Disney Profit Rises 24%, Aided by \'Avengers\' and a Theme Park Expansion

By BROOKS BARNES

LOS ANGELES - Two out-of-the-park home runs - “The Avengers” and a “Cars”-related theme park expansion - sent quarterly profit at the Walt Disney Company soaring by 24 percent, to $1.83 billion.

Disney, with operations ranging from movies to hotels to baby clothes to ESPN, has traditionally been watched as a barometer of consumer confidence. Lately, however, that relationship seems to be out of alignment: Why is Disney surging at a time when the frail economy has people keeping a lid on discretionary spending?

The answer may be that Disney's offerings of late (with a few notable exceptions, like “John Carter”) are of high enough quality to be seen as must-buys.

It can be expensive, for instance, to experience Disney's theme parks. But the company in June unveiled a $1 billion expansion of its California Adventure park in Anaheim, Calif., with the 12-acre Cars Land as a centerpiece. Increased attendanc e at California Adventure helped drive operating income at Disney's parks and resorts unit up 21 percent, to $630 million, in the most recent quarter.

Similarly, “The Avengers” took in over $1.5 billion at the global box office in part because a large number of consumers felt the superhero film was good enough to spend $3 to $5 more per ticket to see in 3-D. For the quarter ended June 30, Walt Disney Studios reported operating income of $313 million, an increase from $49 million a year earlier. The studio would have done even better, Disney said, if not for a decrease in worldwide DVD sales, something all movie companies are facing.

Robert A. Iger, Disney's chief executive and chairman, called the results “phenomenal” in a statement, adding that the totals were “the largest quarterly earnings in the history of our company.” Disney had net income of $1.83 billion, or $1.01 cents a share. That compares with $1.48 billion, or 77 cents a share, in the sam e quarter a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting income of 93 cents a share.

Revenue for the company's fiscal third quarter climbed 4 percent, to $11.09 billion, held down slightly because of a timing shift in the recognition of ESPN-related affiliate fees. At Media Networks, the Disney unit that includes ESPN, ABC and cable channels like ABC Family, operating income rose 2 percent, $2.13 billion.

Brooks Barnes writes about Hollywood with an emphasis on Disney. Follow @brooksbarnesnyt on Twitter.

Karmazin Tones Down Language on Sirius Takeover

By BEN SISARIO

Is the boardroom drama at Sirius XM Radio cooling down?

In the most recent episode, John C. Malone, the chief executive of Liberty Media, had harsh words for Sirius's chief executive, Mel Karmazin, at the annual media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

“I would prefer not to lose Mel, but he's gone public and said he won't work for me so what am I supposed to do?” Mr. Malone said. Liberty is in the midst of a takeover of Sirius, and late last year Mr. Karmazin told Reuters that he is “not really good at working for somebody” and “just could not be a No. 2.”

In Sirius's quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, Mr. Karmazin toned down his words, signaling that he would cooperate with Mr. Malone.

“I can assure you that the board and I are interested in accomplishing whatever Liberty wants to do, as long as it's in the best interests of all shareholders.”< /span>

“I'm a big believer in free speech, and I don't question anyone's ability to write things,” Mr. Karmazin said, as reported by Forbes on Tuesday. “But the fact that I was asked a question two years ago about working for somebody, and I told them that my experience at Viacom was such that I didn't enjoy [it], and I like working for a board as opposed to working for a controlling shareholder - that was something I said. And every time the discussion of Liberty comes up, somebody is coupling my name into that.”

The interview with Reuters was published in November.

• On Tuesday, Sirius reported $838 million in revenue for the second quarter, up 12.5 percent from the same period last year. The company's net income was $3.1 billion, but almost all of that - just less than $3 billion - came from an income tax benefit. Sirius's subscriber rolls have risen to a high of 22.9 million; 4.2 million of those are paid for by car dealers as sales promotion s.
• Also on Tuesday, the company announced “Sirius XM On Demand,” a feature that the company has been talking about for more than a year, which allows its subscribers to listen to old shows from a catalog of 2,000 hours of content from more than 200 shows.

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.

What Influences Consumers to Buy or Rent Their Homes

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

Even the most dramatic housing crisis since the Great Depression wasn't enough to dampen Americans' desire to own their homes.

A recent study by Fannie Mae came to that conclusion and attempted to answer some major questions: What influences consumers' current home ownership status? What would motivate us to buy versus rent in the future? And are we influenced by unconscious biases that lead us to make less than ideal choices, such as buying too much house, or others that might prevent a well-qualified renter from buying at all?

Naturally, Fannie Mae - the government-owned housing agency - has a reason for investigating: the answers to these questions have vast implications for housing policy makers and industry players. And the survey found that home ownership still appeals to the vast majority of Americans: 85 percent said owning makes more sense than renting over the long term, and 64 percent of those polled s aid that they would buy a home if they were going to move.

The survey, which analyzed Fannie's monthly housing survey data for all of 2011, looked at three different groups of consumers: renters, homeowners with a mortgage, and those who own their homes outright. (The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey polls 1,000 adults each month across the U.S. with more than 100 questions about the economy, household finances and owning and renting; this study's full-year data includes information from more than 12,000 people.)

