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Romney Booed For Waffling On Releasing Tax Returns

by Amanda Terkel on January 20, 2012

Huffington Post…

CNN debate moderator John King put all the GOP presidential candidates on the spot about their tax returns Thursday night, asking whether they will make their filings public. It was an easy question for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who released his returns just as the debate began. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he hadn’t given the issue much thought and didn’t have any intention of doing so. “I’d probably be embarrassed to put my financial statement up against their income,” Paul said, referring to the wealth of the other candidates. “I don’t want to be embarrassed because i don’t have a greater income. Now, I mean, it may come to that. But right now, I have no intention of doing that.” He added that he has no conflicts of interest, doesn’t talk to lobbyists and doesn’t “take that kind of money.” Romney, who has faced the most pressure on this topic, said he will release his tax returns in April, if he’s the nominee, and would “probably” release his returns from other years as well. He quickly tried to change the topic, saying Democrats simply wanted to attack people for “being successful.” “And I have been successful,” he added before hitting President Obama for playing “90 rounds of golf” while Americans are struggling in the tough economy. King pointed out that Republicans are often calling on Romney to release his tax filings. “Why not, should the people of South Carolina, before this election, see last year’s return?” asked King to applause from the audience. “Because I want to make sure that I beat President Obama,” replied Romney. “Every time we release things drip by drip, the Democrats go out with another array of attacks. As has been done in the past, I’ll put these out at one time so we have one discussion of all of this. I obviously pay all full taxes. I’m honest in my dealings with people. People understand that. My taxes are carefully managed. I pay a lot of taxes. I’ve been very successful. When I have our taxes ready for this year, I’ll release them.” Romney recently revealed that his effective tax rate is 15 percent , below the rate paid by many middle-class families . Gingrich did not directly attack Romney, saying, “Look, he’s got to decide. The people of South Carolina have to decide. If there’s anything in there that will help us lose the election, we should know it before the nomination.” Santorum said he does his own taxes. “They’re on my computer and I’m not home,” he said. “And there’s nobody at home right now until I get home. When I get home, you’ll get my taxes.” Finally, Romney refused to commit to the transparency and disclosure of his father, George Romney, who was governor of Michigan. In 1967, the elder Romney released his tax returns for 12 years. “Maybe. I don’t know how many years I’ll release,” responded Mitt Romney when asked if he’d follow in his father’s footsteps. “I’ll take a look at what our documents are.” The audience booed him. “I’m not going to apologize for being successful,” he added. “I’m not suggesting these people are doing that. But I know the Democrats will go after me on that basis. That’s why I want to release these things all at the same time. My dad, as you know, born in Mexico, poor, didn’t get a college degree, became head of a car company. I could have stayed in Detroit like him and gotten pulled up in the car — I went off on my own. I didn’t inherit money from my parents. What I have, I earned. I worked hard. The American way.”

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Romney Booed For Waffling On Releasing Tax Returns

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Fox News Presses On, Challenges Muppets To Political Debate

by on December 7, 2011

Huffington Post…

Emboldened by the reaction to his accusations that the Muppets are far-left, anti-capitalist felt radicals , Fox Business Network’s Eric Bolling has doubled down on his position. He’s now challenging Kermit the Frog to a political debate. “Apparently I said somethings that offended little Kermit and Miss Piggy the past few days, and I apologize, I didn’t mean to say anything to offend you guys,” Bolling said. “Froggy, Miss Piggy, if you wanna debate this any time, I’m all for it.” He’s even asked Donald Trump to moderate. In that case, expect Gonzo, Fozzie and Rowlf to drop out. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

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Fox News Presses On, Challenges Muppets To Political Debate

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Disney CEO Stepping Down In 2015

October 7, 2011

LOS ANGELES — Disney CEO Robert Iger will remain in his job through March 2015 and then serve as executive chairman for another 15 months to help break in a new chief executive, the company said Friday. The definite end to what will be a decade-long tenure suggests the eventual promotion of one of his two closest lieutenants, either Jay Rasulo, the chief financial officer, or Tom Staggs, chairman of the parks division. The two veteran executives swapped jobs in late 2009 in a move that groomed both to take over one day. Iger, 60, took the reins of The Walt Disney Co. in September 2005 after the tumultuous ouster of Michael Eisner following a shareholder revolt led by Roy Disney, the late nephew of the company’s founder. A former weatherman who rose through the ranks of ABC, Iger has orchestrated some of the company’s biggest acquisitions, including the $7.4 billion purchase of animated movie studio Pixar in 2006 and the $4.2 billion acquisition of comic book giant Marvel in 2009. Iger entered the Disney executive track when the house of Mickey Mouse bought Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion in 1995, which also brought with it pay TV juggernaut ESPN. One of Iger’s first moves as chief executive was to right relations with Steve Jobs, the just-deceased Apple Inc. co-founder. Jobs worked with Iger to bring ABC shows to iTunes and ended up being Disney’s largest shareholder and go-to adviser through its purchase of Pixar. On Wednesday, Iger called Jobs “a great friend.” Iger will also become chairman of Disney after John Pepper retires at the 2012 shareholder meeting in March. Iger’s contract had been set to expire in January 2013. “The board is delighted that the company has been able to secure the longer-term continuation of Bob’s unique blend of experience and leadership skills,” Pepper said in a statement. “His ability to bring together the many parts of Disney’s business against a clear and proven strategy, while instilling a culture of innovation, collaboration and discipline, will continue to serve the long-term interests of shareholders.” In 2010, Iger was awarded a pay package valued at $28 million, up 30 percent from a year earlier. He received no upfront signing bonus for his new contract. But a securities filing said he will receive an annual salary of $2.5 million, up from $2 million, and an incentive bonus target of $12 million per year through fiscal 2015, up from the target of $10 million earlier. Disney’s fiscal year ends in late September or early October. His annual stock grants bonus target was also set higher, at $15.5 million through fiscal 2015, up from $9 million.

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Ernan Roman: Which Social Media Channels Matter Most?

