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The FCC gave the boys from Chicago permission to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market - just what they need to complete the Sam Zell-led deal to go private by the end of the year. The waivers will last at least two years and cover Tribune's ownership of the LAT and KTLA, along with similar newspaper and TV combinations in NY, Chicago, South Florida and Hartford, Conn. Meanwhile, Moody's has...
LA Biz Observed archive
Mark Lacter covered business, the economy and more here from 2006 until his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
The entire LA Biz Observed archive — more than 10,000 blog posts by Mark —
remains online and available.
November 2007
The British parent of the newly opened Fresh & Easy chain could be in a little trouble over its massive 820,400-square-foot distribution facility near Riverside not being in compliance with state environmental regulations. Superior Court Judge Thomas Cahraman ruled that the facility should have been subjected to a review under the California Environmental Quality Act and that the company should "take all actions necessary to bring the project into compliance with that Act." Tesco said...
So much for losing market share to the upstart Fox Business Network. CNBC was up 42 percent in total viewers during November (those are viewers tuning in during the 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily shift). It’s the best November in seven years - no doubt reflecting the topsy-turvy financial markets. Jim Cramer's Mad Money grew 37 percent from last November. FBN isn't wired in yet for Nielsen monitoring. (Silicon Alley Insider)...
In what could at least stir things around in the impasse between writers and the big media companies, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers is proposing a "New Economic Partnership" that's supposed to offer more than $130 million in additional compensation for streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. Now it's devil-in-the-details time; the Writers Guild wants a few days to study the proposal, which apparently was...
Talk about too little, too late. Assembly Democrats are proposing legislation that would help homeowners avoid foreclosures and toughen enforcement against predatory lending practices. Word of the legislation, which will be introduced in January, comes after Gov. Arnold announced an agreement with four major lenders to allow people at risk of defaulting to continue paying low introductory interest rates. "Our message is that lenders are willing to work with borrowers on finding a solution. But...
Or so says Nikki Finke, who has been reporting the rumblings coming out of this week's negotiations between striking writers and the media companies. One source told her: "It's stalemated. Nothing's getting achieved." Keep in mind that these things have a way of turning on a dime, and it's hard to put much context in the various bits and pieces being leaked. Still, they are interesting, especially the part about CAA partner Bryan Lourd working...
Strike impact minimized: Sure, it's a big deal for portions of Hollywood, but it won't mean all that much for the rest of the L.A. economy, according to UCLA Anderson Forecast economist Jerry Nickelsberg. For those of us around during the 1988 strike, when we heard gloom-and-doom forecasts that turned out to be way off, Nickelsberg's projections make sense. He says that if the strike lasts as long as the work stoppage in 1988, the...
Not a huge surprise, since no presidential candidate is about to be caught crossing a picket line at CBS Television City, where the Dec. 10 debate was to have taken place. Writers Guild members have been picketing that site pretty regularly. Another complication: a threatened strike by CBS News writers (also WGA members but under a separate contract). From the NYT: The debate on Dec. 10 was never scheduled to run on the entire CBS...
The Mouse House has formed an acquisition group that's looking to make up to 20 Internet buys over the next 24 months. It sounds like they’re looking at early stage stuff. Tech Crunch, which reported the move, notes that Disney is in early discussions with at least a couple of startups. The group is led by two VPs, Leigh Zarelli and Matt Pillar, who is a former managing partner at Catalytic Capital in Burbank (he...
For now they'll be administrative-type jobs - no journos - but Editor Bill Keller warned in an internal memo that "the newsroom is going to have to do even more to tighten spending, and to help the publisher and the Times Company meet the difficult financial challenges facing our industry. While we are committed to retaining our competitive muscle, we will be facing some tough choices about where to save." A hiring freeze was put...
Kevin Martin has proposed exempting the LAT parent from rules prohibiting ownership of newspaper and TV stations in the same market (KTLA is a Tribune property). It's a big deal because without the waiver being granted before the end of the year Tribune's $8.2 billion deal to go private would be in jeopardy (all kinds of tax penalties). Besides L.A., Tribune needs waivers for Chicago, New York, South Florida and Hartford, Conn. The waivers allow...
