AT&T Inc. is weighing a sale of its regional sports networks as part of a plan to cut as much as $8 billion in debt by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. The four regional networks, which includes rights to teams such as the hockey’s Pittsburgh Penguins, basketball’s Houston Rockets and baseball’s Seattle Mariners, could fetch close to $1 billion, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the deliberations are private. Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which agreed in May to buy 21 Fox regional sports networks from Walt Disney Co. for $9.6 billion, could be among the potential buyers, the people said. John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp. and Ice Cube’s Big3 U.S. basketball league were among the other bidders for the Fox assets. AT&T hasn’t started a formal process to sell the networks, and there are no guarantees a deal will be announced, the people said. The four networks are AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah, Nevada and Colorado), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (parts of Texas and Louisiana) and Root Sports Northwest (Alaska, Washington and Oregon). The four networks have rights to more than two dozen pro teams, college programs and NCAA conferences. A representative for AT&T declined to comment, while Sinclair didn’t respond to requests for comment. A sale of the regional sports networks—known as must-see content for avid fans—highlights AT&T’s ongoing struggle to fix a... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-02 19:54:11 UTC ]
The aftershocks of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner continue to rumble through the WarnerMedia unit, as longtime ad sales chief Donna Speciale is parting ways with the company just one week after she closed out the last bit of its upfront business. Speciale, who joined WarnerMedia... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-11 01:55:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Lee Iacocca, the U.S. auto executive and television pitchman whose feel for consumers’ changing tastes helped produce the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan and made him one of the first celebrity CEOs, has died. He was 94. His death was confirmed Tuesday by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in a... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-03 14:58:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
AT&T Inc. is weighing a sale of its regional sports networks as part of a plan to cut as much as $8 billion in debt by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. The four regional networks, which includes rights to teams such as the hockey’s Pittsburgh Penguins,... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-02 19:54:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If you want to see what’s driving ad spending, just look at the gains: The biggest U.S. internet companies—including the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Uber—are powering the ad market as they double down on their own marketing. That’s the key takeaway from the 64th annual Ad Age Leading National... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-28 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
NBC News’ coverage of the first Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle may have been short on interpersonal drama, but the two-hour event certainly managed to draw a crowd. According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the debate averaged 15.3 million viewers across NBC, MSNBC... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-28 00:20:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this
When it comes to ad spending, the FANG gang has developed some serious teeth. For the first time, all four FANG companies—Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet—rank among the top 100 spenders in Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2019. FANG—Wall Street lingo for these internet... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-25 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
AT&T Inc. named Ann Sarnoff as the first woman to lead Warner Bros., filling a key vacancy created by the departure of Kevin Tsujihara following a sex scandal. Sarnoff is currently president of BBC Studios America and has more than 30 years of business and media experience, AT&T’s... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-24 21:32:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The U.S. Justice Department is suing to stop the proposed $1.4 billion deal between Quad/Graphics and LSC Communications on antitrust grounds. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-06-24 16:52:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this
AT&T is now part of Harry Potter lore as the first brand to ink a sponsorship deal with the new augmented reality game about the wizarding world. AT&T stores are incorporated into the landscape of the game, called “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” which is by Niantic, the creator of... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-21 21:00:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Facebook Inc. is under pressure to rid its site of hate speech and fake news but warned it can’t build a platform impervious to human nature. “This is not a fully solvable problem,” Carolyn Everson, a vice president responsible for marketing at the social media giant, said on a panel Tuesday at... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-18 20:37:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
News Corp. said it is evaluating options for its News America Marketing business that could include a sale, which would leave the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post more purely focused on media while removing what’s been a troubled unit. The review of News America, which... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-18 20:05:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this
On a quest to make sense of what was happening to her body, the author Darcey Steinke sought guidance from female killer whales. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-06-18 14:40:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Large restaurant chains Red Robin and White Castle are reporting shortages of Impossible Foods Inc.’s popular meat-free patties, even as the plant-based food producer embarks on a nationwide expansion with Burger King. Calls to a dozen Red Robins and the same number of White Castles on Thursday... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-14 15:48:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
[caption id="attachment_160093" align="alignright" width="150"] Jon Werther[/caption] National Media Group president Jon Werther is out at Meredith Corp. after seven years with the company, effective immediately. In a statement from president and CEO Tom Harty, he said that there aren’t any... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-06-12 20:33:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Salesforce.com Inc., which makes America’s dominant sales-tracking software, agreed to buy Tableau Software Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at $15.3 billion that it said will help give customers more ways to analyze data. The takeover will mark Salesforce’s largest deal to date, according to... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-10 16:51:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Beleaguered bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. has a buyer. Elliott Management Corp. agreed to purchase the chain for $6.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued about $476 million, plus the assumption of debt, the company said in a statement Friday. Barnes & Noble shares rose as... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-07 16:16:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The investigation into the company’s search and “other businesses” may signal the end of Washington’s recent hands-off approach to regulating tech giants. The Justice Department’s antitrust division is laying the groundwork for an investigation of Google, according to reports in The Wall Street... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-06-01 01:34:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon.com Inc. is interested in acquiring prepaid wireless phone service Boost Mobile from T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp., Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Amazon is considering buying Boost for an attached wholesale deal that would allow the buyer to use T-Mobile’s... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-31 17:33:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Gap Inc. tumbled as much as 16 percent—the most since 2016—after the clothing retailer reported a slump in sales at both its namesake line and Old Navy, threatening the potential appeal for a spinoff of the discount chain. Same-store sales, a key measure of a retailer’s performance, fell 4... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-31 15:50:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Walt Disney Co. is following Netflix’s lead in threatening to leave Georgia if a controversial anti-abortion law takes effect. Disney CEO Bob Iger told Reuters on Wednesday that it would be “very difficult” to keep film production in the state if the legislation becomes law next year. A... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-30 14:39:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this