Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now

News about possible Fed tapering led to a sell-off in the early summer months, even though no action actually was taken by monetary authorities.

To understand what caused the dramatic response and how it affected some popular bond funds, Morningstar recently shared the views of senior fund analyst Eric Jacobson, who outlined some important lessons for bond investors and advisors to keep in mind.

“Things get priced in early sometimes,” Jacobson said in a videotaped interview with Christine Benz, director of personal finance for the Chicago-based research firm. “So in this case, it's all about fear. Everybody is worried … and that just sent shock waves through the marketplace and triggered all that worry in a sell-off and brought yields up to a place where they hadn't been for quite a while.”

In the intermediate bond category, the analyst says, one of the best performers during the early summer was the Dodge & Cox Income Fund (DODIX), which lost about 2%. One of the worst, he adds, was the PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Fund (PIGIX); it dropped by more than 6% during those two months.

Best Electric Utility Stocks To Watch For 2015: Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC)

Cablevision Systems Corporation provides telecommunications and media services. It operates in two segments, Telecommunications Services and Other. The Telecommunications Services segment is involved in television business, including video, high-speed data, and VoIP operations, as well as the provision of commercial data and voice services. The Other segment offers Newsday, a daily newspaper; amNewYork, a free daily newspaper; and Star Community Publishing, a group of weekly shopper publications; and newsday.com and exploreLI.com. This segment also engages in motion picture theatre business, Clearview Cinemas; provision of the News 12 Networks, a regional news programming services; and the MSG Varsity network, a network covering high school sports and activities, and other local programs, as well as cable television advertising. Cablevision Systems Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Bethpage, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harold L. Vogel]

  *Includes AMC (AMCX), Cablevision (CVC), Charter, Comcast Cable (CMCSA) and networks, Discovery (DISCA), Disney (DIS) cable networks, Time Warner Cable (TWC) and cable networks, Viacom (VIAB) networks.

• [By Sean Williams]

  For a second day in a row, we need to look no further than the broadcasting sector for our best performers. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC  ) and Cablevision (NYSE: CVC  ) advanced 8.1% and 3.5%, respectively, on speculation that a wave of mergers and acquisitions would sweep through the sector. If you recall, Gannett�shares soared after announcing a $1.5 billion purchase of Belo�yesterday to expand its national broadcasting presence.

• [By Tom Reese]

  Regional cable TV and Internet provider Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC) on Friday announced better-than-expected third quarter earnings results, reversing a year-ago loss.

  Cablevision’s Q3 Earnings in Brief
  - Net income totaled $294.6 million, or $1.10 per share, reversing last year’s loss of $3.79 million, or -1 penny per share.
  - Revenue rose 1.8% from last year to $1.57 billion.
  - Analysts expected much lower earnings of just 11 cents per share, on matching revenue.

  Latest Dividend Reiterated; Yield Surpasses Peers
  In its earnings release, Cablevision announced it would continue its dividend payout of 15 cents per share. The latest dividend will be paid on Dec. 13 with an ex-dividend date of Nov. 20. The company has not raised its dividend payout since May of 2011.

  Despite the lack of dividend raise, CVC’s dividend yield of 3.84% compares favorably with other stocks in its industry. Time Warner Cable (TWC) offers a yield of 2.2%, while Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) yields just 1.65%. The average dividend yield for S&P 500 companies is around 2.5%, so Cablevision’s yield is well above both its industry average as well as the wider market average. Still, its lofty yield has come more as a result of poor price performance, rather than dividend increases.

