russia Overnight December 28, 2011, 5:43 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Rise on Oil’s Gain, Peaceful Rally: Russia Overnight December 27, 2011, 11:13 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Rise Amid Signs of U.S. Recovery: Russia Overnight December 25, 2011, 7:10 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Rise Amid Signs of U.S. Recovery: Russia Overnight December 25, 2011, 3:00 PM EST Technology Futures Gain as Falling U.S. Supplies Buoy Oil: Russia Overnight December 21, 2011, 10:26 PM EST Technology RenCap Boosts Mechel as Futures Climb on Oil: Russia Overnight December 20, 2011, 11:04 PM EST Business Trade Halt ‘Not a Good Start’ to Merged Bourse: Russia Overnight December 20, 2011, 12:28 AM EST deals Aganbegyan to Target IPOs as Exchanges Merge: Russia Overnight December 18, 2011, 11:00 PM EST Business Mexican Stocks: Cemex, Empresas ICA, Homex, Penoles Advance December 16, 2011, 5:58 PM EST Markets Gazprom Jumps as U.S. Jobs Buoy Global Outlook: Russia Overnight December 15, 2011, 9:42 PM EST Markets VimpelCom Slips to Two-Month Low as Russia Unit Head Named December 15, 2011, 6:16 PM EST Technology Mexican Stocks: Coca-Cola Femsa, Cemex, Grupo Bimbo Advance December 15, 2011, 4:50 PM EST Markets CTC Media in New York Pares Gain on CEO Departure December 15, 2011, 12:02 PM EST Markets RTS Futures Fall on OPEC as CTC Media Slides: Russia Overnight December 14, 2011, 10:43 PM EST Business Mexico Stocks: Alsea, Grupo Mexico, Industrias Penoles Decline December 14, 2011, 6:06 PM EST Markets World’s Biggest Stock Drop Stoked by Protests: Russia Overnight December 11, 2011, 10:31 PM EST Markets Futures Slide as Mass Anti-Putin Rally Planned: Russia Overnight December 8, 2011, 10:36 PM EST Business Evraz, Polymetal Join FTSE 100 to Escape Russia Country Risk December 7, 2011, 3:53 PM EST Business Russia Stocks Drop Most in 2 Weeks on Moscow Troop Patrols, S&P December 6, 2011, 11:06 AM EST Markets RTS Futures Fall on Europe as Mechel Advances: Russia Overnight December 5, 2011, 10:49 PM EST Technology Putin Majority Signals Stability to Prosperity: Russia Overnight December 4, 2011, 7:45 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Decline on Prospect Oil Has Peaked: Russia Overnight December 2, 2011, 7:08 PM EST Markets Gazprom Gains on Dividend as RTS Futures Rise: Russia Overnight December 1, 2011, 10:51 PM EST Markets Sberbank Surges as Futures Gain on Fed Move: Russia Overnight November 30, 2011, 7:24 PM EST Business Mechel ADRs Surge Most in a Month as Central Banks Lower Rate November 30, 2011, 11:27 AM EST Markets Telecoms Posting Monthly Gain as Futures Rise: Russia Overnight November 29, 2011, 10:49 PM EST Business Hypermarcas Gains the Most in Three Months on Weighting November 28, 2011, 3:57 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Rise as Brent Spurs Gazprom Higher: Russia Overnight November 22, 2011, 11:35 PM EST Technology Argentine Stocks: Grupo Galicia, Molinos and Petroleo Brasileiro November 17, 2011, 5:40 PM EST Markets Chilean Stocks: Banco Santander, Cencosud Drop; Entel Gains November 17, 2011, 5:36 PM EST Technology RTS Futures Drop on Growth as Sberbank Climbs: Russia Overnight November 10, 2011, 6:30 PM EST Business Sberbank ADRs Jump to November High on Europe: Russia Overnight November 8, 2011, 6:25 PM EST Markets Russia Stocks Climb for Fourth Day as Crude Oil Prices Advance November 8, 2011, 11:44 AM EST Business Yandex Surges to Six-Week High as Groupon Lifts Internet Stocks November 3, 2011, 5:19 PM EDT Technology Mechel Falls as Futures Signal Stocks May Drop: Russia Overnight November 