Stock run-up.In September, U.S subscriptions increased 24 percent over the year-ago month to 12.2 million, according to the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association in Alexandria, Va. President Clinton signed a bill Nov. 29 that is expected to spur sales by allowing DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) A one-way TV broadcast service from a communications satellite to a small round or oval dish antenna no larger than 20" in diameter. companies to offer local TV station signals, much like their cable TV competitors. Anticipation of the new law helped drive two DBS stocks skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky  wards adv. . For News Corp., the frenzy is bittersweet. Back in June, when the company sold its U.S. DBS assets to EchoStar, News Corp. recorded an $800 million liability related to an "abnormal loss" on the transaction and the buyout of a partner, according to notes to its consolidated financial statements Consolidated Financial Statements The combined financial statements of a parent company and its subsidiaries. Notes: Because consolidated financial statements present an aggregated look at the financial position of a parent and its subsidiaries, they enable you to gauge . In order to sell its stillborn stillborn /still·born/ (-born) born dead. still·born adj. Dead at birth. stillborn, n an infant who is born dead. stillborn born dead. DBS venture to EchoStar, News Corp. had to unwind a four-year relationship with MCI Communications Corp., now part of MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. Worldcom Inc. In July, News Corp. repaid $1.39 billion to MCI, which had invested in News Corp. and the DBS service, called American Sky Broadcasting, or ASkyB. Murdoch hasn't let grass grow under his feet. Shut out of DBS in the U.S., he has since boosted his investment in cable TV programming. News Corp. acquired almost all of the half-interest in Fox/Liberty Networks that it didn't already own from AT&T Corp.'s Liberty Media Group in July. It's not a bad move. In the U.S., cable is still king, serving 68 million of the nation's 100 million TV households. |
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