April 20, 2011

THE PROBLEM: “Competition is eating away at our market share… and using social media to do it.” THE SOLUTION: Recalibrate your social media plan. Interview your customers and prospects to learn which social media channels are most important to them and why. Conduct in-depth interviews to learn exactly what kind of value and information they expect from you…a cross multiple channels. Use the voice of customer insights to craft a new, multichannel customer engagement strategy. It’s true: Ignoring or minimizing the importance of social media now carries major competitive risks. Today’s consumers not only demand that the companies they buy from offer them easy access through multiple channels… but they also expect companies to keep track of all their interactions across multiple channels! That expectation definitely includes social media exchanges. In addition, an organization’s highest-value customers interact with the enterprise through more than one channel. That applies to social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well. Today, offering customers multichannel access using these and other social media tools is not merely a trendy add-on to a single campaign, but a long-term strategic imperative for the whole enterprise. A recent study conducted by BtoB magazine found that 93% of all business to business marketers are now “engaged to some extent” in social media marketing campaigns. Major takeaways from this and related recent research include: LinkedIn is a major lead generator in the B to B segment. At this stage, it should be considered an important part of any B to B channel mix. Facebook is the next most popular business-to-business social media channel, despite its emphasis on connections with friends and family. This is largely because of its potential strength in the area of branding. Despite wide use, Twitter has serious limitations, including a perception by many of “spamminess.” Customer communities and targeted message boards can yield major competitive insights — as well as invaluable first-hand feedback about your target audience’s messaging, value, and channel preferences. TRY THIS: Use feedback from in-depth (60-minute or longer) VOC interviews to identify which of the “big three” social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) your customers prefer for communication with your company… and why. Learn exactly what kind of access, updates, and value customers expect to receive through these channels. Build the best suggestions into a brand new social media plan. Be sure, while you are conducting VOC interviews, to also learn how customers want to engage with you across the broader multichannel mix, of which social media are one important element. Get fresh VOC feedback on a quarterly basis (at least) on how your execution of this plan is being received by customers. Ernan Roman is President of the marketing consultancy, Ernan Roman Direct Marketing. Recognized as the industry pioneer who created three transformational methodologies: Integrated Direct Marketing, Opt-In Marketing, and Voice of Customer Relationship Research. Clients include Microsoft, NBC Universal, Disney, Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Ernan was named to “B to B’s Who’s Who” as one of the “100 most influential people” in Business Marketing by Crain’s B to B Magazine. His fourth and latest book on marketing best practices is titled: Voice of the Customer Marketing: A Proven 5-Step Process to Create Customers Who Care, Spend, and Stay . Ernan is also the co-author of “Opt-In Marketing: Increase Sales Exponentially with Consensual Marketing” and author of “Integrated Direct Marketing: The Cutting Edge Strategy for Synchronizing Advertising, Direct Mail, Telemarketing and Field Sales.” www.erdm.com ernan@erdm.com

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Ed Lawler: Sustainable Leadership: The Problem With Iconic Leaders

April 18, 2011

For the last several months CEO succession at Apple has gotten a considerable amount of attention because of Steve Jobs’ health problems. The corporate board has been asked what their succession plan is for the CEO role and so far, they have avoided giving a definitive answer. It’s no wonder that investors are concerned. There are many examples in the history of American business that demonstrate how hard it is to replace an iconic leader. GE has not done well since Jack Welch left. Polaroid went bankrupt a few years after its founder Edwin Land retired. Disney floundered for a number of years after Walt Disney retired. The most common reason given for the failure to find replacements for iconic leaders is poor leadership development on the part of their companies. But there is much more to the problem of succession in icon-led companies than simply the lack of talent development and of the succession planning. Iconic leaders such as Welch and Disney often spend decades in their CEO roles and exert enormous influence through all aspects of their company’s strategy, operations and design. They create leadership roles that fit them. They institutionalize their way of managing to such an extent that their replacements simply have to do the job the way they did it or make enormous changes in the way senior management operates. Of course, it is virtually impossible to find a leader who can replace icons such as Welch and Disney in the jobs they have created, no matter how good the internal development system of a company is. But in essence, these icons create unsustainable leadership roles in their companies. What’s the antidote to this? There is an alternative to the kind of iconic leader who is impossible to replace: have a senior leader who installs a sustainable leadership model. This of course raises the question: What is a sustainable leadership model? Perhaps, the best way to describe it is as a shared leadership approach, one where individuals throughout the organization are expected to demonstrate leadership behavior and not be overly dependent on the CEO to provide a sense of direction, mission and purpose for the organization. When leadership is shared, people throughout the organization take advantage of leadership moments to influence the direction of the corporation. Finding a new CEO is much easier with the shared leadership approach. Bill Gates did it at Microsoft and the pay-off as been continued high performance. Herb Kelleher did it at Southwest Airlines and it has continued to perform well. The implication of this for boards is clear; they need to focus on talent development and how their firm is led, not just on succession planning. But what about Apple? Is Steve Jobs more like Bill Gates and Herb Kelleher or more like Jack Welch and Walt Disney? Is he a leader that has created a sustainable leadership approach for Apple? It does not look like it to me, but only time will tell. Edward E. Lawler III is a distinguished professor of business at the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business and founder/director of the University’s Center for Effective Organizations (CEO), one of the country’s leading management research organizations. He’s authored more than 40 books, including his most recent — Management Reset: Organizing for Sustainable Effectiveness (Jossey-Bass, March 2011). Cross-posted from Forbes.com .

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Volkswagen Beetle’s Latest Makeover Tries To Woo Men