1, 2011, 1:42 AM EDT Business Micex Index Rally Masks Russian Bear Market: Technical Analysis October 18, 2011, 6:41 PM EDT deals Brazil Stock Movers: Gafisa, Cyrela, MMX Mineracao, Petrobras October 13, 2011, 5:13 PM EDT Business Brazilian Homebuilder PDG Heads to One-Month High in New York October 12, 2011, 12:38 PM EDT Business Brasil Foods Posts Biggest Gain in Two Months After Rating October 6, 2011, 4:19 PM EDT deals Brazil Stock Movers: PDG Realty Advances; Tam, Vale Decline October 4, 2011, 5:01 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Fall on Production as Mechel Slips: Russia Overnight October 4, 2011, 1:21 AM EDT deals Brazil Stock Movers: B2W, Hypermarcas, OGX Petroleo, Qualicorp October 3, 2011, 12:35 PM EDT Business Stocks May Extend Biggest Decline Since 2008: Russia Overnight October 3, 2011, 1:53 AM EDT Business Embraer Rises on Lufthansa Jet Order, Brazilian Tax Break September 29, 2011, 5:58 PM EDT deals Brazil Stock Movers: Banco Santander Brasil, CCR, Embraer Gain September 29, 2011, 5:20 PM EDT deals Brazil Stock Movers: MMX, Petroleo Brasileiro, Tam Decline September 28, 2011, 4:45 PM EDT Business B2W Declines as Global Stock Rout Outweighs Takeover Bets September 28, 2011, 4:45 PM EDT Business Brazil Stock Movers: BM&FBovespa, MMX Mineracao, Vale Advance September 27, 2011, 5:33 PM EDT Business Mexican Stocks: Cemex, Compartamos, Corp. Geo, Empresas ICA September 23, 2011, 5:18 PM EDT economics Mechel ADRs Fall to Lowest in Two Years on U.S. Fed Outlook September 22, 2011, 10:28 AM EDT Technology RTS Futures Fall on U.S. Risks as Lukoil Slips: Russia Overnight September 22, 2011, 1:25 AM EDT Business Brazil Stock Movers: Anhanguera, Hypermarcas, OGX Petroleo & Gas September 19, 2011, 11:52 AM EDT Business RTS Futures Advance as Sberbank May Cap GDRs: Russia Overnight September 19, 2011, 1:35 AM EDT deals Billionaire Cisneros Seeking to Buy Spanish Assets Amid Crisis September 15, 2011, 5:34 PM EDT Business Cisneros Says China More Attuned to Latin America Than U.S. September 15, 2011, 4:15 PM EDT Markets Carstens Expects Mexican Peso to Pare Decline Against Dollar September 15, 2011, 2:37 PM EDT Business Russia’s Yandex Gains Most in Two Weeks in New York Trading September 14, 2011, 5:44 PM EDT Business Lukoil Drops on Election Threat to Tax Cuts: Russia Overnight September 14, 2011, 1:39 AM EDT Technology Mexican Stocks: Gruma, Grupo Financiero Inbursa, Mexichem September 13, 2011, 1:06 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Rise as Norilsk May Buy Back Stock: Russia Overnight September 13, 2011, 1:53 AM EDT Technology Brazil Stock Movers: Braskem, Itau Unibanco Fall; Telesp Gains September 12, 2011, 4:58 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Fall as Europe Concerns Hit Mechel: Russia Overnight September 12, 2011, 1:48 AM EDT Business Bovespa Index Futures Decline on Global Economic Growth Concern September 9, 2011, 8:31 AM EDT Business RTS Futures Climb as Metal Gains Spur Norilsk: Russia Overnight September 8, 2011, 1:33 AM EDT Technology Emerging-Market Stocks Rebound on China Policy, Rates Outlook September 7, 2011, 5:09 PM EDT Business Bovespa Index Advances on U.S. Services, Brazilian Inflation September 6, 2011, 4:53 PM EDT Business Bovespa Declines Most in Two Weeks as U.S. Employment Stagnates September 2, 2011, 4:58 PM EDT Business Brazil Stock Movers: B2W Varejo, Banco do Brasil, PDG Realty September 1, 2011, 4:59 PM EDT Technology Brazil Bank Stocks Jump Most in 15 Months on Rate Reduction September 1, 2011, 4:47 PM EDT Business Brookfield Gains to One-Month High on Rate-Cut Speculation August 31, 2011, 