Rogers media arm saw 15% increase in revenue and 12% profit increase in first 6 months

The media division of Rogers Communications Inc. saw a 15% increase in operating revenue and a 12% increase in operating profit in the first six months of 2011 compared with the same period a year ago, according to information released from the company. (The media division includes publishing , sports entertainment, radio and digital media. Magazine results are not broken out.) Six-month

Zoomer Media six-month results show $2.8 million turnaround, net income $1.1 million

Zoomer Media, the parent company of Zoomer magazine has announced that its first half results for the period ended December 31 showed revenues of $31.2 million and expenses of $27.3 million resulting in income before depreciation, amortization and interest of $3.9 million. Net income for the period was $1.1 million. For the comparable six month period in the previous year, the Company had

Zoomer magazine publisher reports first profitable quarter

[This post has been updated] ZoomerMedia has reported its first profitable quarter. In the three months ended September 30, the company -- which publishes Zoomer magazine --  had a profit of $ 2.33 million on revenues of $14.5 million. This compares with a loss of $561,142 in the comparable quarter a year ago.The results are a sharp turnaround from its most recent complete year, during which the

Zoomer Media reports increased loss on operations at year end 2010

ZoomerMedia, the parent company of Zoomer magazine, reports that it had a net operating loss of $6.2 million (or about 60%) on revenues of $10.3 million for the year ending June 30, 2010. About a third, or $2.1 million of the loss, came in the most recent quarter in which the company had revenues of $3.2 million, it reported in a company release.All results include amortization, depreciation and

National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. files for bankruptcy

American Media, the publisher perhaps best known for its supermarket tabloids National Enquirer and Star (as well as Shape and Men's Fitness) is entering Chapter 11 -- in other words, declaring bankruptcy.  The company said in a release that within two weeks, 80% of its creditors need to agree with a "prepackaged Chapter 11 filing" that would give the company 60 days to reorganize  under the

Rogers says publishing growth now positive as over all Q1 net income up 21% from last year

Rogers Communications has reported net income for the second quarter of 2010 of $451 million US or 78 cents per share. This was up 21% from the same period last year. Revenue was up 5% to $3.03 billion US. Revenue growth was 7% for the wireless network, 4% for cable and 8% for media.  For the six months to date, media revenue, which includes consumer and trade magazine publishing, television,

Rogers Communications up in profit and dividend; media division has 6% revenue decline

Rogers Communications Inc.'s media division experienced a 6% revenue decline in the year ending December 31, 2009. The division, which includes the company's magazines and as well as television properties like the Shopping Channel, the Outdoor Life Network, Omni and CityTV and other enterprises like the Toronto Blue Jays, had operating revenues of $1.407 billion, compared with $1.496 billion last

Content and programming will make the difference for magazines, say investors

Magazines are still a good investment, according to a report in Folio: about the 8th annual DeSilva and Phillips dealmaker's summit, held in New York. Some of what was said:“We would not invest in newspapers. With magazines, maybe. It depends on the market. Newspapers have a fundamental issue where they don’t deliver as much value as their alternatives. With magazines, that fundamental issue

Znaimer sells some assets to ZoomerMedia and in the process tightens control

Media entrepreneur Moses Znaimer has acquired a tighter grip on control of ZoomerMediaLimited, of which he is President and CEO by selling it several media and real estate assets he controls, in return for shares in the company and $4 million in cash. 

Znaimer and his holding firm Olympus Management Limited thereby have acquired 66% of the common shares and 66% of the preferred shares of

Reader's Digest Canada one of few bright spots for parent company

Reader's Digest Canada is one of the few bright spots for Reader's Digest Association, which has posted an operating loss of $337 million for fiscal 2008, compared with a lost of a tenth of that last year. Most of the loss is attributed to writedowns in its school and educuational services division, according to a story published by Folio: According to the report, RDA’s fiscal 2008 net revenue

Rogers increases dividend, buys back shares

[UPDATE: Rogers Communications Inc. stock dropped 6% Monday, despite the company doubling its dividend, announcing it intends a 15% stock buyback and making a rosy forecast for 2008. Investors are apparently skittish about a decline in the uptake of wireless services, despite Rogers adding 183,000 net new wireless subscribers in the past 6 months.]Rogers Communications Inc., Canada's largest

Osprey on the block

Osprey MediaIncome Trust, the holding company for many small newspapers and magazines, has been struggling to retain investor interest in the face of declining distributions. This was not made easier by the government's decision to begin taxing income trusts in a few years.According to a story in the Globe and Mail and a release by the company, the board of the trust has decided "to proceed with

CanWest now owns The New Republic

CanWest Global Communications now owns The New Republic. Without much fanfare, the company bought control by acquiring 50% of the magazine from a pair of investment bankers to add to the 25% they already bought last January. Editor-in-chief Martin Peretz retains 25% . According to a story in the New York Times, CanWest plans major renovations, including reducing the magazine's frequency to every

Osprey continues to struggle with ads and unit value

Osprey Media Income Fund, an owners of small daily and weekly newspapers and small magazines, has written down about$170 million of its value, blaming a slumping advertising market, particularly automotive.The company has seen the price of its units steadily erode, threatening its ability to make the kinds of distributions that keep people happy with income trusts. Last fall, the value of its