Hot Media Companies To Watch In Right Now

Investors may have noticed that Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) has been in an imitative mood recently, replicating popular social-media features and launching rival offerings. Facebook's most direct rival is easily Twitter, and Facebook just adopted hashtags. Facebook's Poke app was a ripoff of Snapchat, and Instagram's new video service is a direct shot at Twitter's growing Vine service.

Well, copying a rival can sometimes pay off. Instagram video has only been out for about a week, and it's already taken a huge bite out of Vine. Social analytics researcher Topsy tracks shared links on Twitter, and the number of Vine links shared on Twitter has plunged since Facebook's entry.

Source: Topsy.

Instagram links shared on Twitter spiked briefly but tapered off and are about flat overall. Vine links peaked near 3 million shares earlier this month, but have since dropped to under 1 million.

Top 5 Transportation Stocks To Buy Right Now: Discovery Communications Inc(DISCA)

Discovery Communications, Inc. operates as a non fiction media and entertainment company worldwide. The company provides original and purchased programming across various distribution platforms. Its content covers science, exploration, survival, natural history, sustainability of the environment, technology, docu-series, anthropology, paleontology, history, space, archaeology, health and wellness, engineering, adventure, lifestyles, forensics, civilization, and current events. The company owns and operates nine national television networks in the United States, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Military Channel, Planet Green, Discovery Fit & Health, and Velocity. Discovery Communications also has interests in Oprah Winfrey Network, a pay-television network and Web site; The Hub that features original programming, game shows, and live-action series and specials; and 3net, a three-dimensional network. In addition, it o ffers network branded Web sites, and mobile and video-on-demand services; and distributes various national and pan-regional television networks. Further, the company develops and sells curriculum-based products and services to public and private K-12 schools, such as access to an online VOD service that includes curriculum-based tools, professional development services, and student assessment and publication of hardcopy curriculum-based content; and postproduction audio services to motion picture studios, independent producers, broadcast networks, cable channels, advertising agencies, and interactive producers. As of December 31, 2011, it operated approximately 150 distribution feeds in 40 languages. The company is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Patricio Kehoe] d that precise strategy and now owns several cable networks available in over 200 countries worldwide. The national and pan-regional networks, distributed through 130 feeds and in 40 languages, have established this media firm in virtually every market. So, let�� take a look at what might have encouraged investment gurus Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) and Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio) to add more of this company�� shares to their portfolio.�

  Working Through the Niche

  As the niche cable network provider in the media industry, Discovery�� flagship channel addresses topics like science, technology, history and exploration. With TLC, Animal Planet and Discovery as the three key domestic channels, the company reaches 100 million households, and despite the mature U.S. market, sales have grown 6% and revenue 10% in fiscal 2013. This is mainly due to the media giant�� unique content programming and line-up refreshments. Hit shows like Shark Week, for example, have become so popular through advertising that the network experienced in 2013 its all-time best viewership with over 50 million viewing rates during one episode. The men�� lifestyle cable network, Velocity, also experienced a 30% viewership increase in quarter four of 2013, and is now the fastest-growing network in that segment.��

  Furthermore, in addition to the namesake channels, Discovery also owns Investigation Discovery, The Learning Channel, a 50% stake in Oprah Winfrey�� new cable channel OWN, and The Hub, a children�� network created with Hasbro Inc. (HAS). The strong universal appeal of content which transcends cultures and languages, add a differential value to this company and has allowed international distribution across multiple media platforms. In fact, 100% content ownership gives this firm a competitive advantage, as it can seek benefits from non-traditional content distribution. With companies like Netflix Inc. (NFLX)�or Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) looking to push t

• [By Alyce Lomax]

  An hour is the amount of time Americans might allot for watching an episode of, say, Dirty Jobs in their free time. Speaking of jobs, dirty or otherwise, Discovery Communications' (NASDAQ: DISCA  ) CEO David Zaslav's pay calculation came to $24,000 per hour.

