Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen explained why he folded on the hard-fought battle with Cablevision-AMC on the company’s earnings call this week. “It was pretty much a stacked deck,” said the former professional poker player, who is hoping to spin spectrum into gold, just as soon as the FCC gives him the go-ahead.
Ergen added that given his experience in drawing out a prior legal battle with TiVo, he realized he could save himself a lot of management time and get the same result. Ergen ended up writing a $700 million check to end the case — and of course, keep himself off the stand in court — and take possession of a bunch of Cablevision spectrum.
As part of the huge settlement, Dish agreed to a long-term deal with AMC Networks. Was it worth it? “If AMC continues to produce shows like ‘Walking Dead,’ [which stars Sarah Wayne Callies] then that will be a fair deal for us and if not, if they stub their toe, then we probably paid too much,” said Ergen.
Part of the litigation had involved accusations that Dish had deflated the number of HD customers it had, and the proceedings saw Dish’s programming executives breaking down in tears in the courtroom.
“I know our programming folks have always liked the AMC folks, and they get along pretty well,” Ergen said. “And I think we’re now in their camp to try to help them be as successful as they can be.” –Claire Atkinson
Beijing luxe
Luxury is no longer a dirty word. Ferruccio Ferragamo, chairman of Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., and the eldest son of the legendary shoe designer, was in New York last week, ahead of the company’s quarterly results this Tuesday.
Ferruccio says business has been healthy. In spite of challenges from a difficult European economy, the global luxury Italian leather and fashion brand reported a 23 percent increase in total revenues in the first half of 2012. It went public last year with a company valuation of $3.4 billion.
Ferruccio is confident growth will continue in the Far East and is keeping an eye on China as it launches a transition of power at a Communist Party Congress this week.
Singapore and Hong Kong are still top locations for Ferragamo sales, but he says Chinese customers shop globally, buying at stores in New York, Paris and Sydney, Australia.
He says New York, where the company reopened its flagship Fifth Avenue store in April, has continued to improve performance. –Julie Earle-Levine
On golden Bond
The latest James Bond film, “Skyfall,” opened in the US on Friday, but it’s already making a killing overseas. 007’s most recent assignment has racked up more than $320 million internationally and broken records, including becoming the UK’s highest-grossing film of the year.
Indeed, some box-office prognosticators think “Skyfall” could be the biggest Bond movie ever.
The film, in which Daniel Craig faces off against Javier Bardem, was directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes and written by John Logan in his first foray into the Bond universe.
At a Tribeca Film Institute screening of “Skyfall” last week, Logan told On the Money he was excited to script the 23rd entry in this historic franchise.
“I love these movies, I love the novels,so to get the chance to sort of play in Bond’s world was really thrilling,” he said.
The folks behind “Skyfall” seem to be so thrilled with Logan that they’ve already retained him to write the next two Bond movies.
But despite “Skyfall’s” success, Logan insisted that he feels no pressure to deliver two more blockbusters: “My responsibility is just to write the best movies I can, so I never feel external pressure at all.” –Hilary Lewis
Wolf tracks
Robert Wolf, the former US chairman of UBS, had plenty to celebrate this week.
The close adviser to President Obama told On the Money that he believes the president will prioritize getting a fiscal deal done that will include revenues, much-needed entitlement reform and a reduction on defense spending along the lines of the Simpson-Bowles recommendations, with some tweaks.
Wolf also has started a show with Reuters called “Impact Players,” which gives viewers an inside look at corporate leaders from business to politics to sports and entertainment.
Guests include Paul Volcker, Larry Fink, David Rubenstein and Sheila Bair. –Post staff
Drive, he said
Barry Diller loves to drive his own cars around town, and his Frank Gehry-designed office space is located downtown, so it comes as no surprise that Diller’s friends are speculating that his famous Maserati suffered some damage in the flooded IAC building parking lot in Chelsea.
Diller’s reps deny the gossip, saying his cars are “safe and sound” — though another friend was surprised to see him at Midtown media hangout Michael’s last week with the Bentley instead.
This isn’t the first we’ve heard of Diller’s car troubles. Last year, Katie Couric tweeted a picture of herself giving Diller a push during a snowstorm .
Perhaps Diller should treat himself to car service?–Claire Atkinson