5:14 PM EDT Business Brazil Stock Movers: Brookfield, JBS, MMX Mineracao & Metalicos August 31, 2011, 5:08 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Rise on Rosneft-Exxon Alliance: Russia Overnight August 31, 2011, 1:44 AM EDT Business MMX Rises to Four-Week High on $2.5 Billion Project License August 30, 2011, 4:39 PM EDT Business Gazprom Climbs in New York as U.S. Boosts Oil: Russia Overnight August 30, 2011, 1:48 AM EDT Technology Brazilian Stock Movers: Lojas Renner, LLX Logistica, Petrobras August 29, 2011, 4:54 PM EDT Business Lojas Renner Rises to Six-Week High on Interest-Rate Outlook August 29, 2011, 4:53 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Climb on Bernanke’s Growth Outlook: Russia Overnight August 29, 2011, 1:50 AM EDT Markets Bovespa Posts Weekly Gain as Bernanke Says Fed Has More Tools August 26, 2011, 4:46 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Fall as Investors Await U.S. Fed: Russia Overnight August 26, 2011, 1:55 AM EDT Business Bovespa Declines as Investors Await U.S. Fed Action on Economy August 25, 2011, 4:39 PM EDT Business RTS Index Futures Fall as Commodities Drop: Russia Overnight August 24, 2011, 6:18 PM EDT Business Most Brazil Stocks Fall as Credit Concern Offsets Rate Bets August 24, 2011, 5:13 PM EDT economics Bovespa Rises as Mantega Seeks Conditions to Cut Interest Rates August 23, 2011, 5:26 PM EDT Technology Brazil Stock Movers: Braskem, Hypermarcas, Marfrig, Usiminas August 22, 2011, 4:51 PM EDT Business Russia RTS-Index Futures Rise on Italian Financial Reform Plan August 7, 2011, 4:01 PM EDT Business Bovespa Index Advances, Paring Steepest Weekly Drop Since 2008 August 5, 2011, 5:28 PM EDT Business Bovespa Plunge Flashes Warning Brazil Shares May Head Lower August 5, 2011, 4:51 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Index Futures Fall as Global Economic Concern Deepens August 4, 2011, 5:46 PM EDT Business Brazilian Stock Movers: Fibria Celulose, Gerdau, MMX, Petrobras August 4, 2011, 4:43 PM EDT Business Hypermarcas Bonds a Buy to BTG as Yields Rise to Record High August 4, 2011, 9:58 AM EDT Business Russia RTS Futures Rise on Report U.S. Fed May Consider Stimulus August 3, 2011, 5:59 PM EDT Business Brazilian Stock Movers: Gol Linhas, OGX Petroleo, Usiminas, Vale August 3, 2011, 5:45 PM EDT Business Hypermarcas Bonds Sink on Second-Quarter Earnings Outlook August 3, 2011, 5:37 PM EDT Business Brazilian Stock Movers: Hypermarcas, Itau Unibanco, Paranapanema August 2, 2011, 5:02 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Futures Little Changed as U.S. Manufacturing Hits Low August 1, 2011, 4:41 PM EDT Technology Brazilian Stock Movers: BM&FBovespa, Duratex, Gol, PDG Realty August 1, 2011, 4:29 PM EDT Business Bovespa Stock Index Posts Biggest Monthly Decline Since May 2010 July 29, 2011, 5:23 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Futures Rise as U.S. Mulls Plans to Raise Debt Limit July 29, 2011, 4:43 PM EDT Business Bovespa Gains as Central Bank Says Inflation Outlook Improving July 28, 2011, 5:20 PM EDT Business Most Emerging-Market Stocks Fall on U.S. Concern; Lira Rallies July 27, 2011, 6:12 PM EDT Business Brazilian Stock Movers: Gafisa, Hypermarcas, Santander, Usiminas July 27, 2011, 5:08 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Futures Drop as Oil, U.S. Durable Goods Orders Fall July 27, 2011, 5:02 PM EDT Business Drugstore Operators Drogasil, Raia Advance on Merger Plans July 27, 2011, 4:40 PM EDT Markets Bovespa Declines on U.S. Debt-Ceiling Deadlock, Itau Rating Cut July 26, 2011, 5:08 PM EDT Business Bovespa Drops on Inflation Forecast, U.S. Debt