Charlie Koones, who has overseen lots of changes at the trade paper - online, special issues, acquisitions, a NY edition - is stepping down to try his hand as an entrepreneur. He's being replaced by Neil Stiles, who is currently division managing director for British-based Reed Business Information (Reed is Variety's parent). This morning's post on the Variety Web site says the usual nice things about both guys. Koones is 45 and has been at...
Or more precisely, the Coliseum Commission. Word of USC's potential interest in moving cross-town to the Rose Bowl is almost certainly a negotiating ploy - and it's working, at least in generating lots more (well-deserved) griping about the Coliseum. Even KPCC's Larry Mantle, who almost never takes sides, described the place as a "dump" - as did many of his listeners. For those of us who followed the travails at getting a pro team to...
Site abatement work on Phase I of the Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue Project begins on Monday. Demolition of the ugliest parking structure in the world - the one at 1st and Grand - will coincide with the Feb. 7th ground-breaking date (though cars will not allowed to park inside). All this is according to angelenic. Phase I will include a Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Equinox Fitness, mixed-income housing, retail space and 1,400 parking spaces....
How motivated are the networks to settle the writers strike? A new report by Bernstein Research projects a 1 percent decline in traditional ad spending this year - that's newspapers, television and radio - and more weakness is on tap for 2008. The exceptions are Internet, cable and cable operators. Even without strike-related losses, fourth-quarter ad spending in traditional media will decline 2 percent, while online spending will grow 28 percent. It doesn't take an...
I managed to skip over this morning's LAT story about the company's former HR head agreeing to plead guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with a federal probe into the manipulation of stock option grants. As part of the deal, Nancy Tullos has agreed to cooperate with investigators examining allegations that top Broadcom executives backdated stock options. The big question is whether she'll link any of the wrongdoing to Broadcom's founders, billionaires Henry Samueli...
Market shows life: This morning's news that Citigroup has received a $7.5 billion injection from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is helping prop up stocks after yesterday's big hit. At last check the Dow was up 160 points. But these days good news only gets you so far: Third-quarter home prices fell 4.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Case-Shiller housing index. That's the biggest drop since the housing index was started in...
This wasn't supposed to happen. Black Friday shopping was better than expected, oil prices were holding steady, and Wall Street had been coming off a decent rally on the day after Thanksgiving. But in a down market positive news is often greeted with a bounce that doesn't last very long. So despite a mostly flat session, the Dow ends up falling 237 points - much of it in the last hour or two of trading....
This time, NY Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to look at the potential risks of having the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta lend billions of dollars to Calabasas-based Countrywide. In case you're a little hazy, there are 12 home loan banks - all privately owned but chartered by Congress. The banks finance their investments mostly by issuing bonds. The home-loan bank money has replaced lots of the funding that dried up in August when investors...
The fast-food giant will be introducing something called the "McSkillet" this week, though the item can already be found in many of the chain’s Socal restaurants. The spicy burrito contains potatoes, red and green bell peppers, sausage, egg and cheese. Yum-o. As reported by the OC Register's Nancy Luna, "McDonald’s is ratcheting up its morning menu at a time when rivals such as Burger King, Wendy’s International, and Subway have added new breakfast grub this...
Writers nearing deal?: Nikki Finke has a reliable source telling her that an agreement is in place, although a settlement is not expected this week (but perhaps by Christmas). "It's already done, basically," the source told Finke. Formal negotiations between the Writers Guild and the media companies will resume today. Ever since both sides agreed to resume bargaining, there's been considerable optimism (probably too much) that a deal was within reach. Former Warner Bros. CEO...
