Strong Quarterly Results for DreamWorks Animation, as Profit Rises 24%

LOS ANGELES - DreamWorks Animation posted third-quarter net income of $24.4 million, or 29 cents a share, up about 24 percent from $19.7 million, or 23 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter, the company said on Thursday. Revenue was $186.3 million, up about 16 percent from $160.8 million in the year-earlier quarter.

The strong results, which beat Wall Street estimates, were helped by the international performance of “Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted,” the company said.

Earnings were also lifted by income from the distribution of DreamWorks films on television under deals that include a recent agreement with the BBC, Lew Coleman, the studio's president, said in a conference call after the earnings were announced. Mr. Coleman said the television deals contributed about 8 cents per share to the earnings in the quarter.

For the first nine months, DreamWorks had income of about $46.3 million, or 54 cents per share, down about 26 percent from $62.5 million, or 74 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the nine months fell about 0.4 percent, to $485.2 million, from $487.1 million.

During the conference call, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks, said he expected results for the full year to fall short of last year's performance. He noted that the next DreamWorks feature film, “Rise of the Guardians,” will open on Nov. 21, which is somewhat later in the year than is usual for the company's holiday releases.

Michael Cieply covers the film industry from the Los Angeles bureau.

A Grant Program for Some Storm-Weary Property Owners

Homeowners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut whose homes were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy may want to consider whether filing a claim for repairs under their flood insurance policies is their best option.

In particular, property owners who had damage from last year's Hurricane Irene, and may face another round of insurance claims from Sandy, may have had enough and be ready to move to a less flood-prone area, said Marshall Gilinsky, a lawyer with Anderson Kill & Olick in New York.

In that case, they should look at the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is made available in major disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The National Flood Insurance Program is intended to compensate homeowners and help pay for repairs. But the hazard mitigation program aims to help communities buy out property owners and help them rebuild or buy on higher ground; the home is demolished and the lot left vacant. The program uses primarily fede ral funds and is coordinated through the city or town where the property is located. The idea is to help communities remove structures from risk-prone areas. The municipality agrees to keep it undeveloped in the future.

For details of the program as it relates to properties damaged by Hurricane Sandy, homeowners can see state-specific announcements from FEMA and from their state government, or find local disaster assistance locations from FEMA's disaster information Web site.

In general, properties may qualify if they are in a high-risk flood zone and if they suffered “substantial” damage from the storm - generally meaning the cost to repair is more than 50 percent of the fair-market value of the house before the storm, Mr. Gilinsky said. (Mr. Gilinsky became familiar with the hazard mitigation grant program while assisting homeowners in Vermont after the state was hit last year by Hurricane Irene.)

Because of the cost-of-re pairs criteria, the hazard mitigation program may not be suitable for expensive second homes. But for owners of more modest primary homes that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy - and might also have suffered damage from Hurricane Irene - the mitigation program may be worth considering. “This is an idea of appeal and interest for people who have been through the ringer,” he said.

Would you consider relocating from a flood-prone area, if funds were made available?

Erica Hill, Formerly of CBS\'s Morning Show, to Join \'Weekend Today\'

Evan Agostini/Associated Press Erica Hill, recently of CBS, is now on NBC.

NBC confirmed on Thursday that Erica Hill, a former anchor at CBS and CNN, would become a part of the “Weekend Today” team starting on Saturday.

Ms. Hill will become a co-host of the Saturday and Sunday program alongside Lester Holt. Jenna Wolfe, who has co-hosted the Sunday program for several years, will become the news anchor on Saturdays and Sundays. Ms. Hill's expected hiring was reported last month.

In September, NBC named Dylan Dreyer, a Boston meteorologist, the “Weekend Today” weather anchor, so Ms. Hill's appointment this week completes a new cast of four for the program.

†œI couldn't be happier to have such a strong team in place with Lester, Erica, Jenna and Dylan,” said Dee Dee Thomas, the executive producer of “Weekend Today,”  in a statement. “We just celebrated 25 years of weekends here at ‘Today' and this is the perfect ensemble to lead us towards our next milestone.”

Ms. Hill was most recently a co-host of “CBS This Morning,” the new morning newscast on that network. She was abruptly replaced by Norah O'Donnell after returning from a vacation in July. Along with co-hosting “Weekend Today,” she will be a national correspondent for NBC News, which means she will report stories for “Today,” “NBC Nightly News” and other broadcasts.

Martha Stewart Living to Lay Off Staff and Reduce Magazines

Fernando Leon/Getty Images Martha Stewart

Dragged down by advertising and circulation declines, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is cutting back the publication of two of its magazines and laying off about 70 employees, approximately 12 percent of the nearly 600-person company.