April 18, 2011

In its 73-year history, the Beetle has evolved from the hippie ride of choice to a cute chick car. Now Volkswagen is reinventing it again. The company introduced an edgy new design Monday for its signature model, giving it a flatter roof, a less bulbous shape, narrowed windows and a sharp crease along the side. Gone is the built-in flower vase on the dashboard. It’s the first overhaul since 1998, when Volkswagen came up with the New Beetle. VW, which wants to triple its U.S. sales of cars and trucks over the next decade, says the changes will appeal to more buyers, especially men. But the changes could also anger fans, who love the little four-seater for its huggable curves and perky attitude. “I hope they keep the fun in the car, and all the round angles,” says Howie Lipton, who owns a computer repair business in Hamilton, Ontario, and helps organize an annual New Beetle show in Roswell, N.M. Lipton says he was hoping VW would update the spare interior, and his wish has been granted. VW’s lead Beetle project manager for the U.S., Andres Valbuena, says the 2012 model will have a navigation system, a significantly larger trunk, more luxurious materials and ambient lighting. “It ties in more with our other products. It’s more upscale,” Valbuena says. The 2012 Beetle goes on sale this fall. VW won’t yet say how much it costs. The design is based not on the New Beetle but on the original Beetle, which was created in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, came to the U.S. after World War II and became a counterculture favorite because of its low cost and unusual look. It was the antithesis of the land yachts being churned out in Detroit, and Baby Boomers loved it. In 1968, a Beetle with a mind of its own, Herbie, starred opposite Dean Jones in the hit Disney movie “The Love Bug.” But sales slowed as VW faced tough competition in the small-car segment from Japanese and U.S. automakers and money problems back in Germany. U.S. sales of the original Beetle peaked at 200,000 in 1962. VW stopped selling the car in the U.S. in 1979. In 1998, the company introduced the New Beetle, an overhaul of the original that became a huge hit. Buyers swooned over its cute, rounded styling. For a time, the Beetle was outselling such stalwarts as the Ford Focus and Chevrolet Impala. When a convertible version was released in 2003, U.S. sales rose to almost 93,000. Larry Erickson, who led a lauded redesign of the Ford Mustang six years ago along with New Beetle designer J Mays, says people are unusually attached to the original Beetle and New Beetle because of their friendly shapes and the confident but unaggressive way they sit on the road. It will be difficult for VW designers to capture that emotion and still make the car look current, he says, especially because it hasn’t been that long since the 1998 redesign. “Every car manufacturer faces this when they do a facelift, but in the case of the Beetle, you’ve got something people feel fairly strongly about,” says Erickson, who now teaches at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. “It has a certain personality to it, an endearing quality.” Valbuena says VW believes the new design stays true to the name but will broaden the car’s appeal beyond the 1998 version, which appealed heavily to women in their 50s and 60s. In focus groups, men liked the more aggressive design. In addition to an upgraded, 170-horsepower, 2.5-liter gas engine, VW will offer a sportier, 200-horsepower, turbocharged gas engine – Volkswagen hopes it will appeal to guys – and a fuel-efficient diesel. VW estimates that the new basic engine will be slightly more efficient than the current one, which gets 29 mpg on the highway. The diesel will get up to 40 mpg. Even if it satisfies its fans, the third incarnation of the Beetle will have to compete in a U.S. small-car market that is bigger and much more competitive than it was in 1998. When the New Beetle was introduced, European cars like the Mini Cooper, Smart Fortwo and Fiat 500 weren’t sold in the United States. By last year, the Mini Cooper was outselling the Beetle almost three-to-one. And buyers who want a funky design have new options like the Kia Soul, Nissan Cube and the Scion xB. VW sold about 16,500 New Beetles in the United States last year, down 82 percent from the 2003 peak. Working to Volkswagen’s advantage are higher gas prices and fuel-economy standards, which make small cars a smarter choice, along with a population boom of young buyers. Their parents, the Baby Boomers who fell in love with the Beetle 50 years ago, are also looking to trade down in size. Rebecca Lindland, director of strategic review at the consulting firm IHS Automotive, says U.S. sales of small specialty cars like the Beetle dropped during the recession as buyers went for bigger, cheaper options like the Toyota Corolla. The Corolla costs almost $3,000 less than the Beetle, which starts at $18,690. But Lindland says U.S. specialty car sales are expected to more than double to 350,000 cars per year by 2013. VW will depend on high-volume sellers like the Jetta and Passat sedans to meet its ambitious sales goals, which call for selling 1 million vehicles in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide by 2018. But it still sees the Beetle as a key part of the brand, as it showed Monday with simultaneous unveilings of the car in New York, Berlin and Shanghai. To many people, VW is synonymous with the Beetle. “It is an iconic vehicle,” Lindland says. “It represents, for most Americans, a very positive image.”

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Video: Disney, China to Invest $4.4 Billion in Shanghai Resort

April 8, 2011

April 8 (Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co. and its state-owned China partner will invest about $4.4 billion building a resort in Shanghai, the entertainment company’s second amusement park in the world’s most populous nation. The Shanghai Disney Resort will open in about five years and be the first in mainland China for the world’s biggest theme-park operator, which opened Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. Bloomberg’s Sheila Dharmarajan reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Scott Mendelson: The Shot Heard Round the Industry… Studios’ doomed plan for pre-DVD Video On Demand.

April 5, 2011

I know when I saw that fantastic Green Lantern footage on Saturday, my first thought was “Wow, I can’t wait to watch that in my home just sixty days after theatrical opening day for just $30!”. Fox, Warner Bros, Sony, and Universal have announced today that they will begin offering ‘first-run’ theatrical features on Video On Demand through DirectTV just sixty days after their theatrical release. Other outlets, such as Comcast and Vudo, will eventually join the fray in a limited capacity, but for now the first shot has been fired. Ironically, the two studios which will likely have the heartiest summer, Disney and Paramount, have for the moment abstained. Disney has Cars 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides just at the start of the summer. Paramount has an uber-strong slate the entire season, with Thor , Kung Fu Panda 2 , Super 8 , Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon , and Captain America . Point being, they’ll be counting money from May to August, so there really was no incentive to piss off the exhibitors. And the theater chains are indeed mighty pissed. First off, the launch will begin in April, with Unknown (Warner Bros), Just Go With It (Sony), and Cedar Rapids (Fox) being available to rent (?) for $30. The short version is that theatrical releases, apparently on a pick-and-choose basis, will be available on this service just 60 days after theatrical release. As of now, Fox claims that all of its Fox Searchlight films (of which Cedar Rapids is one) will go VoD sixty days after wide release, which is interesting considering how few of them actually end up going wide ( Cedar Rapids has yet to top 600 screens and is already bleeding auditoriums). It’s no secret that most mainstream theatrical films do the majority of their business in the first seventeen days or so. All studios onboard are claiming that any film that is still playing strongly in theatrical will not-so-quickly end up as a home rental option, and said policy will not apply to the would-be mega franchise pictures. Of course, that puts theaters in even more of a pickle, as they have no way of knowing if a given film will end up as a Video On Demand option until after the film opens in theaters. But the real question is how exhibitors will treat the theatrical runs of films that, in all likelihood, will end up as a at-home rental option in just two months anyway. Since two of the majors and (at this point) all of the mini-majors (think Lionsgate, Weinstein Company, and Summit Entertainment) are abstaining, will theaters give preferential treatment to the studios who don’t yet take part in this program? Will Lionsgate’s Madea’s Family Reunion get more and bigger theaters on April 22nd than Fox’s Water For Elephants ? And the weekend after that, will the theater chains conspire (for lack of a better word) to slightly level the playing field for Weinstein Company’s Hoodwinked Too and Disney’s Prom against Universal’s Fast Five ? Will The Hangover 2 end up in just 1,500 screens while Kung Fu Panda 2 gets 4,000 a day prior? Will, as David Poland suggested , the theaters limit the opening weekend potential for major franchise pictures like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II by simply not running the film on as many screens? And just what will happen when a studio’s major theatrical release gets kneecapped because everyone is staying at home watching their previous theatrical release from 60 days ago? This is going to get very interesting, and possibly quite a bit bloody. But all of this speculation presumes that audiences are even interested in ‘premium pricing’ On-Demand rental services. And the system as set up seems doomed to fail for one very specific reason: the very people who can wait 60 days to watch a movie at home are generally the kind of people who can wait 90-120 days to watch that same movie at home. The ‘wait for Netflix’ crowd are willing to wait precisely because they don’t need to see a movie right when it comes out. They can wait and see it in a three-to-four months when it becomes available in their queue. And, generally speaking, these casual moviegoers are damn-sure not going to pay $30 a pop to watch a movie in their home when they can wait and see it for basically $1. I’m a movie nerd, and I’ve said before that I’d gladly pay a premium price to watch a new release at my home… over opening weekend. When you toss in two tickets plus babysitting for a few hours, you’re already over the $30 threshold, so paying $30 to watch Water For Elephants at home would be a great deal for me… if it were right when the movie came out. But if I’ve already decided to wait for a specific film, either because my wife wants to see it and getting a babysitter isn’t possible right away, or I just don’t need to see it in theaters, I’m probably not going to pay $30 just to see that movie thirty days earlier than I otherwise would for basically nothing (I rent my films through Blockbuster Online, which is a flat monthly fee). And if I’m going to pay $30 to see a movie long after its theatrical premiere, I am generally going to wait for the Blu Ray and pay to own said movie for all time. But let’s pretend that I’m willing to pay $30 to see Water For Elephants in mid-June (after all, it’s no secret that I have a new baby due right then). After all, my maybe my wife wants to see it and I, as a film nerd, have a certain disposition to seeing movies as quickly as convenient. Maybe some of you who read this blog feel the same way. But would your friends, neighbors, or family give a crap about seeing a film 30-60 days earlier than they would on DVD for a 30x up-charge? The studios are always babbling about ‘more options’ when it comes to entertainment, which is how we end up with same-day releases on DVD, Blu Ray, OnDemand, iTunes, etc. But this new system doesn’t give audiences more options. It merely ends one option earlier than normal and forces audiences to choose between paying $30 for a secondary viewing option now or $1-5 for that same viewing option a month or two later. If ‘premium’ theatrical Video On Demand is going to work, regardless of whether it SHOULD work, it has to be within the first ten days of opening weekend, if not right on opening weekend. If you’re a sports fan, ask yourself: would you pay $60 to watch a prize fight or NFL playoff game even 48 hours after it happened? But studios are loathe to commit to basically cutting off their primary distribution source, and they know that the theater chains would eventually just stop booking those films anyway. In the end, and this applies to the current pricing system as announced today as well, the films that will get hurt are the smaller pictures, the genre thrillers and character dramas that are so difficult to get funded anyway. So I’ll end this by asking you, the reader: what do you think of the new Video On Demand system? What would you be willing to pay when for alternatives to theatrical viewing of a given film? How do you think the theaters should respond? Is this the beginning of the end, or merely the end of the beginning? Scott Mendelson