As usual, the Friday after Thanksgiving offered little specific sales data but lots of anecdotes from shoppers, merchants and retail analysts. Most everyone says that stores were jammed during the early doorbuster hours, but shoppers were selective about their purchases. The season’s first real test comes Saturday and Sunday. Last year, post-Thanksgiving business slowed down considerably after the early rush on Friday, and this year will probably be the same. With 32 days between Thanksgiving...
The Santa Monica-based cell phone company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June after burning through almost $400 million - by most reckonings, the worst local tech collapse since the dot-com bubble burst. How it could fall apart so quickly is the subject of my piece in the December issue of Los Angeles magazine. The company was considered a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, and the idea was to focus on branding the Amp’d...
Motley Fool's Timothy Otte says he got to talking with a senior VP from Best Buy's field operations - no name used - about the way things work on the day after Thanksgiving. As you might expect, there's considerable planning involved, starting eight weeks in advance when layouts are determined and staffing locked in. Two weeks before the big day there's a special weekend sale for rewards customers that’s kind of a dry run. And...
Well, what else is there to do? There was no big news today, but plenty of worry - about oil, the dollar, credit woes, blah, blah, blah. The Dow finished down 211 points, to 12,799 (14,000 is looking mighty distant). The day was especially bad for the financials; Countrywide fell 8.4 percent to close at $9.42 a share and the locally based homebuilders did poorly as well. By the way, oil pulled back after flirting...
You might recall that the famous red Michelin restaurant guide has expanded to include a Los Angeles edition, but the LAT food writer Leslie Brenner is underwhelmed not only by the selections but by the guide itself. "In short, it's amateurish, confusing and barely credible," she huffs. Brenner gets on the editors for clumsy writing and inaccuracies - La Cachette is not open Sundays, Yabu does not serve California cuisine, that sort of thing. The...
Stocks take another hit: I don't get it: Aren't we supposed to be easing into Thanksgiving? No big news, other than airport delays and holiday shopping? Not this year, buster. The Dow is already down 150 points this morning, much of it related to the usual suspects (credit worries, high oil prices, and a lower dollar). Investors are heading for the bills - namely T-bills, whose 10-year yield has fallen below 4 percent for the...
CBS CEO Les Moonves and Warner Bros. honchos Barry Meyer and Alan Horn sent out can't-we-all-get-along memos to their employees today (Variety, Deadline Hollywood Daily). The memos are almost identical, so there's obviously a lot of coordination here - and they set the stage for the resumption of talks next week between the Writers Guild and the media companies. The basic message is that our differences can be overcome, reflecting a newfound civility by both...
Hollywood Boulevard, that is. The crowd of WGA members - plus a scattering of SAG representatives - heard a couple of tunes from Alicia Keys and then it was time to march west for a few blocks. I'm guessing that there were 2,000 marchers, many of them wearing the red strike T-shirts and "Pencils Down" buttons. My favorite participant was a white German shepherd who had a WGA picket sign that read "We won't be...
Angelo Mozilo says he has never been through anything like the last six months – the scrutiny, the allegations, the outrage over how he manages Countrywide Financial. Every morning the chairman and CEO wakes up thinking the worst is over and suddenly there’s some new crisis. It happened again today when the stock nosedived as much as 22 percent on rumors that the company was running short of cash. An analyst downgrade earlier in the...
The airport's position as a world cargo hub has slipped noticeably, from second place in 1997 to 11th place last year (nationally, it's ranked fourth, behind Memphis, Anchorage and Lousiville). During the same time span, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore have gained ground. One explanation, says cargo consultant Michael Webber, is the growth of Asia as an economic hub. "Mature industries grow a lot slower than an infant industry and, in many cases,...
Air travel delays: LAX should be improving by now, but a thick blanket of fog delayed a bunch of early flights. Departures were being held for as long as 45 minutes, which is a lot for L.A. (Daily News) Airport security complaints: They're up sharply over the past few months and get this: The Transportation Security Administration says it's because it wasn't counting all the complaints up until a few months ago! That's comforting -...
