The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Steven Perlberg notes big media companies "continued to report pretty decent ad revenue growth in the most recent quarter." Time Warner yesterday said that its ad revenues in the period increased 5%, while Domestic ad revenue at Fox' cable networks division grew 3%. At Comcast, NBC's broadcast revenue was up 7%. NBCU's cable networks' ad revenue dropped 9.3%, "but excluding political revenue," it increased 2.8%. Investment research firm Bernstein estimates that Disney’s ad revenue rose 14%. The company said that ad revenue at ESPN was up almost 25% "thanks to college football bowl games and a strong sports advertising marketplace." Viacom's ad revenue was down 4%, "but that was better than Wall Street analysts generally expected" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/11).
BAD TO THE BONE: In Detroit, Louis Aguilar reports Olympia Entertainment, parent company of the Red Wings, has "applied to trademark the phrases 'The Baddest Bowl' and 'The Baddest Bowl in Hockey.'" The phrases "most likely would be used as slogans, just as 'Hockeytown' is used now, and not the name of the new arena." Olympia "filed to trademark the phrases" in October '14 (DETROIT NEWS, 2/11).
DEERE IN HEADLIGHTS: MiLB yesterday announced a strategic partnership with John Deere, making the company the "Preferred Sports Turf Equipment Supplier" of MiLB. Teams will be incentivized to use John Deere equipment in ballparks throughout the country. John Deere currently sponsors only one other sports property, the PGA Tour (MiLB).
