NEW YORK (Reuters)—On the prowl for the best deals from U.S. retailers this Thanksgiving weekend? A quick check online can provide the answers that retailers are not yet ready to reveal.
Numerous Web sites have cropped up in recent years that publish in advance what they claim are copies of the newspaper ads retailers will run for Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving, which marks the chaotic and ultra-competitive launch of the holiday shopping season.
Another Web site, Black Friday Ads (http://bfads.net) says Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be offering a 42-inch high-definition plasma television for $988 from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m., while supplies last, on Nov. 24.
Jon Vincent, founder of BlackFriday.info, said he gets copies of the ads from employees working at newspaper distribution facilities, who take snapshots of the inserts and send them to his site.
Vincent said he does not call the retailers to verify the information, but he makes sure the pictures look legitimate and the prices seem reasonable before posting them.
"People are really interested to find out what's on sale on Black Friday," he said. "If they know a plasma TV is going to be on sale for $500 off, they're not going to buy it now, they'll just wait until Black Friday and then they'll buy it then."
But retailers are not happy having their holiday sales plans revealed ahead of schedule to either shoppers or to their competitors.
Black Friday Ads said privately held home goods retailer Linens 'n Things sent a letter asking it to remove the information from the site or it would take legal action.
Linens 'n Things did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
BlackFriday.info had a note on its site on Nov. 13 saying it had removed a Best Buy Co. Inc. advertisement after the electronics retailer threatened to try to shut the site down.
"We can't really fight Best Buy," Vincent said.
A Best Buy spokesman said he was unaware of the note posted on BlackFriday.info, but said the retailer does not acknowledge or comment on "rumor" sites.
But it is hard to make the information disappear once it is online.
The day after BlackFriday.info removed the Best Buy ad, Black Friday Ads had a copy of what looked like a Best Buy newspaper insert, promoting a 42-inch LCD high-definition TV for $999.99, after $500 in instant savings, until noon on Black Friday.
BlackFriday.info's Vincent said this is the third year his site has published Black Friday deals. While every year one or two retailers complain, he does not expect that to hinder these sites.
Monday, September 3, 2007
In Print and Online: Acquisitions in the Media Sector
The media sector has been seeing a fair amount of merger and acquisitions activity lately. Traditional print and broadcast media firms, struggling to compete with new online and mobile media outlets, have been targeted by private equity buyers. Meanwhile, online players have been buying up innovative new content providers in order to remain competitive and keep up with the latest technologies.
Radio station operator Clear Channel Communications recently agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners for about S18.7 billion.
Thomson Financial describes the deal as the largest buyout to date in the media and entertainment industry. But the deal is only one of several recent private equity buyouts in the traditional media sector. After an extended bidding war, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision sold to a consortium of private equity firms for S12 billion.
On the publishing and printing side, Reader's Digest Association recently agreed to be acquired for $1.6 billion, plus the assumption of about $776 million in debt. The Tribune Company, which owns 11 newspapers and a number of television stations, has received considerable interest from buyout firms and private investors after announcing that it might sell all or part of the company.
Traditional broadcast and print media companies are facing competition from other media sources. Between the Internet and the media content now available for mobile devices such as cell phones and handhelds. consumers can access news, information, and entertainment on demand. Advertisers are responding by shifting a significant portion of their ad dollars to new media clients. With the loss of advertising revenue, many traditional media companies are seeing a corresponding decline in their share value.
The low stock prices make these companies attractive targets for private equity players, since with stock values depressed the media companies can be acquired for less. Since traditional media companies still enjoy fairly stable sales figures, buying them up makes good business sense for investment companies. Subscription services take money up front and deliver product over time, generating a lot of available cash. And once a company is taken private, equity firms can make up for lost advertising revenue by selling off assets or making drastic operational changes.
Consolidation is also occurring in the Internet media sector, as major corporate players such as Google make new acquisitions. Recent sector deals include Google's S 1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube and media conglomerate News Corp.'s 2005 acquisition of Intermix Media, the owner of popular social networking site MySpace. Current deals reported to be in the works include Google buying iRows, an Israel-based provider of a browser-based spreadsheet service, and a Yahoo! deal to acquire Bix.com, a site that allows users and advertisers to stage online contests. Bix.com was founded in January 2006.
As popular Internet sites feature more social features and user generated content, major Internet players have turned to acquisitions to remain competitive. While the previous boom in Internet start-up companies was driven by speculative investment buyers, the current run of acquisitions is being led by established companies within the industry who already have successful business models.
Radio station operator Clear Channel Communications recently agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners for about S18.7 billion.