Limit Stalemate July 25, 2011, 5:26 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Futures Fall as U.S. Lawmakers Debate Debt Ceiling July 25, 2011, 4:38 PM EDT Business RTS Futures Little Changed as Europe Aims to Soothe Investors July 24, 2011, 4:00 PM EDT Business Emerging-Market Stocks Rise for Weekly Gain on Europe’s Aid Plan July 22, 2011, 5:05 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Index Futures Rises on Improved Europe Debt Outlook July 21, 2011, 5:38 PM EDT economics Emerging-Market Stocks Increase Amid EU Debt Plan Reports July 21, 2011, 5:10 PM EDT Business Russia RTS-Index Futures Fall as Traders Await European Signals July 20, 2011, 4:35 PM EDT Business Bovespa Advances as Brazilian Inflation Slows More Than Forecast July 20, 2011, 1:16 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Stock-Index Futures Fall 0.3 Percent in Early Trading July 20, 2011, 12:40 PM EDT Business Russia RTS-Index Futures Gain on U.S., European Debt Outlook July 19, 2011, 4:58 PM EDT Business Russia RTS Index Futures Fall as European Debt Crisis Lingers July 18, 2011, 5:04 PM EDT Business Russia’s RTS-Index Futures Gain as Crude Advances for Third Week July 17, 2011, 4:01 PM EDT Business Bovespa Drops for Fifth Week in Six on Global Economic Concerns July 15, 2011, 5:21 PM EDT Business Emerging Stocks Advance on China Economic Growth; Gold at Record July 13, 2011, 5:58 PM EDT Business Penoles Rises to Record as Silver Gains on Europe, China July 13, 2011, 5:08 PM EDT Business Bovespa Index Declines as Rate Concerns Offset Commodity Gains July 7, 2011, 4:53 PM EDT Markets Bovespa Falls for Second Day on China Rates, Commodities Drop July 6, 2011, 3:08 PM EDT Business Venezuelan Bonds Rally After Chavez Says He’s Fighting Cancer July 1, 2011, 4:39 PM EDT Business MFS’s Swanson Says Recovery Healthier, Not Driven by Credit June 30, 2011, 11:26 AM EDT Markets Brazilian Stocks Climb as Inflation Eases, Greece Nears Vote June 21, 2011, 6:20 PM EDT pursuits Emerging Stocks Have Gotten Expensive, Herro Says: Tom Keene June 15, 2011, 4:47 PM EDT Business Bovespa Index Falls on Unexpected Brazilian Retail Sales Drop June 10, 2011, 10:40 AM EDT economics Bovespa Stock Index Rises on Slower-Than-Forecast Inflation June 9, 2011, 11:00 AM EDT Markets Chilean Stocks: Antarchile, Colbun, Endesa and Lan Airlines May 9, 2011, 12:41 PM EDT Business Argentine Stocks: Ledesma SAAI, YPF Rises; Banco Macro Declines May 9, 2011, 4:49 PM EDT Business Argentine Stocks: Siderar Falls; Tenaris and YPF Advance May 6, 2011, 4:57 PM EDT Business Peru Stocks: Atacocha, Buenaventura, Southern Copper, Relapasa May 3, 2011, 5:03 PM EDT Business Argentine Stocks: Grupo Financiero Galicia, Ledesma, Siderar April 25, 2011, 5:00 PM EDT Business ‘Peter Pan’ Recounts Anguish of Cuban Kids Sent to U.S. in ’60s April 13, 2011, 12:00 AM EDT Business Brazilian Stock Movers: Cosan, Banco Santander, MMX, Embraer April 8, 2011, 4:55 PM EDT Business Brazil Banks Fall on Rousseff Plan to Double Consumer Loan Tax April 8, 2011, 12:04 PM EDT Business Chilean Stocks: AES Gener, Cencosud, Falabella, Quinenco Gain March 30, 2011, 4:59 PM EDT Business Mexican Stocks: Megacable, Penoles Gain; Telmex, Alfa Fall March 11, 2011, 4:38 PM EST Business Mexican Stocks: Cemex, Telmex Shares Declines; Azteca Advances March 9, 2011, 4:25 PM EST Business Brazilian Stock Movers: Tele Norte, Usiminas, Cosan, Petrobras March 4, 2011, 4:37 PM EST Business Soquimich Rises as Profit Increases on Higher Potash Prices March 2, 2011, 4:57 PM EST pursuits Chilean Stocks: Concha y Toro, Endesa, Enersis, Falabella, SQM March 2, 2011, 4:16 PM EST

