All Access

Media Deals

Media Deals Alerts

Alert

Standard

Media Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

Twitter is worth one-third of the amount it was when Elon Musk and co-investors bought the social platform for $44 billion, according to a new disclosure from Fidelity, Rebecca Falconer reports.

Driving the news: In Fidelity's latest Twitter markdown, the financial services giant estimated in a monthly report of portfolio valuations that the company is now worth about $15 billion, or 33% of the October purchase price, per a Bloomberg assessment yesterday.

The big picture: Fidelity was among the group of outside investors that helped Musk finance the Twitter takeover, and it has marked down the company's value twice since then.

Fidelity's Twitter stake, which now comes under Musk's X Holdings, was valued at almost $6.55 million as of late April.

💭 Thought bubble, via Dan Primack: Although Fidelity again marked down Twitter shares, it's on a one-month lag. The interesting question is what Fidelity does for the month of May, when Musk announced that Linda Yaccarino would be the platform's new CEO. We won't get those marks until the end of June.

1 big thing: 💸 Twitter money flying away

Illustration of a hand giving money to the Twitter bird logo.

Clear Channel Outdoor announced late yesterday it has agreed to sell its businesses in Italy and Spain to subsidiaries of JCDecaux in two all-cash transactions worth about €75.1 million.

Why it's the BFD: The deals come shortly after Legion Partners demanded the out-of-home media company make a move. But selling these European assets seems to be not enough to appease the activist hedge fund, Kerry writes.

Details: The sale of its Italy business is expected to close imminently, whereas the Spain business is expected to close next year following regulatory approval, CCO said in the press release. 

CEO Scott Wells said this sale, along with the sale of its Swiss business, "generated approximately $175 million in total gross proceeds" and acknowledged that those three markets are "lower-margin" and "lower-priority" for the company. 

"The Board continues its review of strategic alternatives for our other European businesses, and we remain focused on executing our strategic priorities in our America and Airports segments," Wells said. 

Flashback: Legion Partners said in its May 16 letter that it was "disappointed to learn" CCO's "strategic review" appeared to be focused on the sale of assets in Europe-South.

The letter pushed CCO to do much more, detailing that it should accelerate its sale process in Europe-North, begin a sale process for Latin America and consider selling select U.S. assets or even the entire company.

What we're watching: Lamar Advertising CEO Sean Reilly was asked last week at J.P. Morgan's Global TMT conference if his company would be interested in CCO's U.S. assets.

"We're monitoring it," he said. "What I can say is we will not be the solution if they're in search of one. However, they do have some very attractive assets that do look like Lamar land." 

Clear Channel Outdoor to shed some European assets

2. The BFD: CCO's European shed 

Illustration of a hundred dollar bill as a ripped billboard.

Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy entered a new phase after it gave away its rights to the San Diego Padres. 

Why it matters: Major League Baseball wants to take over its teams' local TV rights and broadcast games themselves. The Padres get to be their crash test dummy, Tim writes.

Driving the news: Diamond relinquished its TV rights for the Padres back to the team after it informed the club it would not make its next scheduled rights payment.

Major League Baseball will produce the games starting tonight and make them free through its MLB.tv streaming service through Sunday, then offer a special subscription option for Padres fans in San Diego. The games will also be distributed across DirecTV, AT&T, Cox, Spectrum and Fubo.

In a statement, a Diamond spokesperson said the "economics of the Padres' contract were not aligned with market realities. MLB has forced our hand by its continued refusal to negotiate direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming rights."

Diamond was losing money on its 20-year, $1.2 billion deal with the team, per Sports Business Journal.

Of note: In making the announcement, MLB said the new arrangement will increase the Padres' footprint by more than 2 million homes.  

What's next: The Padres may not be the last team that Diamond sheds while in bankruptcy. 

Diamond has held back some of its rights payments to four other MLB teams — Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers — who are seeking a court order to either pay them their full fee or relinquish those TV rights.

Diamond is arguing it should be paying less because the amount of people paying for cable TV is significantly less than when it made those deals. 

A hearing is taking place today, with a ruling expected.

The bottom line: Diamond has shown a willingness to walk away from bad deals.