Thomson Financial describes the deal as the largest buyout to date in the media and entertainment industry. But the deal is only one of several recent private equity buyouts in the traditional media sector. After an extended bidding war, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision sold to a consortium of private equity firms for S12 billion.
On the publishing and printing side, Reader's Digest Association recently agreed to be acquired for $1.6 billion, plus the assumption of about $776 million in debt. The Tribune Company, which owns 11 newspapers and a number of television stations, has received considerable interest from buyout firms and private investors after announcing that it might sell all or part of the company.
Traditional broadcast and print media companies are facing competition from other media sources. Between the Internet and the media content now available for mobile devices such as cell phones and handhelds. consumers can access news, information, and entertainment on demand. Advertisers are responding by shifting a significant portion of their ad dollars to new media clients. With the loss of advertising revenue, many traditional media companies are seeing a corresponding decline in their share value.
The low stock prices make these companies attractive targets for private equity players, since with stock values depressed the media companies can be acquired for less. Since traditional media companies still enjoy fairly stable sales figures, buying them up makes good business sense for investment companies. Subscription services take money up front and deliver product over time, generating a lot of available cash. And once a company is taken private, equity firms can make up for lost advertising revenue by selling off assets or making drastic operational changes.
Consolidation is also occurring in the Internet media sector, as major corporate players such as Google make new acquisitions. Recent sector deals include Google's S 1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube and media conglomerate News Corp.'s 2005 acquisition of Intermix Media, the owner of popular social networking site MySpace. Current deals reported to be in the works include Google buying iRows, an Israel-based provider of a browser-based spreadsheet service, and a Yahoo! deal to acquire Bix.com, a site that allows users and advertisers to stage online contests. Bix.com was founded in January 2006.
As popular Internet sites feature more social features and user generated content, major Internet players have turned to acquisitions to remain competitive. While the previous boom in Internet start-up companies was driven by speculative investment buyers, the current run of acquisitions is being led by established companies within the industry who already have successful business models.
MTV Rallies Together Online Sales Forces
MTV Networks Online today is expected to announce the formation of a consolidated advertising sales group, a move the online arm of New York-based MTV Networks hopes will allow it to better address the specific needs of advertisers looking to enter the online space. The new ad sales division will service online subsidiaries MTVi and Nickelodeon Online.
Peggy Mansfield, formerly vice president and publisher of Nickelodeon MediaWorks, is being named senior vice president of advertising sales for MTV Networks Online.
Mansfield said that MTV Networks Online's breadth of offerings would he compelling to advertisers looking to reach markets that ranged from "cradle to older adults." Mansfield will lead the centralized ad sales force to help advertisers make buys across all online properties. She noted that the group would continue to work with the cable TV ad sales groups to create innovative packages for advertisers who want to advertise on different platforms, a process that can be confusing to some advertisers.
"I think some advertisers are getting it now, but it's an education process," said Mansfield. "As sales people, we need to be prepared not only to educate our advertisers to all the opportunities that are available on our sites, but also really listen to what their needs are, whether it's creating high-profile events on the Web or doing advanced targeting."
"The opportunity to work with advertisers across all of our businesses and to really understand the unique needs of advertisers in the online space is the reason why we wanted to get these guys together," said Fred Seibert, president of MTV Networks Online. "Peggy comes from a very eclectic background, having worked in print, TV and online. She has not only the online experience, but the traditional media experience that allows her to understand the unique needs of clients in a new space."
Peggy Mansfield, formerly vice president and publisher of Nickelodeon MediaWorks, is being named senior vice president of advertising sales for MTV Networks Online.
Mansfield said that MTV Networks Online's breadth of offerings would he compelling to advertisers looking to reach markets that ranged from "cradle to older adults." Mansfield will lead the centralized ad sales force to help advertisers make buys across all online properties. She noted that the group would continue to work with the cable TV ad sales groups to create innovative packages for advertisers who want to advertise on different platforms, a process that can be confusing to some advertisers.
"I think some advertisers are getting it now, but it's an education process," said Mansfield. "As sales people, we need to be prepared not only to educate our advertisers to all the opportunities that are available on our sites, but also really listen to what their needs are, whether it's creating high-profile events on the Web or doing advanced targeting."
"The opportunity to work with advertisers across all of our businesses and to really understand the unique needs of advertisers in the online space is the reason why we wanted to get these guys together," said Fred Seibert, president of MTV Networks Online. "Peggy comes from a very eclectic background, having worked in print, TV and online. She has not only the online experience, but the traditional media experience that allows her to understand the unique needs of clients in a new space."
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