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Disney/ABC Television Group’s Vince Roberts Appointed Chairman of the Board of ETC@USC

March 29, 2011

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – March 29, 2011) – The Entertainment Technology Center at University of Southern California (ETC@USC) today announced its appointment of respected industry executive Vince Roberts as ETC@USC board chairman. The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC is a multi-industry consortium pioneering initiatives to ensure consumers have the best possible digital entertainment user experience. In addition to his active involvement with ETC@USC’s executive board, Roberts serves as the executive vice president, global operations and chief technology officer of the Disney/ABC Television Group.

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Steve Jobs Reelected To Disney Board

March 23, 2011

BURBANK, Calif. — Shareholders of The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday re-elected its entire board including Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs , despite concerns over his health and his poor attendance at company board meetings. Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. had recommended voting against Jobs’ re-election because he failed to attend 75 percent of the board meetings in fiscal 2010. Jobs became Disney’s largest shareholder after the company purchased Pixar Animation Studios in 2006 for $7.4 billion in stock. Jobs, who bankrolled Pixar when it was a fledgling movie house, now holds a 7.3 percent stake in Disney. After the vote, Disney said that it “considers itself fortunate to have Steve Jobs as a member of its board of directors.” Despite his spotty attendance record, Jobs has had a significant influence on Disney’s digital strategy – as evidenced by its many iPad applications. In November, CEO Bob Iger cited Jobs’ help in pushing the company to come up with a message for its redesigned Disney Stores. The company ended up focusing the stores on offering “the best 30 minutes of child’s play.” The annual shareholders meeting finished early Wednesday in Salt Lake City. Disney shares rose 72 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $42.16 in afternoon trade.

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Ernan Roman: Relationship Marketing Innovators: 5 Best Practices at Threadless.com

February 28, 2011

THE PROBLEM: How do you transform your organization’s relationships with customers? How do you get them to see your organization as a gathering-place, a destination for constructive interaction with others? We discussed these questions with Tom Ryan, CEO of the community-driven on-line apparel retailer Threadless.com. THE SOLUTION: Implement Threadless’ Five Relationship Marketing Best Practices. Threadless sells tee shirts in very large numbers to a fanatically loyal on-line community. The art for the tee shirts is sourced from a worldwide community of artists and designers. Once the art is submitted, the community of over 1.4 million registered users cast their votes, which helps management decide which designs go on to become Threadless tee shirts. Per the Sloan Management Review: 95% of those purchasing from Threadless.com have voted and posted comments, before making a purchase. Each of CEO Tom Ryan’s five principles is a potential game-changer. When implemented as part of your organization’s overall strategic plan (not just the marketing plan), his five ideas will transform your organization from a transaction-driven enterprise to a relationship-driven one. BEST PRACTICE #1. Funnel passion. “Accept that great ideas can come from anywhere,” Ryan advises, “either from employees within the company or from customers and fans outside the company. We believe that passion and ownership over an idea are the most critical factors to making it successful. Is your organization set up to capture and funnel passions? Or do you have to pitch up from corporate layer to corporate layer to get an idea cleared?” BEST PRACTICE #2. Make marketing a conversation — and don’t take yourself too seriously. In other words, skip the hard sell — or any sell — when using social media tools to interact with your community. As Ryan observes: “It’s very common for marketers to think of consumers who use social media tools as having grabbed hold of a huge megaphone. Marketers then try to grab that megaphone back, and use it as a broadcast tool so they can sell very large groups of customers. It’s more useful to think of social tools as being like a telephone line, something you use to reach out to connect meaningfully with one person at a time.” BEST PRACTICE #3. Make your product your marketing. Look constantly for ways to make your product or service interesting enough for people to talk about to others. Ryan notes: “We like to think of our shirts and designs as entertainment content, as stuff that is so interesting that it starts new conversations and attracts good word-of-mouth on its own.” BEST PRACTICE #4. Empower your customer — usually the benefits outweigh the risks. Ryan says, “we include our community in virtually all aspects of our business”. They submit the designs, they vote on them, they critique them, and they buy the products. As a result, they have a vested interest and a sense of ownership in what the company does. BEST PRACTICE #5. Act human. Authenticity, Ryan warns, is non-negotiable for today’s marketers. “It’s about treating your customers as you’d want to be treated. In keeping with that, we let folks at Threadless speak to customers in a voice that is truly theirs, but also represents the company.” Try This: Implement all five of Threadless’s best practices. Turn your customers into a community — and engage them to participate in many aspects of your company’s operations, including product and service development. This change will carry two transformational benefits: First, the quality of your understanding of your customers’ needs and expectations will increase exponentially. And second, customers will change how they view your company. They will shift from viewing you as a “supplier” of products/services to a company that offers relevance, personality and (yes) friends with whom they choose to communicate over time! Ernan Roman is President of the marketing consultancy, Ernan Roman Direct Marketing. Recognized as the industry pioneer who created three transformational methodologies: Integrated Direct Marketing, Opt-In Marketing, and Voice of Customer Relationship Research. Clients include Microsoft, NBC Universal, Disney, Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Ernan was named to “B to B’s Who’s Who” as one of the “100 most influential people” in Business Marketing by Crain’s B to B Magazine. His latest book on marketing best practices was published in October, 2010, and is titled: Voice of the Customer Marketing: A Proven 5-Step Process to Create Customers Who Care, Spend, and Stay . Ernan is also the co-author of “Opt-In Marketing: Increase Sales Exponentially with Consensual Marketing” and author of “Integrated Direct Marketing: The Cutting Edge Strategy for Synchronizing Advertising, Direct Mail, Telemarketing and Field Sales.” www.erdm.com ernan@erdm.com