The buyer appears to be investment firm Hudson Capital, which acquired the Sunset-Gower Studios in Hollywood a while back (and whose managing partner, Victor Coleman, is the former number two man at Arden Realty). The LAT's Roger Vincent reports that the sale by Tribune Co. is not quite done. No price mentioned, but this summer's credit crunch has probably lowered the number. Tribune has been looking to unload the Hollywood property before going private at...
The government's new survey has the average price in L.A. at $3.363 a gallon, up about 4 cents from a week earlier. But the numbers may be close to peaking out; an AAA survey shows that pump prices nationwide actually fell over the weekend. And oil remains in the $94-a-barrel neighborhood. The question behind all these figures, of course, is whether consumers will hold back on holiday shopping in order to fill their tanks. That...
The Writers Guild says the vote was 81 percent in favor of authorizing a work stoppage if need be (about a year ago guild members turned down the CBS offer on a 99 percent vote). Any strike would involve TV and radio writers, editors, production assistants and researchers in L.A., NY, Chicago and Washington (Katie Couric writing her own copy? Guess she’ll do it on the way to cover the next world crisis.). The network...
I'm always suspicious of trend stories like a Bloomberg piece that says folks in the 100K-300K income level are reigning-in spending. The evidence - shrinking stock portfolios, falling property values and smaller bonuses - just seems wobbly. But for what it's worth, Bloomberg says it's happening and that it portends "a steeper slowdown than originally forecast for the U.S. economy, or even a recession." That's because the richest fifth of American households accounts for almost...
Stocks getting battered: A downgrade of Citigroup, a big write-down at Swiss Reinsurance and rising oil prices are among the explanations. The Dow is down about 170 points after almost two hours of trading. Resumption of talks: Both the writers and the media companies will lay out their positions in advance of next Monday's resumption of talks, according to the WSJ. Supposedly, that will avoid any surprises. By the way, both Leno and Letterman saw...
CAA partner Bryan Lourd and United Talent agency's Jim Berkus apparently convinced both the media companies and the writers to return to the bargaining table the Monday after Thanksgiving. Nikki Finke is reporting that a secret meeting took place yesterday at Lourd's home, with an attendance list that included WGA negotiator Dave Young, Disney CEO Robert Iger and News Corp. COO Peter Chernin. Prior to Friday's meeting, Berkus had been instrumental in arranging that Nov....
Talking is always better than not talking, so the unexpected news last night that the studios and networks will go back to the bargaining table with striking writers is certainly a positive development. So is the fact that it'll happen during the holiday season, when an extra dose of goodwill can sometimes lead to dealmaking. Still, it seems kind of early to be expecting a settlement, given the toxic exchanges of the past few weeks....
...Well, just be sure you don't believe this poll concerning the effects of the writers strike on TV viewing habits. The problem, of course, is that with the notable exception of the late night talk shows, there's been zero impact from the writers strike because the networks still have fresh programming for another few weeks. Nonetheless, one out of four adults surveyed by WPP Group’s Mindshare was clairvoyant enough to conclude that the strike would...
L.A. County's unemployment rate in October was a reasonable 5.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month though well above the 4.5 percent level in October, 2006. The statewide rate also remained unchanged at 5.6 percent (U.S. unemployment was 4.7 percent in October). Between September and October, L.A. added 7,800 jobs - much of that due to the new school year. Curiously, there was a sizeable drop in motion picture and sound recording jobs, which would...
Do gas prices matter?: We'll soon find out as T-Day fast approaches - and pump prices edge ever closer to record levels. Retailers are worried that the higher cost of fuel will eat into holiday sales, but retailers are always worried about that stuff. No doubt consumers will be careful this year, but whether they'll hold off on gift-giving because it costs an extra 10 bucks to fill the tank is a debatable point. The...
A Superior Court jury tacked on $2.5 million in punitive damages for the company’s failure to warn five Nicaraguan banana plantation workers about their exposure to a pesticide that left them sterile. That's in addition to $3.2 million in compensatory damages Dole was ordered last week to pay six workers. Even if Westlake Village-based Dole loses on appeal, the $5.7 million will hardly break its bank (the $2.5 million punitive award was a lot lower...