Researchers found that demographics - including income, age, marital status and employment status - are the primary drivers behind individuals' current home ownership status, as well as what influences outright homeowners' future intentions to own or rent. And perhaps not surprisingly (particularly when mortgage underwriting is tighter) homeowners with mortgages are more likely to be middle-aged, married and employed full-t ime with higher incomes, whereas the converse is true for renters. Outright owners tended to be older, more likely to be retired, widowed and past their peak earnings years, the study said.

But renters' and people with mortgages' “intentions” to buy or rent as their next move are largely driven by their financial and housing attitudes, the study said. The most influential belief was whether they thought “owning or renting makes sense financially over the long term,” which influenced all three groups, and especially renters. The perceived ease or difficulty of getting a mortgage influenced the intention of homeowners with mortgages, the study said, but isn't as big a factor for renters.

Meanwhile, the study results also found that once consumers buy a home, get a mortgage and have a positive experience owning, they want to continue to own. But concerns about affordability â€" both for the home purchase itself and upkeep â€" is a major factor that discourag es renters from taking the plunge.

“For renters and mortgage-owners, aspirations for and belief in home ownership play a major role in decision-making, possibly forming a ‘home ownership optimism' in determining whether they expect to own or rent in the future,” the study said.

“It is possible that many of these drivers, especially the attitudinal ones, act as automatic or unconscious biases that lead consumers to less fulfilling and less successful housing choices,” the researchers said, adding that further research is necessary.

The researchers also found that exposure to default, perceived appreciation or depreciation in home value, and self-reported underwater status only had a minimal effect on predicting whether a consumer intended to buy or rent for their next move.

What influenced your decision to buy or rent? Are you satisfied with your decision? And has the housing crisis altered your views on home ownership?

\'NBC Nightly News\' Adds Three Million Viewers From Olympics

By BILL CARTER

Nothing has helped the recently flagging fortunes of NBC News like the injection of large audiences after coverage of the Olympics on the network this summer.

“NBC Nightly News” with Brian Williams is the latest example: After months of having ABC's “World News” with Diane Sawyer steadily chop into its ratings lead, NBC's newscast posted some record-setting numbers last week.

Similarly, NBC's “Today” show, which recently had dropped to second place in the mornings behind ABC's “Good Morning America,” has also been getting a significant boost from the Olympics and has dominated the morning hours again during the coverage.

Average nightly viewership for “Nightly News,” which has been broadcast from London during the Games, soared to an enormous number for the week: 10.85 million, about three million more than its recent average. The program also scored its best-ever advantage over both ABC's and CBS's evening newscasts - at least in the modern era of people meter ratings, which started in 1987.

NBC beat ABC by just under four million viewers - ABC's newscast had 6.85 million. It beat the CBS newscast with Scott Pelley by over five million viewers - CBS had 5.50 million viewers.

In addition, in the category of the audience that determines most of the ad sales in television news, viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, NBC also scored its biggest margin over ABC, with an edge of 1.61 million. NBC's margin over CBS in that category, 1.72 million, was its best since 2003.

Bill Carter writes about the television industry. Follow @wjcarter on Twitter.

Women\'s Magazines Lead Overall Decline In Newsstand Sales

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

Consumers are shying away from impulse buys and the magazine industry is feeling the pinch.

According to data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations this morning, overall paid and verified circulation of magazines declined slightly by 0.1 percent in the first half of 2012. But newsstand sales - often seen as the best barometer of a magazine's appeal - were down nearly 10 percent.

Women's magazine and high brow titles like Vanity Fair (down 18.8 percent) and The New Yorker (down 17.4 percent) even suffered even steeper declines. Some of the worst declines in newsstand sales happened to celebrity magazines. People (down 18.6 percent), Us Weekly (down 11.4 percent), In Touch Weekly (down 13.3 percent) and Star Magazine (down 14.2 percent) all suffered at the newsstand, even with celebrity news like the breakup of Katy Perry and Russell Brand and the death of Whitney Houston.

John Harrington, an industry c onsultant, said that while this magazine category has been struggling for several years, that these latest numbers are “the worst I've ever seen”. He said that these magazines are suffering because consumers can get this information online.

“It's more the social media and the immediacy and availability of information and coverage of celebrities in general,” he said. “By the time the magazine comes out it's old news. We're onto the next scandal.”

He blames the double-digit decline in newsstand sales for magazines like Vogue (down 16.5 percent) and Cosmopolitan (down 15.5 percent) on how consumers now shop at supermarkets. Mr. Harrington said that since the recession began, the percentage of shoppers using a list when they head into a supermarket doubled to more than 70 percent. That makes the cost of a copy of Vogue or Cosmopolitan too pricey by the time shoppers reach the checkout line.

“With the onset of the grea t recession, shoppers became very careful. They stick to their shopping list and magazines are by tradition what you call an impulse buy,” said Mr. Harrington. “As basic supermarket products have started to recover, the magazines haven't.”

The categories that seems to have improved are home and food. Women's Day and Family Circle both had single digit jumps in newsstand sales. Even more expensive titles like Architectural Digest experienced a 8.6 percent jump.