Sinclair Broadcasting Accused of Dodging FCC Rules

Sinclair pushes negative film about John Kerry in run-up to presidential election.

Poised to pre-empt programming on its 62 television stations to run a negative documentary about Sen. John Kerry, Sinclair Broadcast Group has come under fire from critics calling it partisan and questioning whether it is failing federal broadcast requirements to reflect local interests.

Members of Congress and independent media groups have questioned the company’s willingness to respect “localism,” a section of federal law that requires media companies to cover local issues and provide an outlet for local voices.

“Sinclair has turned localism on its head,” said Mark Cooper, research director of the Consumer Federation of America, a union of 300 consumer groups. “Instead of using its right to pre-empt national programming to preserve a local voice, it wants to impose its political will on 62 local stations.”

Sinclair’s practices as a television operator have also been criticized for removing local control. The company increasingly uses “distance-casting” whereby local news, sports and weather is uniformly broadcast to its many stations from Sinclair’s headquarters in suburban Baltimore.

Television viewers receive on-camera reports from “News Central” that appear to be coming from local stations. Sinclair spokesman Mark Hyman delivers conservative commentary that must be carried on local news reports.

“Their whole business model is about cutting operating costs,” said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president and CEO of the Media Access Project, a legal watchdog group. “They fake the localism by presenting the hometown station feel but without any of the presence and journalism that local communities deserve.”

Widespread ownership

Sinclair’s stations include 20 Fox affiliates, eight from ABC, six from UPN, four from NBC, three from CBS and 19 from the WB, a network partly owned by Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune. Sinclair has a “shared services” arrangement with two additional stations.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, Sinclair owns or operates two stations, called “duopolies,” in more markets–20–than any other media company in the country. The company, which reported 2003 revenues of $738 million, also owns or operates more television stations–62–than any media company.

Sinclair did not respond to repeated requests to comment for this article. However, a telephone recording at the company’s headquarters says, “The program has not been videotaped and the exact format of this unscripted event has not been finalized. Characterizations regarding the content are premature and are being promoted by groups pushing a political agenda.”

Listeners are given a phone number for Sen. Kerry’s campaign office in Washington, D.C., and asked to urge him to appear on the show. Kerry’s campaign on Friday asked that each station carrying the “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” documentary provide a similar amount of time to Kerry supporters.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and 84 other House Democrats on Thursday joined 19 senators in calling for the FCC to investigate Sinclair’s apparent intentions to air “Stolen Honor” on its stations just days before the Nov. 2 election.

Democrats strike back

Prompted by Sinclair’s plans to run the documentary, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) this week pledged to attach limits to media mergers to one of a handful of spending bills that must be approved before legislators adjourn at the end of the year.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell made clear that the commission would not attempt to stop Sinclair from airing the program. While emphasizing that he was unsure whether the program would trigger “equal-time” rules, Powell emphasized their importance when discussing controversial issues.

“We do have equal-time rules and I do think that in a political season it is beneficial for both sides of an issue to be heard,” Powell said at a public appearance Friday in New York City.

Launched in 1971 with a single UHF station in Baltimore, Sinclair grew rapidly during the 1990s, buying stations mostly in medium-size cities such as Milwaukee, Dayton and Nashville.

Using a business arrangement known as a Local Marketing Agreement, or LMA, Sinclair became the operator of stations in markets where it already owned a television broadcaster.

