Sandy Brown
Asked on the conference call about Burnett, CEO Susan Lyne stood firmly behind the reality show producer. Indeed, in its earnings press release Thursday morning, the company spoke of the "promotional value" of the NBC show, whose ratings haven't met expectations. The company claims The Apprentice deal is "cash neutral" for it, though maybe a little less so now that the numbers are in.
"At current ratings we will have some make-goods," said CEO Susan Lyne on the midday conference call. The company had guided to between $40 million to $50 million in TV-related revenue for the year, excluding DVD sales. Lyne now says that it is looking at "between $40 million to $45 million," she called "essentially break-even." Lyne said that the company has met its strategic goals for the year. She said those included getting advertisers back on board, putting Martha back on TV, strengthening management, using the company's library and making content widely available. Still, despite increased ad pages at the magazine and the TV exposure, the diva's mass media splash has been costly for shareholders. McAlpine feels that whatever "hype machine" surrounds Martha has "milked a lot out of the name," but that people didn't stop to see what the company is actually getting in return. McAlpine adds that while Lyne is doing a remarkable job, he believes the stock is heading for $10.
Featured Photo Galleries
Sign up for our FREE newsletters now.
See All
Sponsored by:
RSS