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Walt Disney Results…

February 9, 2011

Walt Disney Results…

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Video: Bank Says New Media Offers Disney `Lots of Opportunity’

November 12, 2010

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, discusses Walt Disney Co.’s fourth-quarter profit reported yesterday. The world’s biggest media company said net income fell 6.7 percent to $835 million, or 43 cents a share, missing analysts’ estimates. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: U.S. Stocks Decline After Cisco, Disney Miss Estimates: Video

November 11, 2010

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Courtney Donohoe reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. U.S. stocks slid, with benchmark indexes falling for the third time this week, after Cisco Systems Inc. and Walt Disney Co. missed analyst estimates and concern over Europe’s debt crisis intensified. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Diedrich Says `Demand Is Still There’ for Disney Brands

November 11, 2010

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — Robin Diedrich, an analyst at Edward Jones and Co., talks about Walt Disney Co.’s fourth-quarter results. Disney, the world’s biggest media company, said fourth-quarter profit fell 6.7 percent after a drop in income from cable operators who paid their bills earlier this year. Diedrich speaks with Matt Miller, Carol Massar and Julie Hyman on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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News Corp. Shuts Off Hulu Access To Cablevision Customers – And Turns It Back On

October 16, 2010

One new twist to the Cablevision/News Corp. fight: News Corp. has cut off Cablevision subscribers’ access to its shows on Hulu, the video site joint venture, as well as on its own Fox.com Here’s a screenshot from Fortune.com columnist Seth Weintraub, taken this afternoon when he tried to watch a Fox show on the site, which is co-owned by News Corp., Disney’s ABC and GE’s NBC Universal:

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Video: Barrack Looks to `Harvest, Sweeten’ Miramax Film Library: Video

October 1, 2010

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — Thomas Barrack, chairman of Colony Capital LLC, talks about the growth strategy for Miramax Films and the video-on-demand market. Colony was part of an investment group acquired Miramax from Walt Disney Co. for $660 million. Barrack speaks with Jon Erlichman on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Disney Insider Trading Case: Defendants Plead Guilty

August 23, 2010

NEW YORK — A man charged with selling secrets about finances at Walt Disney Co. pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to wire fraud charges and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Yonni Sebbag, a citizen of Morocco, and his girlfriend, former Disney employee Bonnie Hoxie, were arrested in California in May in the insider trading case filed in New York. “I agreed with others to commit securities and wire fraud,” Sebbag, 30, said in court, reading from a statement. “As part of this, I disclosed material and non-public information about the Walt Disney company to outside investors.” The government said the pair arranged for anonymous letters to be sent in early March to dozens of hedge funds and other investment companies, many of which were in Manhattan, offering to sell secrets. Most of the hedge funds and companies that received the offers notified the FBI. Federal agents then posed as hedge fund traders and offered to buy the information from Sebbag and Hoxie, prosecutors said. Before Disney’s May 11 earnings report, the couple sent FBI agents a copy of a 107-page document titled: “The Walt Disney Company Q2 Fiscal 2010 Key Topics Speaking Points,” prosecutors said. The pair notified agents two hours before the public earnings announcement that Disney’s results would exceed stock analysts’ expectations. Sebbag said Monday that he was paid $15,000 for the information when he met two undercover FBI agents in New York, and was ordered to return the money. Prosecutors said he agreed to provide similar confidential information in the future in return for a 30 percent share of any profits from early trades. Sebbag has been held without bail in Manhattan because he was deemed a flight risk. Sentencing was set for Nov. 16. Though the charges carry a potential penalty of up to 25 years in prison, a plea agreement recommends that the judge impose a prison sentence of two years and three months to two years and nine months. Prosecutors said Hoxie, who had been employed at Disney since Dec. 18, 2007, obtained information, like Disney’s quarterly earnings, before the results were publicly released and fed the information to Sebbag, who tried to sell the tips to at least 33 investment companies. Hoxie’s case is still pending. She remains out on bail. Shares of Walt Disney Co. were down 14 cents at $13.91 in late morning trading in New York.