So much for any reunion with Joe Torre. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez has struck an agreement in principle to re-sign with the Yankees, according to the WSJ, citing a person familiar with the negotiations. The tentative deal is believed to be worth around $300 million over 10 years. That's a substantial drop from the $350 million he supposedly was asking as a free agent (and perhaps the reason why his discussions with the Dodgers never...
There's a lot happening this week, such as Honda, Ford and GM announcing plans to put alternative fuel technology vehicles on the road in California. But auto shows are typically judged by the number of world premieres, and this year there are only 14, down from last year's 21. The explanation is that last month's Tokyo Motor Show - and the Frankfurt Motor Show before that - stole lots of L.A.'s thunder. Next year there...
War between the unions: It's the Writers Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, but more to the point, it's WGA President Patric Verrone and IATSE President Tom Short. Here's the essence: More than a year ago Short tried to convince Verrone to get an early start on contract talks because of concerns that a strike might do mega-damage. Verrone refused and Short came away convinced that the WGA leadership was intent about...
Really, really changed. What had been a nasty 'ol fruit and vegetable business that couldn't give a darn about its Nicaraguan banana pickers is today a caring, considerate company. General Counsel C. Michael Carter told jurors today that Dole would never put profits ahead of safety - as it did in 1977 when it ignored evidence that a pesticide could leave its banana workers unable to have children. How nice. But wait a minute -...
She calls the production guys "dude" and "bro," takes a few passing shots at Dan Rather's trenchcoat fixation, and snorts a lot - not exactly the way a serious-minded anchorwoman should be acting. But that's why it's so much fun. The hell with the ratings - we've got to keep Katie Couric on the air. (My Damn Channel via NY magazine)...
He's the Korean internist who bought up much of Koreatown and is now being named as one of the major donors of UCLA’s dentistry school whose relatives may have received preferential treatment. The Daily Bruin reported that Lee pledged $1 million in 2006 and soon after his niece was admitted into the orthodontics program. Orthodontics is considered especially competitive, according to the student paper, and the program at UCLA is regarded as one of the...
This is news. For months the median price of an L.A. County home had kept going up, despite declines in all other parts of Socal. Well, it's time to join the crowd. The October median was $500,000, down 3.8 percent from a year earlier. One possible explanation for the lower number: sales financed with loans greater than $417,000 plunged 60 percent, according to the new Dataquick report. In other words, the housing slump is reaching...
Strike getting uglier: The WGA is trying to get copies of all scripts submitted to the studios over the past six months to determine if nonunion labor is brought in to polish union work. The studio and network alliance said such monitoring harkens back to the days of the 1950s blacklist (quite a hideous comparison). Meanwhile, some of the writers from one soap, "The Young and the Restless," went "financial core," meaning they gave up...
It's still not official, but News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch told shareholders in Australia today that he would prefer ad revenue over subscription fees. This isn't a big surprise; Murdoch has made noises about dropping the fee ever since News Corp. acquired Dow Jones (Well, almost acquired; the deal is supposed to go through this quarter). WSJ.com has been about the only successful paid site among major U.S. newspapers, generating $50 million or so in user...
Actually, it's probably happened by now. Several outlets are reporting that the always entertaining Regan is seeking damages of $100 million from HarperCollins and parent News Corp. for libel and breach of contract. Also to be named is HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman, who you might remember didn't exactly get along with the L.A.-based publisher. Bert Fields is handling the case for Regan, to be assisted by NY law firm Dreier. This has been many, many...
I'll be traveling for the next couple of days. Posting will resume Tuesday afternoon....
That was Frank Gehry responding - sort of - to a lawsuit filed against him by MIT, which says that the design of the $300 million Stata Center in Cambridge, Mass. caused mold to grow, leaks to spring up, and drainage problems to occur. Appearing the Guggenheim International Gala in NY last night, he blamed the hubbub on - what else? - the media. "Why do the press want to tear down success?" NY magazine...