Hot Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: DIRECTV(DTV)

DIRECTV provides digital television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. The company provides direct-to-home (DTH) digital television services, as well as multi-channel video programming distribution services in the United States. It offers various channels of digital-quality video entertainment and CD-quality audio programming directly to subscribers' homes or businesses, as well as video-on-demand services; and approximately 160 national high-definition television channels and 4 3D channels. The company also provides premium professional and collegiate sports programming, such as the NFL SUNDAY TICKET package, which allows subscribers to view the NFL games. In addition, it offers DTH digital television services in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. The company provides its local and international programming under the DIRECTV and SKY brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it served approximately 19.2 million subscribers in the United States; and 8.9 million subscribers in Latin America. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in El Segundo, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  DirecTV is a digital television entertainment company that offers satellite services to consumers and companies across the nation. Despite multiple reports on Thursday saying the NFL and DirecTV have reached a new agreement to keep the exclusive Sunday Ticket package on satellite television, the league says no deal has been reached. The stock has been trending higher in recent years and is now trading slightly below all time highs. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been rising, leaving investors pleased about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, DirecTV has been an average relative performer year-to-date. Look for DirecTV to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) spent $1.1 billion on social media site Tumblr last week. This week, it is reportedly bidding for Hulu. It is also supposedly competing with DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV  ) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC  ) . Hulu has 4 million subscribers and brought in $695 million in revenue in 2012. What would a Hulu acquisition mean for Yahoo! shareholders? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss the deal.

• [By Victor Selva]

  Time Warner Cable investors will receive 2.875 Comcast stock for each of their shares. The purchase values each Time Warner Cable share at almost $160.Analysts say the consolidation could help Comcast to compete with satellite providers like DirecTV (DTV), wireless phone companies like AT&T (T) and new streaming services like Netflix (NFLX). On the other hand, Comcast will not have to take on any new debt, because it is an all-stock deal with newly issued shares.

Hot Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: Time Warner Inc.(TWX)

Time Warner Inc. operates as a media and entertainment company in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Networks, Filmed Entertainment, and Publishing. The Networks segment provides domestic and international networks, premium pay and basic tier television programming services, and digital media properties, which primarily consist of brand-aligned Websites. Its premium pay television services consist of the multi-channel HBO and Cinemax premium pay television services. This segment provides programming to cable system operators, satellite service distributors, telephone companies, and other distributors; sells advertising; and licenses original programming to domestic and international television networks. The Filmed Entertainment segment produces and distributes feature films, television and other programming, and videogames; distributes home video products; and licenses rights to its feature films, television programming, and characters. T he Publishing segment publishes magazines and books; and operates various Websites, as well as engages in marketing services and direct-marketing businesses. This segment publishes magazines on style and entertainment, lifestyle, news, and sports. The company?s brands include TNT, TBS, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, People, Sports Illustrated, and Time. Time Warner Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers]

  The film, based on the comic book series "Flashpoint," takes a dark departure from the typical fare in Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX  ) DC Comics universe.

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Can anyone touch Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS  ) Marvel Studios? Man of Steel has proved to be a winner for Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX  ) DC Entertainment and should close the weekend with about $248 million at the U.S. box office, Deadline.com reports. Audiences seem to like director Zack Snyder's grittier, more realistic version of Superman.