Sinclair operates six LMAs through a company called Cunningham Broadcasting, previously known as Glencairn Ltd. Cunningham is controlled by trusts in the name of Carolyn Smith, the mother of Sinclair president and CEO David Smith, as well as two Sinclair vice presidents, Duncan Smith and Frederick Smith, and Robert Smith, a director on Sinclair’s board.

The FCC established LMAs in the early-1990s to assist failing stations or to help start-ups share costs for such expenses as maintenance and advertising with older, established broadcasters.

However, Schwartzman says Sinclair used these business arrangements for the sole intention of eventually acquiring the stations themselves. “Sinclair has operated these LMAs as little more than a fig leaf for all but owning them outright,” he said. “They’ve been pressed on this but unfortunately this FCC has let them off the hook.”

Sinclair’s use of LMAs goes back to 1991 when it purchased WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh and then sold a Pittsburgh station it already owned, WCWB-TV, to a station employee, an African-American named Edwin Edwards. Edwards became the president of Glencairn, owning it under a minority tax-incentive program.

Between 1994 and 1997, Sinclair acquired second television stations in San Antonio, Greenville, S.C, Asheville, N.C. and elsewhere, placing them under Glencairn.

When the FCC liberalized its “duopoly rules” in 1999, permitting companies such as Sinclair to own two stations in markets with eight or more independent television owners, Sinclair applied to the FCC to purchase all of Glencairn’s stations.

However, Rainbow/PUSH, which has historically lobbied broadcasters to cover minority issues, filed a complaint charging that the company had “misrepresented facts and concealed the true extent of their business relationships” to own television stations that otherwise would not have been permitted under federal rules.

Pulitzer Broadcasting and Post-Newsweek Stations, a joint venture between the Washington Post Co. and the magazine by the same name, filed similar complaints with the FCC alleging that Glencairn was a Sinclair shell operation.

Practices called `disquieting’

In November 2001, the FCC fined both Sinclair and Glencairn $40,000 for violations to the 1934 Communications Act. However, FCC Chairman Powell and two other Republican appointees approved Sinclair’s request to purchase all but six stations. Shortly afterward, Glencairn’s name was changed to Cunningham Broadcasting.

In his dissent, Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, called Sinclair’s practices “disquieting.” He said the company’s maneuvering “raises questions of whether these stations were merely owned by Glencairn but controlled by Sinclair until such times as Sinclair could own them under our revised multiple ownership rules”

Rainbow/PUSH filed a follow-up petition in 2003, still pending before the FCC, that calls on the commission to determine whether Sinclair’s present and past conduct of its LMAs makes it qualified to hold licenses to use the public airwaves.

At present, rules governing duopolies are in flux.

In June, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ordered the FCC to rewrite rules that would have allowed one company to own as many as three TV stations, eight radio stations and a newspaper in a single market.

The FCC has not announced whether it will appeal the 3rd Circuit Court’s decision.

Putin’s Rise in ‘The Man Without a Face’

By LEON LAZAROFF. Bloomberg News
March 21, 2012 1:30 PM
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THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, by Masha Gessen. Riverhead Books, 314 pp., $27.95.

More than 300 hostages — half of them children — were killed in a Beslan schoolhouse in 2004, following a firefight between their Chechen captors and Russian troops. Ten days later, President Vladimir Putin announced a sweeping overhaul of Russia’s political system.

He declared that regional governors as well as the mayor of Moscow would be appointed by the president rather than elected. Members of the lower house of parliament would also be appointed. Political parties would have to reregister, making it all but impossible to get on a ballot without Kremlin approval.

The upshot of the changes was to undermine — if not obliterate — the quasifunctioning democracy that had taken root in Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, writes Moscow-based journalist Masha Gessen in her engrossing and insightful book, “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin.” From then on, the president would be the only directly elected federal-level public official.

After consolidating his power through eight years as president and four as prime minister, Putin was returned to the presidency on March 4 with about 64 percent of the vote. Having convinced his fellow lawmakers to increase the length of the presidential term to six years, Putin could head his country until 2024.

Gessen sees Putin as a man driven by control and vengeance, not ideology. The heartbreaking massacre at the Beslan schoolhouse is only one of a series of ghastly and, Gessen argues, suspicious events that enabled Putin to use fear to consolidate his hold on Russian society.