Spago, Mélisse and Urasawa earned two stars, while one-star restaurants include Providence, Sona, Water Grill, Ortolan, Patina, Ritz-Carlton Huntington Dining Room, La Botte and Joe's. No local eatery got three stars (although the absurdly priced Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas did). Three is a huge deal in the gastronomic world, but getting even one star is notable - well, at least to some people. Ratings for the first-ever Michelin Guide for...
The world really doesn't need another profile of NBC head programmer and child-about-town, Ben Silverman, but his nasty attack on ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson in next month's Esquire is already making the rounds. He describes McPherson and Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly (his predecessor at NBC) as "D-girls," which the magazine describes as "industry slang for cute young development execs with little power." Naturally, there's a backstory: Reilly was fired in order to bring...
Another really bad day, with the Dow dropping 223 points - and tech stocks did even worse than the overall market. Google lost another $30 or so. The markets will be closed on Monday for Veterans Day, which just gives investors another day to worry....
Gas prices skyrocket: No more of this slow and steady stuff - L.A. pump prices are 14 cents a gallon higher than they were just a week ago (and 91 cents higher than a year ago). The Auto Club's latest survey shows the average price of regular is $3.297. Up to now such price spikes have not curbed consumer spending, but with the housing mess and now the writers strike, the picture may change. Retailers,...
The Mouse House CEO said that the writers walkout will "definitely have an impact" on ABC programming if it stretches into next month, which it most likely will. "We're fine through the November sweeps," Iger told analysts during a conference call (NYT). "We are definitely going to have to implement contingency plans if the strike persists." Those plans include a bunch of reality shows and half a season of "Lost." ABC has had okay but...
Never mind the stock market - if you want to get a nervous feel for where the economy is headed, take a look at last night's Sotheby's auction in NY. All told, $269.7 million was taken in, a third less than what had been expected. Sotheby's had promised sellers guaranteed prices for works by Van Gogh and Picasso, among others, regardless of whether the pictures sold. Some didn't, including Van Gogh's "The Fields (Wheat Fields)''...
Actually, the WSJ is using the word "plunging." Tech issues, which had been holding up pretty well in this topsy-turvy goose-pimply market, are really taking it on the chin. Even Google is getting hit, down more than 5 percent. Cisco's disappointing earnings apparently got investors spooked this morning - along with CEO John Chambers speaking of a "dramatic"' decline in sales to automobile and financial companies. The numbers were actually in line with analysts expectations,...
The founder of L.A.'s American Apparel - he's the one who likes to take R-rated pictures of his models - just got a meatier deal from the small company that's buying his business. Under terms of an amended agreement, Charney picks up another 5 million shares of Endeavor Acquisition (that gives him a 55 percent stake in the newly merged company). He also entered into a three-year employment agreement that provides a base salary of...
Bernanke sees slower growth: That's not exactly shocking news, but you and me saying it isn't quite the same as the nation's top moneyman saying it. In Congressional testimony this morning, he also used the word "noticeably" to describe the slowdown, which is a big deal in Fed-speak. But he does expect the economy to strengthen later next year. Nothing in his remarks would suggest that another rate cut is in the offing. (AP) Blah...
Oh, why not? On a day when the Dow fell 360 points comes word of a new report by Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius, who believes that California's economy is headed towards recession. Which means the U.S. is headed towards a recession. The state's steadily higher unemployment rate - influenced by all the housing woes - is cited for the dour conclusion. Footnote: L.A. unemployment in September was significantly lower than the statewide figure (5.1...
Sort of. The celebrated chef who helped jumpstart L.A. cuisine into the big leagues with Citrus restaurant on Melrose will be opening a new place at Social Hollywood, an entertainment complex on the site of the old Hollywood Athletic Club on Sunset near Cahuenga. The restaurant, which he describes as "casual postmodern" (oh brother), will open in January and Richard says he'll drop in once a month - much as he'll do at several other...