Diamond Sports Group loses San Diego Padres TV rights amid bankruptcy

3. Diamond scratches the Padres 

Illustration of a baseball stylized as a disappointed emoji. 

Data: Box Office Mojo; Chart: Axios Visuals

This year's summer box office will look an awful lot like the pre-COVID days of 2019 — or even 1989, for fans of Michael Keaton's "Batman," Tim writes.

Why it matters: The movie theater business has bounced back in 2023, but the next few months will tell us just how close the box office is to returning to its pre-COVID glory.

What's happening: Well-known franchises still dominate the summer landscape, and this year includes some getting dusted off after many years on the shelf.

4. Charted: 🍿 Summer movie season

• Antimatter, an education tech platform for teaching and learning through memes, raised $2m in seed funding. Version One led, and was joined by Spacecadet, Ordinary, Gregory Levey and existing investors Haystack and Compound. https://axios.link/43AvwbV

• Proxima, a gaming startup led by Ran Mo (ex-EA), raised $1.6m in pre-seed funding. London Venture Partners led, and was joined by Konvoy Ventures, Progression Fund and Valhalla Ventures. https://axios.link/3ov6fBr

• Jerry Reinsdorf, the Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner, acquired a majority stake in sports media outlet Stadium from Sinclair Broadcast Group, through Reinsdorf's Silver Chalice Ventures. https://axios.link/428pONu

• Hawke Media, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based digital marketing agency, acquired Leverage Marketing, an Austin-based digital marketing agency. https://axios.link/3MBF7IO

• Baidu is launching a $145m VC fund focused on AI-generated content startups. https://axios.link/45xr13X

5. Deal flow

• Pinterest hired Julia Brau Donnelly as CFO. She spent the past seven years at Wayfair, most recently as VP and global head of finance and accounting. https://axios.link/3NdAXIR

• Cathy Nam joined Universal Filmed Entertainment Group as SVP of global communications. https://axios.link/3IMHKq7

• Terra Potts is exiting her role as EVP of worldwide marketing at Warner Bros. Pictures. https://axios.link/3ONpH78

• G/O Media changes: Zach Seward resigned from Quartz, and Gizmodo hired CNET editorial director Dan Ackerman as EIC, per Adweek. https://axios.link/3ou6SLy

• BBC Studios appointed Melissa Rubinson as SVP, business development and partnerships. She was previously senior director of strategic accounts and partnerships at Reuters. https://axios.link/3C1WEoP

6. Movin' on up (or out)

💰 Writers guild targets executive pay in letters to Netflix, Comcast shareholders (THR)

"As the strike drags on into the summer, the guild is trying to use every lever it can [to] ratchet up pressure on the studios, moving beyond picket lines and press availabilities to efforts to shut down active productions that have completed scripts, and now corporate shareholder activism," Alex Weprin writes.

📚 Your favorite book won't be turned into a TV show anytime soon (WSJ)

"Authors whose books are being adapted into movies and TV shows are the latest to be affected by the strike, which is taking a toll on projects at every stage of development. Studios from Amazon to Netflix and Warner Bros. have notified authors and their agents in recent weeks that they are invoking force-majeure rights included in their contracts," Sarah Krouse and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg write.

✨ "The last good website": Defector in pursuit of a journalists' utopia (CJR)

"This is our little business—we just need to have these margins, pay our employees, and that's it," Defector EIC Tom Ley said. "No one who owns a bar is thinking, 'I can't wait for NBCUniversal to come offer to buy my bar for a hundred million dollars.' If you think of it as a business that you're running with your friends, it becomes a lot easier to just be like, 'Yeah, we're having success, and that's all we need.'"

7. Channel surfing

Illustration of a pair of sunglasses with lenses that look like tv screens.

🦾 Situational awareness: Artificial intelligence's rise is already reshaping tech's business landscape, with chipmaker Nvidia being among the first big winners, Ina Fried writes.

@tim_bays: Phillies vs. Mets at Citi Field. My first time back in five years, and I finally get to see the comically large scoreboard in person. 

@kerrymflynn: Paramore at Madison Square Garden. An early birthday present to myself was GA floor tickets to see my favorite band.

✏️ Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Katie Lewis for copy editing this newsletter.

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and confused Padres fans to sign up.

May 31, 2023

1 big thing: 💸 Twitter money flying away