  Shares Rise, but Still Tail Indexes
  Cablevision shares rose more than 2% in early trading on Friday, but the company’s stock performance has lagged the wider markets for quite some time. Year-to-date, CVC has gained about 6%, compared with a 24% gain in the benchmark S&P 500 index. The stock was trading around the $38 level as recently as early 2011, so its dividend yield has risen significantly as its stock price plunged to around $16.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  'Interconnection' The better access that Netflix is getting from Comcast is known as "interconnection," a term referring to digital content's journey to an Internet service provider's gates. That path technically isn't covered by the current definition of Net neutrality, which refers to how service providers treat digital content once it's inside the gates. Comcast has promised to honor the previous rules governing Net neutrality through 2018. In a blog post last month, Hastings argued that future Net neutrality guidelines should be expanded to address interconnection issues, too. "Without strong Net neutrality, big ISPs can demand potentially escalating fees for the interconnection required to deliver high quality service," Hastings wrote. "The big ISPs can make these demands -- driving up costs and prices for everyone else -- because of their market position." Google's YouTube video site and many other websites were paying interconnection fees to Comcast before Netflix struck its own deal with the carrier. Even with the March improvements, Comcast's delivery of Netflix content lags behind several other major service providers. Cablevision (CVC), Cox, Suddenlink and Charter (CHTR) each delivered Netflix video at higher speeds than Comcast in March, according to Monday's breakdown. Netflix has interconnection deals with Cablevision, Cox and Suddenlink, although those arrangements don't require Netflix to pay fees.

Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: CBS Corporation(CBS)

CBS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mass media company in the United States and internationally. The company?s Entertainment segment distributes a schedule of news and public affairs broadcasts, sports, and entertainment programming; produces, acquires, and distributes programming, including series, specials, news, and public affairs; produces and distributes theatrical motion pictures across various genres; and operates online content networks for information and entertainment. Its Cable Networks segment owns and operates multiplexed channels that offers subscription program services, including recently released theatrical feature films, original series, documentaries, boxing, mixed martial arts and other sports-related programming, and special events; and CBS College Sports Network, a 24-hour cable program service related to college sports. This segment also owns and manages Smithsonian Networks, which operates Smithsonian Channel, a basic cab le service in the United States. The company?s Publishing segment publishes and distributes adult and children?s consumer books in printed, audio, and digital formats. Its Local Broadcasting segment owns 29 broadcast television stations; owns and operates 130 radio stations in 28 U.S. markets and related online properties; and owns local Websites that combine television and radio local media brands online to provide the latest news, traffic, weather, and sports information, as well as local discounts, directories, and reviews. The company?s Outdoor segment sells advertising space on various media, including billboards, transit shelters and other street furniture, buses, rail systems, mall kiosks, stadium signage, and in retail stores. CBS Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  A news break is out from multiple sources, showing that CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) will produce a full slate of 16 NFL games. The problem is that this is the Thursday Night Football package.

• [By Jesse Solomon]

  2. Aereo ruling sparks media madness: CBS Corporation (CBS) skyrocketed as much as 7% after the Supreme Court said streaming service Aereo's business model violates broadcasters' rights by using tiny antennas to snap up content on public airwaves. Shares of Disney (DIS), which owns broadcaster ABC, also jumped on the news, as did Comcast (CMCSA), owner of NBC, and Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA).

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  CBS"NCIS" is CBS' top rated drama. From left: Mark Harmon, guest star Colin Hanks, and Pauley Perrette. The market was loving CBS (CBS) on Tuesday, but don't be surprised if the love affair doesn't last. Shares of the broadcasting giant soared nearly 5 percent after it resolved a month-long dispute with Time Warner Cable (TWC) that had kept its channels off the air for the cable provider's 11.7 million customers. But there will be a price to pay for being unavailable to so many cable subscribers for so much of this summer, and we're not just talking about the immediate hit in the current quarter. Customers are getting tired of the games that content providers pay, and CBS is feeding the resentment as it tries to get subscribers to pay more for CBS, The CW, and lesser watched channels including Smithsonian Channel and TVGN. We don't know the terms of new carriage deal, but we know who's actually going to be paying the price: The average Time Warner Cable video customer's bill is up 8.5 percent over the past year. Is it any wonder why the pay TV industry is starting to lose customers? Audiences Are Thinning Out Industry analysts at UBS predict that cable and satellite television providers will lose 250,000 net subscribers this year. It will be the first year that the pay TV industry suffers an annual decline. CBS can argue that it's better off than its sibling Viacom (VIA), which takes in a more significant level of its television revenue from cable subscription fees. CBS has its namesake broadcast channel and more than two dozen local stations. A lot of people cutting the cord to save money will simply invest in HD antennas that they can use to access over-the-air channels including CBS. Well, it's not that easy. Local broadcast advertising was actually one of the few CBS businesses to see its profits decline in its latest quarter. The company blamed the decline on the loss of election-year political ad spending, but could it be that folks just aren't as p

Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: Thomson Reuters Corp(TRI)

Thomson Reuters Corporation provides intelligent information for businesses and professionals worldwide. The company allows market participants to connect, access content, and trade in a secure environment through Thomson Reuters Eikon desktop, Thomson Reuters Elektron network, content integration and management technology, content feeds and databases, and transactions infrastructure solutions that support buy- and sell-side customers to trade in foreign exchange, fixed income and derivatives, equities, exchange-traded instruments, and commodities and energy markets. It also offers information, analytics, workflow, and technology solutions to buy-side and off-trading floor customers; access to liquidity in over-the-counter markets, trade execution, and connections for market participants and financial professionals? communities; and a suite of solutions offering informed outcomes to regulated industries and law firms. In addition, the company provides critical information , decision support tools, and software and services to legal, investigation, business, and government professionals; integrated tax compliance and accounting software and services for accounting and law firms, corporations, and government professionals; intellectual property and scientific resources that enable its customers to discover, develop, and deliver innovations; and data analytics, and performance benchmarking solutions and services to healthcare sector. Further, it offers coverage of global, regional, and national news in 20 languages covering politics, business, finance, entertainment, lifestyle, technology, health, science, and sports; and engages in advertising-supported direct-to-consumer publishing activities of Reuters.com and its network of Websites, mobile applications, and electronic out-of-home displays. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Associated Press]

  Ron Brown, head of Elektron Analytics, a Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI  ) unit that sells news feeds that computers can read, said that the words "explosions" or "Obama" alone wouldn't have triggered selling. But add "White House," and it's a combination even the slowest computer couldn't miss.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  It's been a solid year for Thompson Reuters (TRI); since the calendar flipped over to January, this $30 billion financial media firm has rallied more than 22%. But don't worry if you've missed out on the move -- TRI looks well-positioned for higher levels thanks to the pattern that's been setting up in shares.

  Thompson Reuters is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish setup that's formed by horizontal resistance above shares at the $35.50 level and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as TRI bounces in between those two technically-important price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a confirmed breakout above that $35.50 price level. When the breakout happens, it's time to be a buyer.

  TRI closed above the $35.50 level in yesterday's session, but it's a little early to call it a breakout just yet. If shares can hold above that breakout level all through today's session, then the buy signal is worth heeding.

Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: Charter Communications Inc.(CHTR)