This time the culprit is a toy called Bindeez, which contains small beads that are found to mimic the effects of a date-rape drug. The toy's Australian manufacturer said the problem had been traced to a Chinese factory that apparently used a toxic chemical in the manufacturing process. It seems to dry faster than the safe stuff. (The nasty chemical in question metabolizes into gamma-hydroxy butyrate (GHB), also known as fantasy or Grievous Bodily Harm.)...
It's nervous time: The market is down 135 points at last check, and it could be even worse if not for a small pullback in the price of oil. GM reported a $39 billion third-quarter loss, which is an all-time record, and while the number shrinks to just $1.6 billion if you exclude a huge writedown, analysts found very little good to say about the results. “Things are bad and getting worse,” Peter Nesvold, an...
There's probably some reasonable explanation, but Michelle Leder at footnoted.org wonders why IndyMac CEO Michael Perry recently signed a new employment agreement that's virtually identical to his old one. Contained in the company's 10Q, filing, the contract goes out to 2011 and has lots of the perks that a CEO might not want to advertise on the same day that the company reported a $202.7 million quarterly loss - five times bigger than what had...
A big bash is planned for tomorrow night at the new store in Glassell Park. It's one of half-dozen or so stores that open officially on Thursday. And in case you didn't think this was a big deal for F&E parent Tesco, the British-based grocery giant, Curbed LA says that company CEO Sir Terry Leahy will be on hand, along with members of Tesco's board. Meanwhile, a F&E store in Hemet has been working out...
This year's long-running soap opera involving Messrs. Geffen and Redstone gets an entertaining airing in the December Vanity Fair. All the barebones stuff should be familiar: Geffen breaks off talks with GE and sells DreamWorks to Paramount (a unit of Redstone's Viacom). Geffen and partner Steven Spielberg feel they're not getting the proper respect from Paramount's Brad Grey. BW reports that Spielberg wants out of Paramount once his contract is up in 2008. Viacom CEO...
Countrywide bending the rules: You're a senior executive at the big mortgage lender and you're sitting on all these options. There's no point in exercising them now, what with the stock in the toilet. They'd just be worthless. So Countrywide is doing you a favor. It's providing a one- or two-year extension on options to buy stock (CEO Angelo Mozilo and COO David Sabol aren't included). It's an unusual move all right – wonder if...
The government's latest survey shows that the average price of regular in L.A. County was $3.182 a gallon, which to give you an idea is 22 cents higher than a month ago and 43 cents higher than two months ago. And the numbers are likely to keep going up, even though this isn't an especially heavy driving season. Part of the reason, of course, is the price of crude oil, which actually fell a little...
At last, Time Warner's board has approved the promotion of Jeff Bewkes to be CEO. He succeeds Richard Parsons, who will remain chairman until at least next May. The company plans to report third-quarter earnings in a few days, so they might have wanted to clear the decks. There's been lots of speculation about Bewkes making big changes, such as doing something about AOL. By the way, TW is considered the least vulnerable to a...
The always-entertaining media mogul folded his cards on IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet conglomerate that owned everything from Ask.com to the HSN TV shopping channel. Aside from that impossible name, Diller's company just didn't work as a multimedia conglomerate (Diller himself called it a "complex enterprise"), and now the plan is to turn it into five companies. IAC will be focused on the media and advertising business (Ask.com, Match.com and Citysearch), while the other less successful segments...
The writers and producers made more progress on Sunday than anyone would have expected on Friday, but all of a sudden the clock struck 9 p.m. and the strike was under way. That's 12 NY time, which is when the WGA contract expired back east. The producers' chief negotiator, Nick Counter, says he asked guild officials if they would stop the clock - the time-honored practice of a union putting off the contract deadline when...
WGA President Patric M. Verrone just emailed guild members to say that the strike will begin first thing Monday morning. No details on this morning's last-ditch efforts by a federal mediator and by the backchanneling among writers and producers, but the email would indicate that there wasn't enough progress to forestall the walkout. Here's what Verrone said in the email: Pickets will be the most visible and effective part of the strike in the next...
