Buying Into Big Media's Recovery

Coming off a week in which positive GDP reports and other indicators gave rise to more economic optimism, it's now big media's turn to weigh in. Last week, a handful of TV station group owners reported continued third-quarter revenue declines, including Meredith (down 13%), LIN TV (down 18%) and McGraw-Hill (down 24%). But expectations are more positive for this week, when their national counterparts start spinning the numbers for the Street. Viacom and Discovery report on Nov. 3; Time Warner, News Corp. and Comcast Corp. on Nov. 4; Scripps and CBS on Nov. 5; and Disney on Nov. 12. All eyes will be on Comcast for any updates on its very pregnant proposal to buy NBC Universal; the deal, of course, is dependent on moves from Vivendi, the French entertainment conglomerate. Vivendi is still playing hard to get, saying last week that an IPO of the firm's 20% stake in NBCU is a possibility. But many executives from both NBCU and Comcast expect the deal to be announced imminently, and then take 12 to 18 months to complete. The dealing, however, may not be done. One Wall Street player confirmed market rumors that bankers have already descended on the MSO's Philadelphia headquarters to work with management on selling the NBC Network and stations to a third party. Comcast had no immediate comment on that still-hypothetical possibility.