Big Mess for Big Media

The stock prices of the four major media and entertainment firms – Walt Disney, Viacom, News Corp and Time Warner -- are down an average of 11.2 percent through the first three quarters of 2005. The S&P 500, by way of comparison, is up 1.3 percent. There are several reasons why all four stocks have been weak this year, such as concerns about a sluggish advertising market for many traditional forms of media, the Hollywood box office slump and slowing sales of DVDs. What's more, many investors appear to be more attracted to the supercharged growth prospects of pure play Internet media companies like Google and Yahoo!.
[SOURCE: CNNMoney, AUTHOR: Paul R. La Monica]