CBS issued revised guidance to investors on Friday afternoon, forecasting “a decline of mid-teens” in operating income for fiscal 2008 compared to a year ago. They also said they expect to take a $14 billion impairment charge in the third quarter “to reduce the carrying value of goodwill, intangible assets related to FCC licenses and investments.” Earlier in the day, Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements announced that it will sell $400 million in equal amounts of Viacom and CBS shares in order reduce debt and comply with their credit agreements. The proceeds will bring the company’s debt load down to $1.2 […]
Archives for October 2008
Nobel Bonus for Norton: Economics Prize to Krugman
Paul Krugman has won the Nobel for economics for “his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.” In the citation, the Academy says: “What are the effects of free trade and globalization? What are the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization? Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer these questions. He has thereby integrated the previously disparate research fields of international trade and economic geography.” Norton published Krugman’s THE CONSCIENCE OF A LIBERAL in fall 2007.AP
Digital News: S&S Goes Mobile; Frankfurt Survey Shows Dichotomy
Simon & Schuster is making over 500 hundred titles available for sale on Internet-enabled mobile devices through MPS’s Mobile Global Reader. The company say “the full Simon & Schuster eBook catalog will be made available in the coming months.” In advance of the show, the Frankfurt Book Fair has released the results of a survey of over 1,000 publishing professionals from more than 30 countries. The results are inadvertently perfect in capturing the industry’s digital dichotomy: 70 percent of the responds say they “feel ready for the digital challenge” while 60 percent do not use ereaders or read ebooks in […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, October 13
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut Robin Black’s YESTERDAY’S NEWS, a collection of stories that explore the […]
People
Critical Mass says that NYT Book Review senior editor Dwight Garner has had enough and “tells us he’s leaving the Book Review very soon to become a book critic for the daily edition” of the newspaper. Jordan Brown will join the Harper Children’s imprint Walden Pond Press later this month, reporting to Brenda Bowen. He was an assistant editor at Ginee Seo Books/Atheneum. Brown will work with Debbie Kovacs at Walden Media to “craft a launch list for the imprint and to acquire and edit some eight books a year,” while acquiring and editing for Bowen Press as well. In […]
Shorts: Follow the Money to Abu Dhabi, Sherry Jones's Next Book; Judge Rejects MISHA Publisher
Abu Dhabi’s long-planned “media zone” has enlisted participation from HarperCollins and Random House, along with the BBC, Financial Times and Thomson Reuters Foundation. The NYT notes, “the campus is intended to be an incubator that will mix Western media companies with billions in Middle Eastern oil money.” Harper “is establishing a presence in Abu Dhabi to capitalize on what the company says is growth in the sale of English-language books in the Middle East.” Spokesperson Eric Crum says they want to “explore the potential of the area and forge relationships.” The press release says that Random House “will be creating […]