Weekly Pay-TV Notes: Verizon Won’t Buy Dish, Holt Made Permanent At NBC Nightly News And TWC Declares Dividend

June 23rd, 2015 by Trefis Team
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The pay-TV industry saw significant activity this week, with Verizon CFO Fran Shammo stating his company was not interested in buying Dish Network. On a separate note, Comcast subsidiary NBCUniversal announced that Lester Holt will be the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News. Disgraced anchor Brian Williams will also return to NBC but will be demoted to MSNBC. In yet another, Time Warner Cable announced a quarter dividend of $0.75 to be paid in July. On that note, we discuss below these developments related to the pay-TV companies over the past few days.

Verizon Not Interested In Dish Network’s Spectrum

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Verizon (NYSE:VZ) CFO Fran Shammo recently stated that Verizon was not interested in buying Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH). [1] The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Dish Network was in talks with T-Mobile (NYSE:TMUS) about a merger. [2] The report stated that both sides were in broad agreement over the structure of the combined entity but other major details such as purchase price and cash-stock mix were still unresolved. (Related – Merger With T-Mobile The Right Step, But Dish Needs To Speed Things Along) There was also speculation that Verizon might interject and make a bid for Dish in order to get its hands on the satellite broadcaster’s vast wireless spectrum arsenal. But Verizon’s CFO put all the speculation to bed by stating that if Verizon wanted more spectrum, it would have bought it at the last FCC auction.

Dish Network’s stock declined around 1.4% over the week through Thursday. We currently have a price estimate of $79.5 for Dish Network. For the year 2015, we estimate revenues of $15.1 billion, in line with the consensus estimate, and EPS of $1.8, compared to a consensus estimate of $1.9.

 

Holt Made Permanent At NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams To Return In Different Capacity

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) subsidiary NBCUniversal announced Thursday that Lester Holt will be the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News. [3] Holt has been the interim NBC Nightly News anchor since February 9, 2015, filling in for suspended anchor and managing editor Brian Williams. NBC News had earlier suspended Brian Williams following a controversy regarding certain comments he made about his experiences in the Iraq war. [4] This resulted in a drop in ratings and the network consequently brought back Andy Lack to take over as chairman of NBC News and MSNBC in order to take control of the situation. [5] NBCUniversal further announced that Brian Williams will return to NBC in August but will work on breaking news and special reports at MSNBC. Williams also issued a statement apologizing for the controversial comments he had made earlier.

Comcast’s stock gained around 3.5% over the week through Thursday. We currently have a price estimate of $64.8 for Comcast. For the year 2015, we estimate revenues of $72.25 billion, compared to consensus estimate of $72.3 billion, and EPS of $3.31, in line with the consensus estimate.

Time Warner Cable Announces Quarterly Dividend

Pay-TV operator Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share on the company’s Common Stock. [6] The dividend will be payable in cash on July 22 to stockholders of record at the close of business on July 1. The company had paid a similar dividend on to its shareholders on April 22 and is on track to pay an annualized dividend of $3.00 in 2015. [7] The company reported extremely strong numbers in its last quarter. Time Warner Cable added 315,000 high-speed data subscribers in what was the company’s best quarter in terms of subscriber additions since Q1 2007. [8] The company also registered its first quarterly increase in its pay-TV subscriber base since Q1 2009. Additionally, Time Warner Cable experienced their best quarter ever in terms of net subscriber additions in residential customer relationships, residential triple play and voice.

Time Warner Cable’s stock declined around 0.5% over the week through Thursday. We currently have a price estimate of $183 for Time Warner Cable. For the year 2015, we estimate revenues of $23.8 billion, in line with the consensus estimate, and EPS of $7.38, compared to a consensus estimate of $7.33.

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Notes:
  1. Verizon CFO Says Company Won’t Sell Huffington Post, WSJ, June 15 2015 [↩]
  2. Dish Network in Merger Talks With T-Mobile, WSJ, June 4 2015 [↩]
  3. Brian Williams Assigned To MSNBC In Post-Suspension Return; Lester Holt Anchor Of ‘Nightly News’, June 18, 2015, Deadline [↩]
  4. Brian Williams Suspended Six Months in Wake of Review, NBC News [↩]
  5. NBC Makes It Official, Hiring Andy Lack As News Chief, March 6, 2015, Wall Street Journal [↩]
  6. Time Warner Cable Declares Quarterly Dividend, June 18, 2015, Time Warner Cable Investor News [↩]
  7. Time Warner Cable Declares Quarterly Dividend, March 17, 2015, Time Warner Cable Investor News [↩]
  8. Time Warner Cable’s SEC Filings [↩]