Media Money

With Facebook reportedly looking to file its S-1 as early as Wednesday, the NYSE and Nasdaq are both looking to snag the social media giant. And appropriately enough, they’re taking the battle to the social media platforms of Twitter and Facebook itself.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

The NYSE bought a “Promoted Tweet” touting its success with Tech IPOs: “We’re expecting over 120 new #IPO transactions. While companies see our value, we see our future friends.”

@NYSE_Euronext also Tweeted “#justsaying… Young, innovative, emerging growth companies are the engines of #growth.”

The cost varies, but a promoted tweet can run north of $100,000. And the NYSE also hosted its first “Social Media Day” in November.

 » Read More

Facebook’s long-awaited IPO is finally around the corner.

Getty Images

The company may file its S-1 with the SEC as early as Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal just reported.

CNBC’s Kayla Tausche has reported that the company’s looking at a valuation between $75 billion to $100 billion, likely in the $80 billion range, and Morgan Stanley

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[MS  Loading...      ()   ] is likely to lead the IPO, while Goldman Sachs

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[GS  Loading...      ()   ] is likely also involved.

We’ll see what the S-1 reveals, but sources tell me that the company’s expected to earn about $3.8 billion in 2011 full-year revenue and roughly $1.5 billion in operating profits.

Why the caution? Last year Groupon

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[GRPN  Loading...      ()   ] put its IPO on hold after the company drew SEC scrutiny for a number of issues. A memo by CEO Andrew Mason discussed revenue growth and his confidence in the business. The company also faced a slew of questions about how it accounted for its revenue.

Why would Facebook file now?  » Read More

CNBC.com Netflix

It’s been a roller coaster ride for Netflix and now the stock is speeding north after hours on better-than expected fourth quarter results.

(Click here for the latest after-hours quote.)

It appears it’s starting to move past the debacle that decimated the stock after it split its DVD and streaming businesses and raised prices in September.

Netflix reported earnings per share of 73 cents, flying past expectations of 55 cents while revenue grew more than expected to $876 million, up from $596 million a year ago.

As the company warned, it’s on track for “modest quarterly losses, as well as losses for the calendar year,” as it invests in international growth. The company projects a loss of between $9 million and $27 million in Q1. The decline in DVD profits of about $50 million plus an equally large increase in international losses will outweigh growth in the U.S. streaming business. And free cash flow will take a hit as it pays more up-front for original content than it does for licensing.  » Read More

Comstock | Getty Images

Get ready for a busy year of media mergers and acquisition activity – that’s the headline from PwC’s Entertainment and Media Report.

There are a slew of cash rich buyers—media conglomerates, tech giants, and Private Equity players with new capital. And new technology is creating new digital revenue – and new value for content companies.

The blurring of the line between media and technology means we’ll see more deals between the two sectors. And the fact that Facebook is expected to IPO means it’ll have more cash for acquisitions.

Deal Pick Up

PwC predicts a pick-up in mergers and acquisition value and volume this year. In 2011 media and entertainment deal value increased to $52 billion from $27 billion in 2010. But once value related to the Comcast-NBC Universal (*Note: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC)

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[CMCSA  Loading...      ()   ] deal is stripped out, deal value was pretty much flat from 2010 to 2011. Deal volume decreased 14 percent to 801 deals while the average deal value grew 25 percent to $160 million last year.  » Read More

AP Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo" leads the Academy Awards with 11 nominations, among them best picture and the latest director slot for the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

The Oscar nominations are out, and some front runners have finally emerged in what’s been a muddled and inconclusive race so far.

In the lead: Martin Scorcese’s “Hugo,” from Paramount

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[VIA  Loading...      ()   ] , which snagged 11 nominations including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director,’ and The Artist, from The Weinstein Company, with 10 nominations, including those two plus best actor and actress. Another frontrunner: The Descendants, Fox’s

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[NWS  Loading...      ()   ] drama starring George Clooney, with 5 nominations, including Best Picture.  » Read More

Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images

In the wake of the Department of Justice taking down file sharing site Megaupload.com, file sharing sites FileSonic and Uploaded.to have pulled back on their services.

But Hollywood’s piracy headaches have just begun, and not just because SOPA and PIPA bills have been delayed indefinitely.

The Hollywood studios and their lobbying representative still face more logistical challenges than ever.

MPAA chief former senator Chris Dodd is bearing the brunt of frustration for the fact that the SOPA/PIPA bills were tabled. it. Not only is he blamed for the MPAA’s failure to market its support on anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA, but now there’s an online petition growing steam, calling for the White House to investigate his comments on Fox News.  » Read More

Source: Wikipedia.com

Google, Facebook, and Wikipedia did a brilliant job rallying millions of their users to oppose anti-piracy legislation being debated in Congress.

It worked. In the wake of massive outcry that dominated the Internet and media on Wednesday, congressional leaders are sending the bill back to the drawing board.

 » Read More

SecondMarket gave CNBC a first look at its 2011 trading results of private company shares and social media continues to be hotter than ever.

SecondMarket gave CNBC a first look at its 2011 trading results of private company shares and social media continues to be hotter than ever.

With Congress evaluating revising the “500 shareholder rule,” to enable companies to stay private longer, more investors are jumping into this platform for tapping into private company value. SecondMarket is big business, with $585 million in trades last year, up 55% from $360 million in 2010 and just $100 million in 2009. And this business was curtailed by limited shares – there was $6.1 billion in buy-side demand last year.

There’s no question that expectations that Facebook is preparing to file its S-1 is driving investor interest in the space—sixty percent of trades were for consumer web and social media companies. SecondMarket won’t disclose exact trades, but it reveals which companies investors are interested in, or “watching.” Usual suspects Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare top the “most watched list.” They’re followed by cloud storage company Dropbox, Yelp, Gilt Group, Hulu, and mobile payments company Square. The top ten is rounded out by Groupon

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[GRPN  Loading...      ()   ] rival Living Social, which is backed by Amazon

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[AMZN  Loading...      ()   ] and music service Spotify.  » Read More

Can the guy behind American Idol transform the way people watch TV? Robert Sillerman (whose former company, CKX, owns "American Idol")  launched a new app, called Viggle, to upend TV-viewing and to drive more people to tune in, in real time.

Getty Images Robert Sillerman has a new TV "program" in mind.

Nearly a year ago, Sillerman acquired an inactive public company, Gateway, and re-launched it as Function (X)

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[FNCX  Loading...      ()   ]. Just today it announced its first venture, a free app called Viggle — a television loyalty-rewards program.

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Getty Images The Wikipedia website has shut down its English language service for 24 hours in protest over the US anti-piracy laws.

There’s been a ton of attention today to the massive to the anti-piracy Stop Online Piracy Act - or "SOPA bill", with Wikipedia going black because it threatens to “fatally damage the free and open Internet.”

But few have explained why EVERY SINGLE media giant supports the bill and why they’re desperate to fight piracy.

A few people, like Rupert Murdoch

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[NWS  Loading...      ()   ], have come out in defense of SOPA, he tweeted yesterday: “Nonsense argument about danger to Internet.”

Here’s a primer on why SOPA got as far as it did.  » Read More