Time Warner Inc (TWX)

A big US media conglomerate. It has HBO which is a very good asset. She prefers Disney (DIS-N) in that ESPN is a more coveted asset in terms of change in the way media is distributed. This would be her 2^nd name in the space if she wanted to add another name.

This has more of the B brands. If, as a media company, you are monetizing content, they have a stable of brands that they can take forward and monetize and do some really interesting things. If he were going to play this theme, he would do it with someone who can monetize the content the best, and that is Disney (DIS-N), which has parks, consumer products, etc. and can also defend against cord cutting better.

This fell on its earnings forecast. They said they were seeing ad revenues being challenged. This is well set up to exist in the world, in spite of cord cutting. A longer term play on content and delivery, and is very well positioned to take advantage of that. Dividend yield of 1.94%.

No matter how people get their media, they still need content, and that industry got whacked with the cable companies. Only .3% of US households gave up cable service this year.

There has been a broad selloff in the whole space. There is a lot of disruption in the space with names like Netflix, things happening in the future with Apple (AAPL-Q) and others. This has been a great place to be and he thinks it is still a great place to be. Original content is important. This is one that would interest him here.

(A Top Pick Aug 20/14. Down 5.42%.) Had an absolute stellar report and still the stock got hurt. It is all around this “cord cutting” concept of the advertising model changing from traditional advertising on media mostly TV through cable. This is one of the least affected of all of the media companies. He is very happy with this and it is getting more and more enticing.

Time Warner (TWX-N) versus Disney (DIS-N)? Both are great companies. This one has a better valuation profile and is not as expensive. It is a content company. It has CNN, People’s Magazine as well as HBO. HBO is a very exciting opportunity for them. They just introduced an over-the-top option that is making HBO available to people who don’t have a cable subscription. They are committed to return of capital to stakeholders. They expect they will make $6 in 2016 and $8 in 2018, which is a very exciting prospect for investors.

You could find better returns in a name like Disney (DIS-N), which is based on the content side. This is more on the class of distribution side of things. Internet service, etc. is a space that is very competitive. (See Top Picks.)

A media and content company that owns HBO and CNN. As much as people try to create the idea that content is no longer as important as it once was, the delivery systems are just pipes and can be good investments, but content is going to drive interest. HBO is doing extremely well. Have just come out with an over the top option, a streaming media delivery. Dividend yield of 1.65%.

There are rumours swirling in this whole area. The company has a made a very strong case that they are a very viable standalone operation. Their objective is to make $6 a share in 2016 and $8 a share by 2018.

(A Top Pick Feb 26/14. Up 36.12%.) Had a takeover offer at $85, and he thinks they were wise in turning it down. This company is motivated to return capital to shareholders and stakeholders. Have highlighted long-term goals of $6 a share in 2016 and $8 a share in 2018. If they are anywhere near to getting to those levels, the stock will go much, much higher.

There was a bid to purchase it from FOX and it did not go through. They have HBO and it would be a great fit with FOX. It is not cheap. But it is one of the core assets if you are going to own media stocks.

Up 26% year to date, but the shares are trading at 20X earnings. Will probably grow at 10%. He prefers Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF-N).

Continues to like this. In the earlier innings of their progression. They are doing some very interesting things. They’ve got HBO Go and are providing this through streaming format to the 10 million+ households in the US, that don’t have cable or satellite. This is the coming thing. Thinks this company is going to be one of the winners here. They’ve stated that they will do $6 a share in earnings in 2016 and $8 in 2018. This is a high growth trajectory.

(Market Call Minute) Likes the space. The stock has been quite volatile in the last little bit.