Oprah's (sort of) big event

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com/video.

JP Morgan analyst Michael Meltz says that Winfrey's decision to leave broadcast TV is not a huge problem for CBS, which has been syndicating the show through King World, or for ABC, which has been running it in most of its major markets (including this one). For what it's worth, stocks of both companies fell a bit today (CBS more than Disney), but these are huge companies whose CEOs (and shareholders) are far more concerned about whether their stations can get back the auto and retail advertising that fell off a cliff in 2009. More from Meltz via Media Memo:

--The show made $50 million a year for CBS, which syndicated the program. CBS would rather have that money than not, but losing it will amount to a "rounding error" in 2012.

--The show was a big ratings hit for local TV stations, but they paid a lot for it-upward of $200,000 a week in big markets. That made it a loss-leader for most broadcasters, Meltz says.

--And yes, the show provided a big lead-in audience to local TV news broadcasts, particularly in top ABC markets. But given that it's not going to end up on a rival broadcast channel, "it is conceivable that station audience/ad share won't change much for the day-part."



More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
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Previous story: Cash and carry

Next story: 'New Moon' = $$$$$

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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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