Charter Communications, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides entertainment, information, and communications solutions to residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company offers cable video programming services, such as basic and digital video, premium channels, OnDemand, pay-per-view, high definition television, digital video recorder, and online video services; Internet services; Charter.net, which provides multiple e-mail addresses, as well as various entertainment, games, news, and sports content; and telephone services. It also provides broadband communications solutions, such as Internet access, data networking, fiber connectivity to cellular towers and office buildings, video entertainment services, and business telephone services under the Charter Business brand name to business and carrier organizations. As of December 31, 2011, the company served approximately 4.1 million video customers; approximately 3.5 million Internet customers; appr oximately 1.7 million telephone customers; and approximately 476,200 commercial primary service units. Charter Communications, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Susan Walsh/APComcast CEO Brian Roberts at The Cable Show 2013 convention in Washington. Comcast offered to sell 1.4 million pay TV subscribers to Charter Communications for $7.3 billion as part of a transaction aimed at winning regulatory approval for its proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable. Comcast (CMCSA) also said it would divest another 2.5 million subscribers into a new publicly traded company, dubbed SpinCo for now, to be one-third owned by Charter (CHTR) and two-thirds by Comcast shareholders. The deal would make Charter -- whose own bid for Time Warner Cable (TWC) was thwarted by Comcast's higher offer -- the second-biggest U.S. pay TV company with 5.7 million customers, overtaking Cox Communications. Charter's shares rose as much as 10 percent to $142.70 in early trading Monday. Comcast shares were up 1.4 percent at $51.70. Comcast would have less than 30 percent of the U.S. residential cable or satellite TV market after the deal, the company said in a statement. The agreement is contingent on Comcast's Time Warner Cable deal being approved by the Justice Department and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, a process that could take many months. Analysts said the deal was a pre-emptive move by Comcast ahead of a review of the deal by regulators. "Comcast wanted to do this deal now with Charter so it could get in front of regulators at the Justice Department and the FCC at the same time as the Time Warner Cable deal," a source familiar with the matter said. The source said there was a standstill agreement with Charter stipulating that it can't gain full control of SpinCo for four years. Comcast will have no ownership in SpinCo. SpinCo would have an estimated enterprise value of $14.3 billion and an equity value of $5.8 billion, Charter and Comcast said in an investor presentation. The divestments, mostly in the U.S. Midwest, would deliver about $19.5 billion in value to Comcast shareholders, the companies said. "For

Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: News Corporation(NWSA)

News Corporation operates as a diversified media company worldwide. Its Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news, business news, sports, general entertainment, and movie programming for distribution through cable television systems and direct broadcast satellite operators primarily in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The company?s Filmed Entertainment segment produces and acquires live-action and animated motion pictures for distribution and licensing in entertainment media, as well as produces and licenses television programming worldwide. Its Television segment operates 27 broadcast television stations in the United States. The company?s Direct Broadcast Satellite Television segment distributes programming services via satellite and broadband directly to subscribers in Italy. Its Publishing segment provides newspapers and information services, such as publishing national newspapers in the United Kingdom, approximately 146 newspapers in Australia, and a metropolitan and a national newspaper in the United States; book publishing services, including the publishing of English language books worldwide; and integrated marketing services comprising the publishing of free-standing inserts, which are marketing booklets containing coupons, rebates, and other consumer offers, as well as provides in-store marketing products and services, primarily to consumer packaged goods manufacturers in the United States and Canada. The company also sells advertising, sponsorships, and subscription services on the company?s various digital media properties and outdoor advertising space on various media primarily in Russia and eastern Europe; and provides data systems and professional services that enable teachers to use data to assess student progress and deliver individualized instructions. News Corporation was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tiernan Ray]

  FBR & Co.‘s�William Bird, who follows the shares of old media dinosaurs�Gannett (GCI), �Meredith�(MDP),�News�(NWSA), and�The New York Times�(NYT), today offers the findings of a survey of 2,041 adults in the U.S. from March 12th to March 17th.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) boasts a cable-leading news operation and a host of additional entertainment properties. The consensus target for the stock is $17.30.

Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: DIRECTV(DTV)

DIRECTV provides digital television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. The company provides direct-to-home (DTH) digital television services, as well as multi-channel video programming distribution services in the United States. It offers various channels of digital-quality video entertainment and CD-quality audio programming directly to subscribers' homes or businesses, as well as video-on-demand services; and approximately 160 national high-definition television channels and 4 3D channels. The company also provides premium professional and collegiate sports programming, such as the NFL SUNDAY TICKET package, which allows subscribers to view the NFL games. In addition, it offers DTH digital television services in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. The company provides its local and international programming under the DIRECTV and SKY brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it served approximately 19.2 million subscribers in the United States; and 8.9 million subscribers in Latin America. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in El Segundo, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected From: Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: FTR), GSI Group, Inc. (GSIG), Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), WageWorks, Inc. (NYSE: WAGE), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) Economic Releases Expected: �Australian trade balance, New Zealand�� unemployment rate, Canadian trade balance, eurozone PPI, British services PMI

  Wednesday

• [By Dan Radovsky]

  AllThings D also reports that bids have to be at least $1 billion, and DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV  ) is said to be ready with a bid of at least that much. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC  ) , Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) , and the private-equity firms KKR, Guggenheim Digital, and Silverlake Partners are also ready to compete.