Don't get your hopes up, but there is some 11th hour chatter going on by writers and producers - plus a planned 10 a.m. meeting Sunday morning that was called by the federal mediator. Also, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has spoken to both sides - he met with guild leaders last week - though no one is looking at him as a deal broker, not yet anyway. There's apparently some buzz that the producers will...
Bloomberg's Seth Lubove examines the lawsuit-happy Ron Burkle in a profile of the L.A. billionaire (his annual legal bill could probably pay for a decent ballclub). Anyway, the piece recalls Burkle's early partnership with another local billionaire, Charlie Munger. At the time, Burkle was still a young guy, working as a manager at Stater Bros. The supermarket chain was put on the market by Petrolane and Burkle decided to make a run at it. He...
At least there weren’t any signs of it in Friday's session, where most of the big media issues saw little price movement. Remember, these are very big companies, and it’ll be a while before any effects of a prolonged strike are felt. Actually, Viacom (parent of Paramount) today reported an 80 percent increase in third-quarter earnings. Its stock gained almost 3 percent. The one significant loser today was CBS, which fell 2.1 percent. Its third-quarter...
The WGA walkout goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, the WSJ is now posting. Picketing at the major movie studios and networks would begin later in the day. Both the writers and producers are holding out a very small chance of weekend talks that could be productive enough to avoid a walkout. But unless both sides are about to make some serious concessions - and they're not - we'll see a work stoppage....
All set to strike: Hollywood writers will be walking off their jobs, most likely next week. It'll be the first strike in almost 20 years, and judging by the lack of progress at the negotiating table, we could be talking months, not days. As with many labor disputes, this one is really about the past - specifically a misguided decision by the Writers Guild in 1985 to not fight for a better share of the...
Can't Ron Burkle cut a deal that's easy? The latest adventure involving our peripatetic L.A. billionaire involves Interstate Bakeries, the company that makes Hostess Twinkies and recently had to shut down the local bakeries that make Wonder Bread. Interstate, you see, has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy for three years, unable to reorganize and pay off creditors that are owed $1 billion. The company came up with a plan last month that favors Interstate's bank...
A three-year contract was finalized today, believed to be worth around $14.5 million. "Having grown up in Brooklyn, I have a great understanding of the history of the Dodger organization and I am committed to bringing a world championship back to Los Angeles," Torre said in a statement (but does he understand the McCourt organization?). "I consider it an honor to be a part of this organization, which is one of the most storied franchises...
Now that his return to NY airwaves has finally been announced - he starts Dec. 3 on WABC - the next question is where else in the country will he be heard. As part of the deal, Imus is being syndicated through ABC Radio Networks. That means KABC. Check out radio-info.com and you will see the speculation about his slot that ranges from 3 to 6 a.m. to morning drive time. So far, no word...
Ari Emanuel the voice of sanity? Who would have thunk it? But the chieftain of talent agency Endeavor makes a pretty cogent case for trying to avoid a writers walkout, noting that politics is about to trump economics. "If you look at the amount of money that was at issue during the last writers' strike in 1988, I bet it was less than the amount the strike ended up costing all concerned," he blogs on...
Everybody remembers the scene where the Julia Roberts character, dressed in faux-hooker attire, is given the brush by a couple of nasty saleswomen at a Rodeo Drive boutique. The truth, then and now, is that you don't have to be a (supposed) streetwalker to be treated as if you have the plague. That’s especially true if you don’t fit a certain profile. WSJ reporter Christina Binkley, who covers the fashion scene, found her share of...
Strike talk: Well, it doesn't look great. Talks between the Writers Guild and the studios and networks broke down last night, just a few hours before the guild contract expired. There are a bunch of contentious issues, but what apparently caused negotiations to dead-end was DVD compensation. Guild members have been told to take their personal items home from offices at the end of work today - not a great sign. The WGA leadership sent...
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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