In 1999, just after Putin left the secret police to become prime minister, a series of explosions leveled entire apartment houses in several Russian cities. And in 2002, there was the three-day-long hostage-taking at Moscow’s Dubrovka theater, which left 129 dead.

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Gessen is not so reckless as to allege that Putin was somehow behind these events. She does charge, however, that “once the hostage-takings occurred, the government task forces acting under Putin’s direct supervision did everything to ensure that the crises ended as horrifyingly as possible — to justify continued warfare in Chechnya and further crackdowns on the media and the opposition in Russia.”

Sprinkled through the book are stories of intimidation and murder. Lawmaker Sergei Yushenkov was shot dead in broad daylight while investigating the theater siege, dissident agent Alexander Litvinenko was murdered in London by radiation poisoning and Yuri Shchekochikhin, an outspoken politician who had also been investigating the theater siege, died after ingesting an “unknown toxin.”

Gessen came of age in the late 1980s as Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost, or openness, spawned groups of “informals” where people would talk about politics and social issues. While Russia was convulsing, Putin was a KGB functionary stationed in East Germany. In January 1990, he watched a crowd storm the Stasi building in Dresden. Putin told his biographer that he phoned the Russian military representatives, only to be told nothing could be done until they heard from Moscow, but that “Moscow is silent.”

He felt abandoned, Gessen says. When he returned to Leningrad, the people he “and his colleagues had kept in check and in fear — the dissidents, the almost-dissidents and the friends of friends of dissidents — now acted as if they owned the city.”

Putin spent much of the 1990s as a rising government official, first in St. Petersburg and later in Moscow, resenting the surge of the new democrats almost as much Russia’s loss of world power and prestige.

Recalling the tone Putin set early in his presidency, Gessen observes that “Soviet instincts, it seemed, kicked in all over the country, and the Soviet Union was instantly restored in spirit.”

Velvet Underground Exceeds Warhol-Era Fame as New York Celebrates Band

The Velvet Underground is bigger than ever. The band defined New York subculture when West Coast hippie rock dominated the late 1960s. The act gave the world Lou Reed, Nico and punk rock. Now, in books, music and art shows, the Velvets are enjoying the acclaim, admiration and even sales that eluded them in their Andy Warhol heyday.

Complete text available at above story link.

Kerry Credits Chicago Economist Goolsbee to Debunk Privatization Plan

In his nine years at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Austan Goolsbee has become an academic celebrity.

His economics classes are some of the most sought after on campus, and he was named in 2002 as one of 100 “global leaders for tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum. He has contributed opinion pieces to Forbes, The New York Times and Slate.

On Wednesday, Goolsbee’s profile expanded far beyond the world of academics.

In criticizing President Bush’s call for partial privatization of Social Security, Sen. John Kerry cited a Goolsbee study concluding that financial companies would reap some $940 billion in fees through the creation of private accounts, money the Democratic candidate said would be better spent to finance retirements.

Kerry’s reference sparked a flurry of press inquiries and dozens of e-mails from economists eager to get a copy of the study, Goolsbee said in an interview. The 35-year-old professor said he is at best an “informal adviser” to the Kerry campaign who has never met the candidate nor received payment for his counsel.

“It’s been an interesting day,” Goolsbee said. “Most of what I do is research stuff about taxes and business regulation, so this study was more tied to a broader public debate.”

Goolsbee came to Chicago at age 26 after earning a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Made a full-time professor in 2000, Goolsbee’s star quality is due in part to taking positions counter to the university’s conservative reputation, embodied in the Chicago School of free-market economics.

Goolsbee says his work resists easy characterization. Dismissing the label of “liberal,” Goolsbee said he favors smaller government and lower taxes. Nonetheless, he has attracted Democrats’ attention for his critique of supply-side economics, as stated by economist George Gilder: “To help the poor and middle classes, one must cut the taxes of the rich.”

“That hypothesis–that increased taxes on the wealthy don’t generate revenue–is false,” Goolsbee said in 1998.

More recently, Goolsbee published a paper that questioned the fees charged by financial managers administering college savings programs.

“That didn’t make me very popular with the financial community,” he said.

Leon Lazaroff