The company started to notify staff about the layoffs on Thursday afternoon, ahead of its Friday morning quarterly earnings call, which had been rescheduled because of Hurricane Sandy.

The company will cut back the publishing schedule of the magazine Everyday Food from 10 times a year to 5, and deliver the magazine as a supplement to subscribers of Martha Stewart Living, according to the company; it will no longer be sold as a standalone publication.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Everyday Food has a 1.09 million circulation, and, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, had a 14 percent decline in advertising pages in the past year. The plan is to expand its digital presence.

Martha Stewart executives also are putting Whole Living on the market. The magazine, with a circulation of 760,606, has suffered a 24 percent decline in advertising pages in the past year. While company executives say they already are in discussions to sell the magazine, they plan to stop printing by the year's end and fold its content into Martha Stewart Living.

Lisa Gersh, the company's president and chief executive officer, described the moves as, “we're taking it really from four separate magazines down to two.” She added the decision was driven by declines in magazine advertising and newsstand sales and the potential for greater profits in video. The company's magazine titles also have attracted more digital subscribers than their competitors.

“In light of the clear trends we are seeing across the media industry, and following a careful evaluation of our own publishing segment, we are taking decisive action to drive the company's return to sustainable profitability,” Ms. Gersh said.

Employees at Martha Stewart Living have not been able to return to work this week because Hurricane Sandy flooded the basement of their downtown offices. As a result, many of them learned of layoffs by phone and e-mail. In a release, company executives estimated that the steps would save $33 million to $35 million a year on staff, circulation and distribution.

Earlier this year, the company cut $12.5 million in broadcasting costs by not renewing its programming deal with the Hallmark Channel, breaking its lease on its television production studio and ending its live audience for “The Martha Stewart Show.†

Ms. Gersh said that in the current magazine industry it was easier for large-scale publishers “with multiple magazines, with numerous magazines” to survive and that “scale in this marketplace counts.” She added it made more sense to focus on video and related merchandise.

“We're really dealing with an industry climate issue,” said Ms. Gersh about the challenges with publishing magazines. “Everyone needs to look at their cost structure in this industry to make sure that they're operating efficiently because it's not the same industry it was.”

An Option for All That Halloween Candy

If you work at home, like me, and have children, like me, you are perhaps struggling (or will be soon if you live in the area hit by Hurricane Sandy) to stay away from their giant bags laden with Halloween candy. As always, the Milky Ways are calling my name.

So you may be interested to know about a program called “Halloween Candy Buyback.” Under the program, dentists across the country agree to take your children's excess candy, and forward it on to “Operation Gratitude,” a nonprofit group that packs it into care packages for United States troops serving overseas.

Some dentists offer a financial incentive, like paying youngsters a dollar a pound, while others simply take the candy off your hands. You can find participating dentists by going to the Web site and typing in your ZIP code. (It's always best to call ahead before showing up with your collection, to find out details and to confirm the deadline for dropping off the candy.)

If no dentists in your area are participating, you can still ship the candy yourself to Operation Gratitud. (No financial incentives are offered for this option, and the shipping costs are on you.) Organizers ask that you separate chocolate from nonchocolate candy, to avoid problems with melting.

Candy collected from the Halloween drive ends up in packages that arrive for the December holidays, said Rich Hernandez, who helps oversee operations for Operation Gratitude in Van Nuys, Calif. He said he expected to begin receiving hundreds of boxes of candy daily, starting next week. While many troops are coming home, there are still thousands of service men and women in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Africa and aboard aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf region, he said.

What are you doing with all of that Halloween candy? Do you plan to keep it all?

Visit by Letterman, a Hero and a Rival, Lifts Kimmel\'s Ratings

Jeff Neira/Disney ABC Television Group, via Associated Press David Letterman was a guest Wednesday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which was broadcast from Brooklyn.

David Letterman helped a competitor, Jimmy Kimmel, score his biggest audience for a Wednesday night in the 11 years of the show, even though Mr. Letterman had just performed in his own show - and worn the same suit - on CBS.

Mr. Kimmel, who was broadcasting from the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a second night this week, attracted 2.355 million total viewers. The 985,000 viewers in the 18-to-49 age group that many advertis ers prefer represented his best total in five years.

Mr. Letterman sat in with Mr. Kimmel for three segments, a testament to how important he has been in Mr. Kimmel's career. (He showed Mr. Letterman photos of a birthday cake his mother made him as a child that featured the logo from Mr. Letterman's first late-night show on NBC.)