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  Bloomberg via Getty Images SAN FRANCISCO -- Netflix (NFLX) is reprogramming the way its Internet video subscription service appears on millions of television screens in an attempt to hook viewers for even longer periods. The makeover of Netflix's TV menu will start showing up Wednesday on televisions that connect to the Internet through recently released Blu-ray disc players, PlayStation and Xbox video game consoles and the Roku 3 set-top box. Netflix's service will look the same on its applications for mobile devices and its website, as well as on TVs that rely on Apple TV and a variety of other gadgets that stream Internet video. As has been the case for years, Netflix's revamped TV menu will continue to highlight entertainment that the company's automated recommendation system picks based on each subscriber's viewing preferences. But the new design includes more visual thumbnails and details about the recommendations, including a capsule explaining why a particular movie or TV series might appeal to the interests of each subscriber. A blurb about each episode in TV series also will be shown. If a subscriber has enabled their Netflix activity to be tied to Facebook's social network, the new format also will list friends who have previously watched the video. "This is the biggest change to the Netflix experience on televisions in our history," said Neil Hunt, Netflix's chief product officer. Netflix's move marks another step in the company's push to make its online streaming service as compelling as any of the channels on cable and satellite systems. Unlike those channels, which are bundled in subscription packages, Netflix pipes its service through high-speed Internet connections and sells it as a stand-alone option for $8 month. The company's alternative approach is increasingly popular, helping Netflix attract 31 million U.S. subscribers -- an audience that recently surpassed that of HBO's older pay-TV channel. HBO, owned by Time Warner (TWX) still

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  The future of online video content and advertising sales relies tremendously on video, according to most experts. Video ads carry a premium over old display ones. Premium video content is something people pay for, through services such as Hulu and even paid television content. Time Warner Inc.’s (NYSE: TWX) HBO’s new “Go” project allows subscribers to stream 1,700 programs, and the pay television property has aggressively marketed this to people who use tablets regularly. At some point soon, most pay TV and network TV companies will target the slew of devices with screens smaller than traditional PCs, but large enough, usually, to view video clearly.

Hot Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: CBS Corporation(CBS)

CBS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mass media company in the United States and internationally. The company?s Entertainment segment distributes a schedule of news and public affairs broadcasts, sports, and entertainment programming; produces, acquires, and distributes programming, including series, specials, news, and public affairs; produces and distributes theatrical motion pictures across various genres; and operates online content networks for information and entertainment. Its Cable Networks segment owns and operates multiplexed channels that offers subscription program services, including recently released theatrical feature films, original series, documentaries, boxing, mixed martial arts and other sports-related programming, and special events; and CBS College Sports Network, a 24-hour cable program service related to college sports. This segment also owns and manages Smithsonian Networks, which operates Smithsonian Channel, a basic cab le service in the United States. The company?s Publishing segment publishes and distributes adult and children?s consumer books in printed, audio, and digital formats. Its Local Broadcasting segment owns 29 broadcast television stations; owns and operates 130 radio stations in 28 U.S. markets and related online properties; and owns local Websites that combine television and radio local media brands online to provide the latest news, traffic, weather, and sports information, as well as local discounts, directories, and reviews. The company?s Outdoor segment sells advertising space on various media, including billboards, transit shelters and other street furniture, buses, rail systems, mall kiosks, stadium signage, and in retail stores. CBS Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty ImagesStephen Colbert (left) practices his network performance with Jimmy Fallon. From a fallen dot-com darling scoring a rare hat trick to a discount retailer discounting its headcount, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. CBS (CBS) -- Winner David Letterman is leaving his late-night talk show next year, and CBS allowed only a week to pass between that announcement and naming his replacement. Stephen Colbert will take over "The Late Show." It may seem like a gutsy call. Colbert's satirical skewering of political conservatives is polarizing, even if his talk show persona is unlikely to embrace the character that made him a Comedy Central late-night star. It's still an attention-grabbing announcement and one that should benefit CBS as well as its sister company and Comedy Central parent Viacom (VIA). Time Warner (TWX) -- Loser "Game of Thrones" kicked off its highly anticipated fourth season on Time Warner's (TWX) HBO on Sunday, but it wasn't just the show's power-hungry characters that were out for blood. Online users were incensed to find an outage on HBO Go preventing them from watching the premiere for several hours. HBO Go has been a major component of the premium movie channel's success in recent years, included at no additional cost with HBO subscriptions to justify the platform's high cost relative to Netflix (NFLX) and other growing streaming video services. Subscribers expect reliability when they're paying up for a premium service, and they just didn't get it. A big reason why this outage is making news -- as HBO Go subscribers had to stay off social media to avoid spoilers -- is because there was a similar disruption last month during HBO's "True Detective." Yelp (YELP) -- Winner Yelp may not be very popular with its investors, nor with some irate merchants, but it got some love from Wall Street this week. Three analyst firms -- Oppenheimer, SunTrust and