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Video: Miller Tabak’s Joyce Expects Disney Shares to Rise 13%: Video

August 10, 2010

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) — David Joyce, an analyst with Miller Tabak & Co., talks about Walt Disney Co.’s financial results. Walt Disney, the world’s biggest media company, reported third-quarter sales and profit that beat analysts’ estimates on gains at the ESPN sports channel and a rebound at the film studio led by “Toy Story 3.” Joyce speaks with Bloomberg’s Susan Li from New York. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Mirimax SOLD: Disney Sells Miramax Films To Ronald Tutor’s Filmyard Holding For $660 Million

July 29, 2010

LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it agreed to sell its Miramax Films to an investor group for about $660 million, ending a 17-year association with the studio and a six-month bidding process. The entertainment company signed the agreement late Thursday with Filmyard Holding, an investor group led by construction magnate and Hollywood outsider Ronald Tutor. Other investors include Colony Capital LLC, a real estate investment group, and its CEO Tom Barrack. Tutor and his partners put down a nonrefundable deposit of $40 million to Disney on Thursday. Disney said the deal could close as soon as Sept. 10. Disney had been looking to sell Miramax amid a studio overhaul because it no longer resonated with its other family centric studio units such as Pixar and Marvel. “Although we are very proud of Miramax’s many accomplishments, our current strategy for Walt Disney Studios is to focus on the development of great motion pictures under the Disney, Pixar and Marvel brands,” said Disney president and CEO Robert A. Iger said in a statement. “We are delighted that we have found a home for the Miramax brand and Miramax’s very highly regarded motion picture library.” Miramax’s Oscar-laden film library has more than 700 titles, including prestigious films such as “My Left Foot” (1989), “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “Good Will Hunting” (1997). The label was founded in 1979 by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who named it after their parents, Miriam and Max. It was sold to Disney for $80 million in 1993, and the brothers stayed on as managers. The Weinstein’s recent bid to buy Miramax with the financial backing of supermarket magnate Ron Burkle was halted after Burkle cut the offered price to about $565 million from $625 million. Disney shares closed Thursday at $33.71.

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Mirimax SOLD: Disney Sells Miramax Films To Ronald Tutor’s Filmyard Holding For $660 Million

July 29, 2010

LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it agreed to sell its Miramax Films to an investor group for about $660 million, ending a 17-year association with the studio and a six-month bidding process. The entertainment company signed the agreement late Thursday with Filmyard Holding, an investor group led by construction magnate and Hollywood outsider Ronald Tutor. Other investors include Colony Capital LLC, a real estate investment group, and its CEO Tom Barrack. Tutor and his partners put down a nonrefundable deposit of $40 million to Disney on Thursday. Disney said the deal could close as soon as Sept. 10. Disney had been looking to sell Miramax amid a studio overhaul because it no longer resonated with its other family centric studio units such as Pixar and Marvel. “Although we are very proud of Miramax’s many accomplishments, our current strategy for Walt Disney Studios is to focus on the development of great motion pictures under the Disney, Pixar and Marvel brands,” said Disney president and CEO Robert A. Iger said in a statement. “We are delighted that we have found a home for the Miramax brand and Miramax’s very highly regarded motion picture library.” Miramax’s Oscar-laden film library has more than 700 titles, including prestigious films such as “My Left Foot” (1989), “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “Good Will Hunting” (1997). The label was founded in 1979 by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who named it after their parents, Miriam and Max. It was sold to Disney for $80 million in 1993, and the brothers stayed on as managers. The Weinstein’s recent bid to buy Miramax with the financial backing of supermarket magnate Ron Burkle was halted after Burkle cut the offered price to about $565 million from $625 million. Disney shares closed Thursday at $33.71.

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Video: Bank Says Disney’s Playdom Buy Shows Online Games’ Value: Video

July 28, 2010

July 28 (Bloomberg) — David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, discusses Walt Disney Co.’s purchase of Playdom Inc., the second-biggest maker of games played on Facebook and MySpace, and the status of the company’s efforts to sell its Miramax film division. Bank speaks with Jon Erlichman on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Bank Says Disney’s Playdom Buy Shows Online Games’ Value: Video

July 28, 2010

July 28 (Bloomberg) — David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, discusses Walt Disney Co.’s purchase of Playdom Inc., the second-biggest maker of games played on Facebook and MySpace, and the status of the company’s efforts to sell its Miramax film division. Bank speaks with Jon Erlichman on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Disney Said to Be in Talks to Buy Games Maker Playdom: Video

July 26, 2010

July 26 (Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co. is in talks to buy Playdom Inc., maker of video games played on the Facebook social-networking website, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. Bloomberg’s Sheila Dharmarajan reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Disney Loses ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ Trial: Video

July 7, 2010

July 7 (Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co. was found liable for not paying the U.K. creators of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” their share of profits from the quiz show broadcast on Disney’s ABC television network. A jury in Riverside, California, today awarded $269.4 million in damages to Celador International Ltd. Bloomberg’s Lori Rothman and Edvard Pettersson report. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Disney Secretary, Boyfriend Arrested in Plan to Sell Earnings Information

May 26, 2010

By Edvard Pettersson and David Glovin May 26 (Bloomberg) — A Los Angeles federal judge granted $50,000 bail to an assistant to Walt Disney Co. ’s head of corporate communications accused of leaking confidential stock tips about the entertainment company’s earnings. Bonnie Hoxie, the assistant to Zenia Mucha , was ordered to appear June 3 for a court hearing in New York, while her boyfriend, Yonni Sebbag, was detained without bail. Federal prosecutors in New York charged the pair today with sending letters in March to at least 33 investment companies including hedge funds with offers to sell confidential information about Burbank, California-based Disney. Los Angeles Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh rejected a $10,000 bond for Hoxie before setting bail at $50,000, saying “there’s potential for her to be a flight risk.” Walsh said Sebbag “might be inclined to leave the country based on these charges.” Hoxie, 33, and Sebbag, 29, were arrested today in Los Angeles. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today also sued them. “Hoxie and Sebbag stole Disney’s confidential pre-release earnings information and put it up for sale,” Robert Khuzami , the SEC’s enforcement director, said in a statement. “Fortunately, multiple hedge funds reported the illicit scheme, and the SEC and criminal law enforcement authorities acted quickly to stop this brazen attempt to establish an ongoing insider-trading business.” None of the funds acted on the tips, according to a person familiar with the matter. Second-Quarter Profit Disney, the world’s biggest media company , said May 11 that fiscal second-quarter profit climbed 55 percent on more successful film releases, including “Alice in Wonderland.” The shares fell that day after operating profit at the television unit that includes ESPN and ABC missed analysts’ estimates. “The Walt Disney Company has been fully cooperating with this investigation,” the company said in a two-sentence statement. On March 11, an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation began reaching out to the pair, according to a criminal complaint filed today in New York. On May 8, the two gave undercover FBI agents an internal Disney “talking points” document that the company planned to use during its earnings presentation, according to the complaint. Three days later, they passed along Disney’s earnings per share, prosecutors said in the complaint. On May 14, Sebbag got a $15,000 cash payment from two undercover agents at a meeting on Long Island, New York, prosecutors said. Court documents detail communications between Sebbag and the undercover agents. ABC’s Audience “The most important thing in all that is to not get caught,” Sebbag wrote, according to the SEC complaint. The criminal complaint includes a March 15 e-mail that Sebbag allegedly sent to an undercover agent pretending to be a hedge fund trader. In the e-mail, Sebbag wrote that Disney Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger “is in serious and advanced negotiations” to sell the ABC network to two private equity firms, “but no price has been determined yet.” Sebbag offered to pass along new information as he learned it, according to the complaint. Disney said in its statement that “the reference in the complaint to conversations regarding the ABC Network were and are false.” Broadcaster ABC, third among major U.S. TV networks in prime-time viewers, is the only broadcaster whose audience shrank this season through May 24, according to Nielsen Co. ratings data. Iger told shareholders in March in San Antonio that, while he was comfortable with the company’s current assets, including ABC, he is always mindful of how to keep Disney growing. “There are no guarantees in terms of what will remain part of our company and what will not,” Iger said. The complaint doesn’t mention Mucha or suggest that the head of the company’s corporate communications unit engaged in any wrongdoing. Before joining Disney in 2002, Mucha was press secretary to New York Governor George Pataki . From 1986 to 1992, she managed two successful campaigns for U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato , a New York Republican. Mucha didn’t immediately return calls and e- mail messages seeking comment. Hoxie was to be released today as soon as she is processed. The judge ordered her to surrender her passport and not to travel other than for her court appearances. Hoxie and Sebbag were represented by public defenders who weren’t available for comment after the hearing. Disney rose 95 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $33.27 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 2:38 p.m. The case is U.S. v. Hoxie, 10-mag-01113, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporters on this story: David Glovin in New York federal court at dglovin@bloomberg.net ; Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net .