Mr. Letterman also welcomed Mr. Kimmel to the 11:35 p.m. time period, which the Kimmel show will join in January.

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

When an Automated Drug System Is Mute on Cost

A reader, James Turnage, wrote to report his dismay with the automated prescription ordering system operated by Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefits provider he is required to use by his employer.

Mr. Turnage, who lives in northwest Washington, takes some maintenance medication and orders his drugs from Express Scripts using its telephone system. The system, he said, requests his authorization to charge the prescription to a credit card kept on file. But what irks him, he said, is that the system doesn't tell him the amount that will be charged to his card before he gives the approval.

“I have never, at any other vendor, been asked to approve a credit card charge without being provided the cost being authorized,” he said.

He was further dismayed recently, when the system filled a three-month supply of a brand-name drug for about $150, even though the drug was to go off patent and become available as a much less expensive generic.

Mr. Turnage ended up contacting Brian Henry, a vice president at Express Scripts and a company spokesman. As a result, Mr. Turnage said, the company credited him for two months of the brand-name drug - for which he is grateful.

But the voice authorization system hasn't changed, despite several follow-up phone calls, Mr. Turnage said.

Mr. Henry, in an e-mail about Mr. Turnage's situation, said that after he was first contacted by Mr. Turnage, he had the company's “escalation team” look into the inquiry. That led to a “courtesy credit” for the brand-name drug. The company also contacted Mr. Turnage's doctor to get a new prescription for the generic version of the medication, and changed it to generic for the next refill.

But as to Mr. Turnage's concern about the credit card authorization system, Mr. Henry noted that the complexity of prescription drug plans make it difficult for the specific charge to be relayed by the voice system.

“Express Scripts has thousands of clients with many different member/employee co-pay structures and plan designs,” he said in the e-mail. “A voice-activated system could never capture all the differences to provide an accurate cost to a person as it relates to their specific plan.”

He did note, however, that members can find out the amount of their co-payment for their drug prior to ordering and providing credit card information in “two easy ways”:

Members can go to the Express Scripts member Web site to see what their co-payment is under their prescription drug plan. They can also see comparison costs for buying the drug at retail or a mail-order pharmacy.

Members can also use the Express Scripts mobile app, which can be downloaded to their smartphone, to use the same pricing features available on the Web site. With the app, consumers can look up the drug when it's being prescribed by the doctor to see if there are lower cost alternatives.< /p>

“The bottom line is that Express Scripts helps drive down the cost of prescription drugs and we provide members many ways to find out what they will pay before they do so,” Mr. Henry said.

Mr. Turnage said he has to accept that the voice system will not be changing, but he thinks the company's excuse is a “cop out.” He said he has tried to limit the number of online accounts he uses because of the need to maintain various passwords, So, he said, he would prefer not to have to do that to check co-payment amounts.

Do you order prescription drugs by telephone? Does the system make clear what your cost will be?

Sirius XM Posts Profit on Subscriber Growth

Mel Karmazin, the chief executive of Sirius XM Radio, sounded as though he couldn't wait to jump on the line at the company's quarterly earnings conference call on Thursday morning.

“Sirius XM had a great third quarter,” he said, practically interrupting the call's introductory boilerplate. “Let me tell you how great.”

As Mr. Karmazin explained, Sirius's steady subscriber growth has continued, with 23.4 million customers by the end of September, an increase of 446,000 for the quarter; it expects net subscriber growth of at least 1.8 million for the year. The company had $867 million in revenue, up 14 percent from the same period a year ago.

After repurchasing $868 million in debt, Sirius had $74.5 million in net income for the quarter, or 1 cent a share, down from $104 million a year ago and off a penny from analyst's estimates. But its adjusted earnings - which exclude share-based compensation and other expenses - were up 24 percent to $245 mill ion, and the company ended the quarter with $556 million in cash.

“For me that all adds up to a great third quarter,” Mr. Karmazin said with evident pride.

The message between the lines, however, was that it also added up to a great legacy for Mr. Karmazin, 69, who will step down on Feb. 1 after eight years on the job. In the coming months Sirius is all but certain to be taken over by Liberty Media, its biggest investor.

Mr. Karmazin took over Sirius in late 2004, shortly after he resigned as president of Viacom. Sirius was then struggling along with XM, its only competitor in satellite radio, and the companies merged in 2008, just as the economy - and car sales, critical to their growth - crashed.

Liberty, controlled by John C. Malone, made a $530 million loan in early 2009 to save the merged Sirius XM from bankruptcy, and since then the company's fortunes have turned around.