• [By Jake Mann]

  This is evident in an array of statistics. Last season, NFL regular-season viewership on CBS� (NYSE: CBS  ) and�Fox (NASDAQ: FOX  ) �grew an average of 7% from 2012, and�NBC Sunday Night Football was prime time's top show for the fourth straight year. Beyond TV, the usage of fantasy football apps also rose 15% in 2013, Nielsen reports.

• [By Brian O'Connell]

  CBS (NYSE: CBS) has been on a wild ride over the past four months, swinging from $56 to $68 per share, but evidence is mounting that the broadcast giant�� stock is ready for a big bang theory of its own.

• [By DailyFinance Staff]

  Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images Stocks ended Friday trading higher, despite a report showing a big drop in sales of newly built homes, which prompted a selloff earlier in the session. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 15,010, building on Thursday's gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added six points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,663. and the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) gained 19 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,657, a day after the exchange was shutdown for three hours because of technical troubles. Data from the Commerce Department showed sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. fell by 13.4 percent in July to an annual rate of 394,000 units, well below expectations of 490,000 units. The data weighed on homebuilder stocks, with PulteGroup (PHM) down 1.6 percent to $16.06, Toll Brothers (TOL) off 3.9 percent to $31.19 and D.R. Horton (DHI) off 2.9 to $18.73. After a technological problem shut down trading in Nasdaq securities Thursday, Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ) Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld said the exchange resolved the technical issues that led to Thursday's trading halt but can't guarantee there would be no future problems. Time Warner Cable (TWC) is offering free antennas to allow customers to watch CBS (CBS) during a blackout that's in its third week. The companies have been unable to reach a new programming deal since their agreement expired in June. Customers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas can get a free indoor antenna at their local Time Warner Cable store, or receive a $20 voucher, good for the purchase of an antenna at Best Buy (BBY).

Hot Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI)

Gannett Co., Inc. operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States and internationally. Its Publishing segment publishes 83 U.S. daily newspapers with affiliated online sites, including USA TODAY, a national, general-interest daily newspaper; USATODAY.com; USA WEEKEND, a magazine supplement for newspapers; Clipper Magazine, a direct mail advertising magazine; bi-weekly Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek periodicals; and military and defense newspapers. This segment also includes 17 paid-for daily newspapers; approximately 200 weekly newspapers, magazines, and trade publications; and approximately 600 non-daily publications, as well as involves in commercial printing, newswire, marketing, and data services operations. The company?s Digital segment owns and operates CareerBuilder, an employment Web site, which offers online recruitment and career advancement services for employers, employees, recruiters, and job seekers; ShopLocal, which provides multicha nnel shopping and advertising services; Planet Discover, which offers hosted search and advertising services; PointRoll, which provides digital marketing services and technology; and Schedule Star, which offers scheduling solution for high school athletic departments. Its Broadcasting segment operates 23 television stations and affiliated Web sites, which produce local programming, such as news, sports, and entertainment programming. This segment also includes Captivate Network, a national news and entertainment network that delivers programming and full-motion video advertising on video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies in North America. The company has strategic business relationships with online affiliates, including Classified Ventures, ShopLocal.com, Topix, and Metromix LLC, as well as strategic marketing agreement with Microsoft. Gannett Co., Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tiernan Ray]

  FBR & Co.‘s�William Bird, who follows the shares of old media dinosaurs�Gannett (GCI), �Meredith�(MDP),�News�(NWSA), and�The New York Times�(NYT), today offers the findings of a survey of 2,041 adults in the U.S. from March 12th to March 17th.

  Bird has an Outperform rating on shares of Gannett, and Market Perform ratings on the other three names.