• [By Adam Levy]

  But "TV Everywhere" that fulfills its promise could become a reality in the near future, thanks to several companies working with content owners to provide Internet-delivered television. Sony (NYSE: SNE  ) plans to launch its service by the end of the year, and Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) is aiming for mid-2015. Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH  ) already has at least one content deal in the works, and rival DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV  ) isn't far behind. Internet-delivered television could finally deliver on the promise of TV Everywhere.

Top 10 Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: Time Warner Inc.(TWX)

Time Warner Inc. operates as a media and entertainment company in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Networks, Filmed Entertainment, and Publishing. The Networks segment provides domestic and international networks, premium pay and basic tier television programming services, and digital media properties, which primarily consist of brand-aligned Websites. Its premium pay television services consist of the multi-channel HBO and Cinemax premium pay television services. This segment provides programming to cable system operators, satellite service distributors, telephone companies, and other distributors; sells advertising; and licenses original programming to domestic and international television networks. The Filmed Entertainment segment produces and distributes feature films, television and other programming, and videogames; distributes home video products; and licenses rights to its feature films, television programming, and characters. T he Publishing segment publishes magazines and books; and operates various Websites, as well as engages in marketing services and direct-marketing businesses. This segment publishes magazines on style and entertainment, lifestyle, news, and sports. The company?s brands include TNT, TBS, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, People, Sports Illustrated, and Time. Time Warner Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  netflix.com Netflix (NFLX) is still growing, but it's not growing fast enough. The world's leading premium video service took a hit after posting disappointing quarterly results on Wednesday night. The stock-rattling shocker is that Netflix ended the third quarter with 53.06 million streaming subscribers worldwide. That's 3 million more than it had at the end of June, but Netflix itself was forecasting 53.74 million accounts. Netflix is typically conservative with its guidance, making the shortfall as troubling as it is surprising. It has a scapegoat. It's pointing to its springtime rate increase as the primary cause for its blown forecast. "Slightly higher prices result in slightly less growth, other things being equal, and this is manifested more clearly in higher adoption markets such as the U.S.," Netflix notes in its letter to shareholders. When it issued its forecast in late July it was still basking in the magnetism of the second season of "Orange Is the New Black" that resulted in a healthy trickle of signups. Once that buzz subsided, new members became harder to come by. Bucking the Trend Netflix's move to increase the monthly rate in May didn't take the market by surprise. A few months earlier it had announced in an earnings call that it was entertaining a hike. It was pondering $8.99 or $9.99 as the new monthly rate, up from the original $7.99. It chose the lower of the two increases. Existing subscribers were fine with the move. Netflix promised to grandfather them in at $7.99 a month for two years. The market understood, and that was something that couldn't be said a few years ago when there was widespread outrage about Netflix splitting its DVD and streaming services. Customers on DVD-based plans would have to pay as much as 60 percent more if they wanted to continue to stream content, too. May's increase was the first time that Netflix had increased the rate of its stand-alone DVD service. It seemed as if it would be able to pull it off

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Time Warner provides media and entertainment through a variety of mediums to consumers and businesses all around the world. The stock has tripled its prices in the last four years but is currently trading near a multi-year selling price level. Earnings have been increasing while revenue has decreased over the last four quarters which has kept investors happy. Relative to its strong peers and sector, Time Warner has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Time Warner to OUTPERFORM.