Finance Matters

Archive for February 4th, 2010

Harry Potter has been doing well for all-grown up Emma Watson.

Emma, a 19-year-old college student in Rhode Island, was doled out $30 million in 2009, more than any other actress in Hollywood.

She was also the youngest person on the list, which included Cameron Diaz and Sarah Jessica Parker, according to Vanity Fair’s list of top-paid celebrities.

She got $15 million paychecks for both Parts 1 and 2 of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.’

Watson also has lucrative advertising contracts with fashion companies like Burberry.

Even though she was the top-paid actress on the list, she was No. 14 on the full list.

The top ten are:

1. Michael Bay, producer-director ($125 million)

2. Steven Spielberg, producer-director ($85 million)

3. Roland Emmerich, producer-director ($70 million)

4. James Cameron, producer-director ($50 million)

5. Todd Phillips, director ($44 million)

6. Daniel Radcliffe, actor ($41 million)

7. Ben Stiller, actor ($40 million)

8. Tom Hanks, actor ($36 million)

9. J. J. Abrams, producer-director ($36 million)

10. Jerry Bruckheimer, producer ($35.5 million)

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Two years ago, Business Insider deputy editor Dan Frommer boldy embraced the future and declared that he was done for cable forever. He wrote a post called “Hulu Household: Why I Got Rid Of Cable,” and shouted to anyone who would listen:

“I’m not going to let myself get ripped off for a bunch of garbage that I don’t watch anyway.”

Well, just 23 short months later, Dan COMPLETELY caved today, writing: “Why I Caved, Bought Cable TV, And Gave Up On My ‘Hulu Household.”

Me? I’m still bravely downloading “Breaking Bad” from iTunes, streaming “Community” from Hulu, and playing “Jersey Shore,” on MTV.com.

But what about you? Are you a futurist, rooting for the death of TV? Or can you not stand to part with your live sports and HD Food Network?

In the meantime, here are the highlights from our recent “Death Of TV” coverage:

• Sorry, There’s No Way To Save The TV Business
• BUSTED: Jeff Zucker Nailed For Fibbing About Hulu And Boxee
• ABC News Jumps On Hulu Bandwagon
• Disney: “No Decisions Have Been Made” On Hulu Premium
• AT&T Approves SlingPlayer Over 3G, You Can Now Watch TV On The iPhone

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See Also:

• Death Of TV One Step Closer — YouTube Signs Live Sports Broadcasting Deal
• NBCU, Comcast ‘Cable Cartel’ Dance For Capitol Hill
• AT&T Approves SlingPlayer Over 3G, You Can Now Watch TV On The iPhone

As everyone noticed today, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz tweeted his resignation, in the form of a cute haiku.

“Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more”

The lame part here is that Jon shouldn’t be blaming the financial crisis for his sale to Oracle. He should be blaming himself (and his predecessor, Scott McNealy).

Sun started its fall way before the financial crisis hit. That’s why Schwartz had the sell the scraps. Not because of the recession.

Similar reactions:

• From entrepreneur and startup investor Chris Dixon: “goofball ponytailed ceo runs Sun into the ground, then tweets haiku blaming financial crisis instead of himself,” via Twitter.
  
• Another haiku from Daring Fireball scribe John Gruber: “Ran Sun into ground,
  Schwartz cracks cute, with jokey haiku.
  Ignominious.”

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See Also:

• Sun CEO Stepping Down
• Oracle-Sun Deal An Opportunity For Microsoft To Steal Share
• Sun Micro Pulls A Jerry Yang

Whew! Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker are through a round of tireless questioning about their proposed merger on Capitol Hill today.

The CEO duo pitched the $30 billion deal as a benefit for consumers–one that would help bring new innovations to the TV industry. They also promised follow government rules about competitor access to programming on the airwaves and online.

But neither executive gave straight answers about what kind of restrictions they would place on competitors or if they will hike up prices for consumers.

Despite heated testimonials from critics, NBC’s Zucker said both companies will be careful to protect consumers while they figure out new business models, and open negotiations for new ones. He said Comcast promised to take a “constructive role” in retransmission consent negotiations, which is a major concern among their competitors.

Executives will have to answer more questions in writing. Meanwhile, the FCC continues to consider what kind of rules, if any, they need to revise or set on the new company.

Read some highlights of our NBU-Comcast merger coverage:

• BUSTED: Jeff Zucker Nailed For Fibbing About Hulu And Boxee
• NBU-Comcast CEOs Promise To Follow FCC’s Rules On Cable Fees
• NBCU-Comcast Merger Kills Internet Video, ‘Cable Cartel’s Ugly Business Model’ Will Win, Researcher Says
• Comcast CEO: There Will Be No Massive Lay-Offs
• Conan O’Brien To DC? One Congressman Wants To Hire Him
• What Comcast Will Tell Congress About Their NBCU Marriage Tomorrow Morning
• Hulu’s Paywall On The Way After NBCU-Comcast Deal?

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See Also:

• NBU-Comcast CEOs Promise To Follow FCC’s Rules On Cable Fees
• NBCU-Comcast Merger Kills Internet Video, ‘Cable Cartel’s Ugly Business Model’ Will Win, Researcher Says
• Comcast CEO: There Will Be No ‘Massive Layoffs’ After NBCU Merges

Apple’s worldwide iPhone shipments grew by 98% in the fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis, giving its market share a nice bump, according to new data from IDC.

The iPhone’s marketshare went to 16% last quarter from 11% in the year-ago quarter, while rivals Research In Motion and Nokia were basically flat.

Notably, smartphone pioneer Palm is absent from IDC’s data. Maybe the addition of Verizon will give it a boost this quarter.

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See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: Apple’s Giant Pile Of Cash In Context
• CHART OF THE DAY: AOL Ad Revenues Expected To Be Slightly Less Horrible
• CHART OF THE DAY: iPod Touch Is Apple’s Sleeper Hit