Its stock has risen 61 percen t over the last year, and in morning trading on Thursday it was up 5 percent.

But Mr. Karmazin, who during his time at Viacom clashed with its chairman, Sumner Redstone, has also exchanged barbed words with Mr. Malone over the last year. Last week, Mr. Karmazin announced his resignation from the company, and no replacement has been announced.

Before ending his comments on Thursday, Mr. Karmazin also took some swings at his advertising-dependent competitors at terrestrial and Internet radio.

In a thinly veiled attack on Pandora Media, which went public last year but has yet to become profitable, he said: “Those companies which can grow users and provide a good customer experience usually have the worst business models. For them to fix this they need to run a whole lot more commercials, and that means harming the customer's experience. We at Sirius XM are thankful not to be in that difficult position.”

Sirius and Pandora do have at least one busines s risk in common: both face potential increases in their music royalty rates, which are set by a panel of federal judges. Sirius, whose rates were last set when the company was stuck in the doldrums, expects a new ruling by those judges by mid-December.

Pandora, which has another three years left with its current rates, has begun an effort to change the way those rates are set. Those efforts have been met with angry opposition by music industry groups.

The Breakfast Meeting: The Marketing Uses of a Hurricane, and Apple\'s Aesthetic Battles

As some companies linked their marketing to Hurricane Sandy, the public quickly rendered verdicts on which ads or promotions were appropriate, and which crossed a line, Stuart Elliott reports. The perceived line-crossers included the retailer Jonathan Adler, he writes, which used Twitter and e-mails to invite people to “storm our site” and created a code “Sandy” for free shipping; the company has since apologized. More successful in enlisting the storm and its damage was Duracell, whose Duracell Rapid Responder truck offered free batteries and access to charging lockers for mobile devices and computers in the New York area.

• While reporting on the hurricane, TV weather forecasters invariably rolled up their sleeves and even loosened their ties, Eric Wilson notes, the surest sign that this storm was going to leave destruction in its wake. He writes: “The Weather Channel has been experimenting with a standard look of just a dress shirt and tie for its mal e meteorologists, presumably to make its coverage seem more intense. And in a fascinating display of starch and perspiration control, wrinkles never appeared on their shirts over the long hours of coverage, not even in high definition.”
• NBC Universal announced that its networks would air a telethon concert for the victims of Hurricane Sandy Friday night that would include New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, as well as Christina Aguilera, Sting and Billy Joel, ArtsBeat blog reported.

Sony Corporation on Thursday said that it had slowed its losses in the second fiscal quarter, based on a sales recovery and restructuring, and expected to meet its full-year forecast of a return to profit, Reuters reported. The results followed a woeful year; at the end of its fiscal year in March 31, the company reported a loss of $5.7 billion, in the face of stiff competition from Korean competitors and Apple.

The recent management shake-up at Appl e appears to resolve a serious aesthetic dispute within the company, Nick Wingfield and Nick Bilton reported. At other companies, issues of font choice or background patterns would be considered esoteric at best, but at Apple these choices were central to how Steven P. Jobs built the company. The exit of Scott Forstall, the leader of Apple's mobile software development, is considered a loss for skeuomorphism, they write, the use of clear, real-world images and metaphors - a spiral notebook, or, say, a bookshelf as a guide to users. Instead, Jonathan Ive, who has long been responsible for Apple's minimalist hardware designs, will also design the look of the software.

Noam Cohen edits and writes for the Media Decoder blog. Follow @noamcohen on Twitter.

Thursday Reading: Using Hurricane Sandy as a Teaching Tool

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.

• Long gas lines, clogged roads after Hurricane Sandy. (N.Y./Region)
• Technology is changing how students learn. (National)
• Drug company recalls products amid purity questions. (National)
• Airlines begin a laborious comeback from storm. (Business)
• This year, gift ideas in triplicate. (Business)
• F.C.C. details storm-related cell phone problems. (Business)
• On Twitter, sifting through falsehoods in critical time. (Business)
• Governors promote lower deductibles for storm damage. (Business)
• Relief valves for flooded social networks. (Business)
• Lookout helps find phones with dead batteries. (Gadgetwise)
• Bedroom neatness as teen-parent battleground. (Home)
• Marathon photos often make you look awful. (Thursday Styles)
• What is your hurricane comfort food? (Well)
• Hurricane Sandy as a teaching tool. (Motherlode)
• Let me tell you what's wrong with me. (Booming)
• A bed and breakfast deal proves popular at hotels. (In Transit)
• How to drink like Hemingway. (Diner's Journal)