For the first time, the Audit Bureau of Circulations broke out digital sales for magazines. Though the sales make up a modest percentage of the industry, these sales are growing. In the first half of 2011, 232 magazines reported 2 million digital copies which made up one percent of all copies. In the first half of 2012, 258 magazines reported selling more than 5.4 million digital editions.

But Mr. Harrington said these figures are not enough to save the magazine industry.

“The numbers ar e still minute compared to even newsstands and subscriptions and there's a whole lot of questions as to how that's going to play out,” said Mr. Harrington. “There's definitely something seriously wrong. If you talk to magazine wholesalers and distributors, it's a very concerned group because their sales have been sinking consistently.”

Delayed Release of \"Gatsby\" Creates Some More Room in Awards Season

By MICHAEL CIEPLY

LOS ANGELES - With the decision by Warner Brothers to delay its 3-D version of “The Great Gatsby,” directed by Baz Luhrmann, until a still unnamed date next summer, a somewhat hazy Hollywood awards season gets a little clarity-but not much. “Gatsby,” which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, had been expected at Christmas, and was widely regarded as a potential prize contender. Warner, which announced the delay on Monday, has given Mr. Luhrmann more time to finish the film, and has perhaps cleared some room in the awards race for another of its potential contenders - the elaborate, time-traveling “Cloud Atlas,” directed by Tom Tykwer and Lana and Andy Wachowski.

But “Cloud Atlas” will remain something of a mystery until it is widely seen at fall screenings, including an appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. At Fox Searchlight, which perennially offers awards contenders, it is still unclear whether “Hitchcock,” a biographical picture directed by Sacha Gervasi, will be ready in time for the race. Scott Rudin has said that his “Inside Llewyn Davis,” from the Coen brothers, will not be ready until next year, but the shuffling of schedules and unveiling of late-season entries leaves much room for surprise.

The Breakfast Meeting: Sikh Temple Shooter\'s Hate-Filled Music, and the Apple-Google Chill

By NOAM COHEN

Wade M. Page, an Army veteran and rock singer who killed six people and wounded three others when he opened fire on Sunday in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., was among hundreds of people tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center for his ties to the white supremacist movement and his role as the leader of a white-power band called End Apathy, Erica Goode and Serge F. Kovaleski report. In an interview posted on the Web site of the record company Label56 (and since taken down), Mr. Page mentioned going to Hammerfest, an annual white-supremacist festival; he also said he played in various neo-Nazi bands, including Blue Eyed Devils, whose song “White Victory” includes the lines: “Now I'll fight for my race and nation/Sieg Heil!”

• The label issued a statement that it was taking down all End Apathy material and said: “Label 56 is very sorry to hear about the tragedy in Wisconsin and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who are affected.”

Another cord between Apple and Google has been cut, as Apple released a test version of the new operating system for its iPads and iPhones that no longer has a built-in app for YouTube, which is owned by Google, Nick Wingfield and Claire Cain Miller report. The built-in YouTube app dates to 2007, when the first iPhone was released and when Google's Eric Schmidt was still on the Apple board. Relations have cooled since then. Also, they write, the app was more needed then - YouTube videos were in a format that couldn't be played directly on the iPhone; and under the current system, there is no way to run advertisement on videos played through the app.

After a near-blackout of media coverage of Syria's insurgency, a number of foreign journalists have managed to enter the country and report on the battles and massacres of civilians taking place there, Robert Mackey writes on The Lede blog. For example, the battle for Al eppo has been covered by reporters from around the world, including Ben Wedeman of CNN. The German reporter Christoph Reuter managed to reach the region of Houla, where a massacre was recently carried out and interview witnesses and survivors. Mr. Mackey writes:

The presence of foreign reporters is particularly important since Syrians working both for and against the government have an interest in distorting the truth to further their political aims and garner support from other countries.

• A hoax message on Twitter on Monday that purported to quote Russia's ambassador to Damascus as saying President Bashar al-Assad of Syria may have been killed moved oil markets briefly, Reuters reported, before Russian officials could quickly deny the report.

President Obama has relied on Hollywood to try to match Mitt Romney in fund-raising for the fall election. Last night, Hollywood could be found in Westport, Conn., at the home of th e movie producer Harvey Weinstein, where Mr. Obama raised in excess of $2 million from 60 guests, Peter Baker reported. Among the guests: Anne Hathaway, Jerry Springer, Aaron Sorkin and Joanne Woodward, the actress and widow of Paul Newman, who was invoked at the event.

The pugnacious art critic Robert Hughes - arguably the most famous art critic in the world - died on Monday at 74, Randy Kennedy reports. He had a number of high-visibility perches to dispense his opinions, including Time magazine, where he was chief art critic for 30 years, and the eight-part documentary “The Shock of the New,” which had 25 million viewers from airing on the BBC and PBS and was also a book. He was often a scourge toward new art movements, Mr. Kennedy writes, but when championing artists he loved, like Lucien Freud, he was ready for battle.

Tuesday Reading: Paid Sick Leave May Reduce Worker Injuries

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.