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Sumner Redstone Says He Will `N-E-V-E-R’ Sell Media Companies CBS, Viacom

May 26, 2010

By Sarah Rabil May 26 (Bloomberg) — Sumner Redstone , chairman of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. , said he will never sell either of the media companies. “I’ve said from the beginning I will never, N-E-V-E-R, sell Viacom and CBS,” Redstone said today at CBS’s annual meeting in New York. Redstone, who will be 87 tomorrow, was responding to a question from an investor regarding a May 24 report in the New York Post that said CBS and Walt Disney Co. ’s ABC may be put up for sale, citing unnamed Wall Street executives. He said the report is not true. National Amusements Inc., Redstone’s holding company for his CBS and Viacom stock and other assets, in the last year-and- a-half sold shares to repay loans that threatened his control of the New York-based media organizations. Viacom owns Paramount Pictures film studio and cable channels MTV and Comedy Central. CBS owns the most-watched U.S. broadcast network. Redstone, who has repeatedly vowed that he will live forever, mounted a takeover battle for Viacom in 1986, winning control of the company the next year. He split Viacom and CBS at the beginning of 2006. CBS rose 27 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $14.28 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 97 percent in the last 12 months. Viacom rose 55 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $32.77 and has climbed 45 percent in the last year . Stock-Tips Leaked An assistant to Disney’s head of corporate communications was arrested today with her boyfriend and accused of leaking confidential stock tips, including information that Disney was in advanced negotiations to sell the ABC network to two private- equity firms. Disney said today in a statement that the conversations in the complaint regarding ABC “were and are false.” Federal prosecutors in New York charged Bonnie Hoxie, the assistant to Zenia Mucha, and Yonni Sebbag, Hoxie’s boyfriend, with sending letters in March to at least 33 investment companies including hedge funds with offers to sell the confidential information. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also sued them. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Rabil in New York at srabil@bloomberg.net

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Walt Disney sees 55% hike in Q2 net income

May 12, 2010

Walt Disney sees 55% hike in Q2 net income

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Walt Disney Earnings…

February 10, 2010

Walt Disney Earnings…

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Disney Profit Tops Analysts’ Estimates on Gain in Broadcast, Cable Revenue

February 9, 2010

By Andy Fixmer Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co. , the world’s biggest media company, reported fiscal first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as TV revenue rose and theme-park results stabilized. Net income totaled $844 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with $845 million, or 45 cents, a year earlier, when a gain on the sale of TV stations boosted results, Burbank, California-based Disney said today in a statement . Sales rose 1.5 percent to $9.74 billion, exceeding the $9.63 billion average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Theme-park revenue was flat, as Disney attracted visitors with discounts. Both the broadcast and cable divisions posted revenue increases. Excluding one-time items, earnings of 47 cents a share beat the 38-cent average of 18 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Disney rose 57 cents to $30.41 in extended trading. The shares added 36 cents to $29.84 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and gained 42 percent in 2009. To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

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CoStar’s Retail News Roundup: Feb. 7-13, 2010

February 7, 2010

This week in the Retail Roundup, CoStar reports on expansions or new concepts at Casual Male, Coach, Subway and Chick-fil-A; closings, cutbacks, bankruptcy, default, receivership or foreclosure news at Disney Store, Movie Gallery, Car Dealerships, Walking…

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CoStar’s Retail News Roundup: January 10-16, 2010

January 11, 2010

This week in the Retail Roundup, CoStar reports on expansions or new concepts at Disney Store and Marco’s Pizza; closings, cutbacks, bankruptcy, default, receivership or foreclosure news at Macy’s, Trans World Entertainment, Foot Locker, CityNorth and…

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Swine Flu Vaccination: Corporate Employers Got Scarce Flu Vaccine, USA Today Reports

December 7, 2009

When the swine flu vaccine was most scarce, health officials gave thousands of doses to corporate clinics at Walt Disney World, Toyota, defense contractors, oil companies and cruise lines, according to a USA TODAY review of vaccine distribution data from three states.

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China panel OKs Disney’s Shanghai park

November 24, 2009

China panel OKs Disney’s Shanghai park

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Video: U.S. Stocks Rise, Capping Second Straight Weekly Advance: Video

November 13, 2009

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Deborah Kostroun reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. U.S. stocks rose, extending a second straight weekly advance, amid higher-than-estimated earnings at Walt Disney Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. The dollar declined against most major counterparts, boosting gold and silver. Oil fell, and Treasuries rose.(Source: Bloomberg)

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Shanghai Farmers Lose Fields as Disney Kingdom Creates `Crazy’ Home Prices

