http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney Peter Kirwan on media business and finance Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:55:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After this week's major share price falls, have newspapers become worthless in the eyes of investors? In the case of Trinity Mirror, we're getting mighty close to that moment. In February, Trinity announced that 3.7% of its revenues come from digital. As it happens, we can put a value on that digital ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/07/03/is-the-daily-mirror-worthless/ So a consortium of private equity firms has got round to bidding for Informa. This, however, feels like one of those deals that -- like climbing Mt. Everest -- lacks a rationale apart from the fact that it's capable of being done. Currently, Informa carries around £1.25bn of debt. At 4.4 times ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/07/02/memo-to-private-equity-why-not-try-a-proper-challenge/ Did you do algebra at school? If so, do you remember solving a quadratic equation but not properly understanding how you'd done it? I wonder if Maurice Levy, chief executive and chairman of Publicis Groupe, feels that way today. In launching VivaKI -- yes, that's how they spell it -- Publicis Groupe ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/27/all-hail-maurice-levy-emperor-of-buzzword-bingoland/ Those of you who recall Norman Fowler as one of Prime Minister Thatcher's more right-on colleagues will have been startled by today's coverage of the report from the House of Lords Communications Committee. I need to read the report, but I'm not sure that making mergers more difficult will solve what ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/27/why-lord-fowlers-journalism-quality-test-wont-work/ Journalists and recessions don't get on well together. Sooner or later, a downturn becomes an exercise in standing around, waiting for things to get better. The constant drip-drip-drip of negative news is problematic. And the ebbing away of economic activity means less novelty, fewer stories, a national life lived more slowly. For ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/27/the-standard-says-that-brenda-feels-your-pain-no-really/ Scientists say that falling in love alters our brain chemistry, and therefore the way in which we perceive the world. Presumably, it's the same with losing. Last week, the Mail Online overtook the Guardian and the Telegraph to become the UK's most-trafficked national newspaper site. Now, suddenly, the Guardian is suggesting that it's ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/25/welcome-to-the-great-unbundling-mr-rusbridger/ By way of limbering up for tomorrow evening's debate at The Frontline Club, I'm reading Roy Greenslade riffing off an Adam Tinworth post that focuses on the bloody-minded way in which many journalists misconstrue blogging. Tinworth's post is excellent: It's all too easy for people from a traditional media background to see ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/25/the-future-of-media-lightweight-post-industrial-and-technology-driven/ Connoisseurs of these things will love the latest despatches from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the Telegraph's doom-stricken international business editor. 17 June: Morgan Stanley warms of 'catastrophic event' as ECB fights Federal Reserve 19 June: RBS issues global stock and credit crash alert Time to bury the family silver in the back garden, Mabel. We're particularly ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/20/the-terminal-boredom-of-waiting-to-hit-rock-bottom/ The happy-go-lucky saga of Kelvin MacKenzie's potential candidacy in the by-election at Haltemprice and Howden cannot be allowed to hide the bleak reality. Kelvin MacKenzie is a man who has lost an empire, but has yet to find a role. Friends are worried that he is turning into the media world's equivalent ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/20/who-will-save-kelvin/ Nasty. Morgan Stanley has slashed its profits forecasts for the media sector in 2009 and 2010. In an aggressively-worded note, the bank's media analysts foresee distress spreading from consumer-facing media companies to their B2B counterparts. Like this: Away from the consumer-related areas we see pressures mounting in the corporate environment. Finance directors looking ... http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/mediamoney/2008/06/18/morgan-stanley-hails-roger-parry-as-king-of-the-bears-prepare-your-handbasket-for-hellish-ordeal-say-bankers/