  The upshot of the survey is that a third of young readers don’t read print papers, and are more and more flocking to online news outlets.

  The survey, conducted with the help of Clear Voice Research LLC, suggests to Bird a “steady structural pressure on print, a tip of the spear demographic problem for print circulation, and slow magazine tablet adoption�� negative as tablets offer a better business model for magazines.”

  More specifically, there is “value destruction” as more and more people trade from print to digital editioins of publications:

  The survey suggests that structural pressure on consumer newspaper readership is a touch above�that of magazines. Over the next year, print newspaper usage is expected to decline a net 5% (i.e.,�6% expect to use more versus 11% who expect to use less). A total of 11% of respondents said they plan to use print newspapers less and 10% said they plan to �use print magazines less. This was exactly offset by the percentage of respondents who said they�plan to consume online newspapers more (11%) and those who plan to consume online magazines�more (10%). With $1 of print ad spend translating to $0.25 in digital, these results are supportive of �continued print-to-digital value destruction.

  Younger readers tend to be more inclined to dump print, says FBR:

  According to our survey, intended print newspaper subscription cancellations total 9.8% over the next 12 months. Notable is that plans to cancel skew heavily toward the below 35 year old demographic. The 18 to 34 demographic reflects

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Here's something no one ever said: We don't see enough daily sports coverage, so we need a new website dedicated to cover it.�Yet USA Today, the�Gannett� (NYSE: GCI  ) newspaper dedicated to giving you national news in bite-size snippets and graphics, is launching a new website dedicated to just that. Calling it "For The Win," it expects the new division to attract fans inside and out of sports.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Not only did Gannett� (NYSE: GCI  ) shareholders re-elect its board, ratify its public accountants, and approve a say-on-pay measure at the�media conglomerate's annual meeting yesterday, but the board of directors also declared the company's second-quarter dividend of $0.20 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past five quarters.

• [By Jon Friedman]

  On June 13, Gannett (NYSE: GCI  ) sent Wall Street a clear message: We are much more than the nation's leading newspaper chain.

  That was the day that Gannett announced plans to acquire television company Belo Corp. for $1.5 billion, transforming Gannett's image overnight�from an old-fashioned newspaper chain (bad, bad image) to a more promising television operation (very good one).

Hot Media Companies To Watch In Right Now: DISH Network Corporation(DISH)

DISH Network Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides direct broadcast satellite (DBS) subscription television services in the United States. It offers programming that includes approximately 280 basic video channels, 60 Sirius satellite radio music channels, 30 premium movie channels, 35 regional and specialty sports channels, 2,800 local channels, 250 Latino and international channels, and 55 channels of pay-per-view content. The company also offers local HD channels in approximately 160 markets and 215 national HD channels; and receiver systems, including a small satellite dish, digital set-top receivers, and remote controls. In addition, it provides DISHOnline.com, which enables DISH Network subscribers to watch 150,000 movies, television shows, clips, and trailers; DISH Remote Access that enables subscribers to remotely manage their DVRs using compatible mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops through their broadband-connected receiver; and Go ogle TV that enables DISH Network subscribers to search the Internet, check email, interact with social media, and find additional online programming content while simultaneously watching television. As of March 31, 2011, the company had approximately 14.191 million customers. DISH Network provides receiver systems and programming through direct sales channels; and independent third parties, such as small satellite retailers, direct marketing groups, local and regional consumer electronics stores, nationwide retailers, and telecommunications companies. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Lewis]

  DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH  ) investors were likely too preoccupied with the continued M&A battle brewing among the company, Sprint (NYSE: S  ) , Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR  ) , and SoftBank. Depending on what happens in the next couple of weeks, investors may have even more offers to look over and analyze, as the company's chief shows no shyness in his willingness to partner with major telecoms or even sell the company. There is more, though, going on at DISH than just supporting investment banks, as the company recently announced its first-quarter earnings. Here's the highlights, and advice for investors going forward.