November 6, 2009

By Bloomberg News Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co. ’s newest castle may rise from the Shanghai fields where retired farmer Jin Xinmei and her husband grow Chinese cabbage, potatoes and strawberries to supplement their $103 monthly pension. Jin, 72, said the local government already told her that she and her husband will have to relocate from their native Qigan Village in the Pudong district so Disney can build its newest theme park. Jin wasn’t told how much the government will pay for her 30-square-meter (323-square-foot) house and its backyard vegetable patch, she said. “My husband and I are very worried,” Jin said. “We don’t want to move because our meager income is not enough for us to live in the city, where everything costs more.” Disney , the world’s largest media company, won government approval to build its first theme park in mainland China, its fourth outside the U.S. The Magic Kingdom-style park will be built in three phases covering 11 square kilometers (2,718 acres), according to Shanghai Securities News, and force about 5,000 families in Chuansha county to relocate, villagers said. The park will cost about 25 billion yuan ($3.66 billion) to build and is scheduled to open in 2014, the state-run newspaper said yesterday. ‘Crazy’ Market “We understand that the local government is offering resettlement packages to local residents,” Disney spokeswoman Alannah Hall-Smith said in an e-mail. “The local government is also offering other forms of assistance to local residents, and Disney and our Chinese partners will strive to support these local efforts.” The proposed park already is pushing up property prices in the district, which is about 27 kilometers (17 miles) east of Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial center. A Nov. 4 auction of a 56,570-square-meter plot in Chuansha country attracted 17 bidders and sold to a Fujian province developer for 1.19 billion yuan, compared with the minimum asking price of 326.8 million yuan, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency said. The average price for new apartments in Chuansha jumped to 16,000 yuan per square meter from 13,000 yuan a month ago, said Yang Jun, an agent at Centaline Property Agency Ltd. “The market just went crazy,” he said. “We expect the prices to jump to at least 20,000 yuan in a few months. A Disneyland — that’s the best you could ask for as a neighbor.” Olympic Relocations Residential prices in 70 Chinese cities climbed 2.8 percent in September, the fastest pace in a year, as record lending and 4 trillion yuan in stimulus spending spur a recovery in the world’s fastest-growing major economy . New home prices in Shanghai averaged 16,780 yuan per square meter in October, according to Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co. China has a history of relocating people — with compensation and without — for redevelopment and construction projects. Beijing’s government said last year it used market-based valuations to pay an average of 700,000 yuan compensation to each household relocated for the building of venues for the 2008 Olympic Games. The local government moved 6,037 households, with about 14,901 residents, between 2001 and 2004. Many of Beijing’s centuries-old narrow lanes, or hutongs, were demolished before the Games, and their residents were sent to far-flung suburbs or new towns around the city. ‘We Have to Move’ Farmers in Hubei province relocated because of the Three Gorges Dam project received 6,000 yuan in compensation per household, the state-run Global Times reported Sept. 30. The dam, set to become the world’s biggest hydroelectric power station when fully operational by 2012, forced the relocation of 1.27 million people by June 30, the government said. Ge Gengdi, 65, of Zhaohang village in Pudong, operates a small neighborhood store with her husband and makes about 350 yuan of profit a day. She has lived in the village for 39 years, and her family of eight shares a 300-square-meter house. “The government’s agenda is always on top of farmers’, and I know we should support it instead of grudging,” Ge said, standing amid shelves of soap, bottled water and cooking oil. “Happy or not happy isn’t important anymore. The decision is made and we have to move.” An official at the Chuansha county planning department , who declined to provide her name, said Nov. 4 that relocation will start soon. Shanghai government spokesman Chen Qiwei declined to comment yesterday. The resettlement involves 4 million square meters of land, the state-run China Daily said Nov. 4. ‘Ruined’ Life Qigan, at the center of Chuansha, covers 3 square kilometers and has 2,555 people, according to the local government. Zhaohang covers 5.3 square kilometers and has 3,820 people. Ge said she already lost some land to the government for redevelopment last year. The government didn’t specify what the land would be used for, she said. “All I care now is how much compensation we will end up getting after layers and layers of government officials get their share,” the retired farmer said. Chen Xiwen , director of the State Council’s Office of Central Rural Work Leading Group, said in February that China’s government must protect the economic interests of farmers or face increasing protests as millions of jobless workers return to the countryside from cities. Premier Wen Jiabao has made boosting incomes among farmers a priority, promoting rural loans and raising public works spending to double their earnings by 2020. The average per capita income in the countryside was 4,716 yuan in 2008, about a third of that for city dwellers , according to government statistics. Jin said she and her husband grow vegetables and fruit to save money. Her fellow villagers say they will get 32 square meters of living space each in their new homes. “There are no factories in this place so there’s no pollution,” Jin said. “But it’s all ruined now: the peace, the air, and our life.” For Related News and Information: Disney in China: DIS US TCNI CHINA Revenue breakdown for Disney: DIS US FA PGEO Disney relative value graph: DIS US RVG Graph of China’s GDP growth: CNGDPYOY GP Graph of Shanghai GDP Growth: CNQYSHG GP Shanghai’s per-capita GDP: CNGCSHG HP Top consumer news: TOP CONS

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Video: Potrock Discusses Disney-ESPN Sports Complex Partnership: Video

November 5, 2009

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Kenneth Potrock, senior vice president at Walt Disney Co.’s Disney Sports Enterprises, talks with Bloomberg’s Julie Hyman about Disney’s plans to broadcast events from its sports complex in Florida on ESPN’s networks. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Harrah’s Entertainment Hires Former Disney Executive as President-Strategy and Development

October 19, 2009

LAS VEGAS, CA–(Marketwire – October 19, 2009) – Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. announced today that Peter E. Murphy will join Harrah’s as president-strategy and development and as a member of the company’s senior management team upon receipt of all required regulatory approvals. Murphy formerly served with The Walt Disney Company until 2007. At Disney, he filled a variety of executive roles, including chief strategic officer and senior advisor to the chief executive officer. From 1998 to 2005, he was Disney’s senior executive vice president, chief strategic officer and a member of the company’s executive management committee. During his tenure, Disney acquired Capital Cities/ABC, Fox Family Worldwide, 40 percent of E! Entertainment Television, the Miramax Film Corporation, Baby Einstein and The Muppets, among others. He was responsible for strategy and new business development, mergers and acquisitions, technology, brand management and long-term planning for the growth of Dis

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CoStar’s Retail News Roundup: Oct. 18 – 24, 2009

October 18, 2009

This week in the Retail Roundup, CoStar reports on expansions or new concepts at All Saints and Disney Stores; closings, cutbacks, defaults, or bankruptcy news at Lowe’s and Luby’s; acquisition, merger, loan, sale, or IPO activity at Charlotte Russe…

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Steve Jobs: Disney Hires Apple CEO To Help Disney "Dream Bigger"

October 13, 2009

The involvement of Mr. Jobs, the Apple chief executive who joined the Disney board with the 2006 acquisition of Pixar, is particularly notable. For the first time, Mr. Jobs’s fingerprints can be seen on Disney strategy, in the same way that he influenced the look and feel of Apple’s own immensely popular retail chain. While Mr. Jobs did not personally toil on the Imagination Park concept, he pushed Disney to move far past a refurbishment. “Dream bigger — that was Steve’s message,” said Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products.

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