by Jason Wilk on April 6, 2009
- A new report by Credit Suisse projects that Google’s video giant, YouTube is on track to lose $470 million this year says NewTeeVee. Credit Suisse says YouTube will generate $240 million in revenue, but that’s nothing in comparison to the $711 million in licensing, server, marketing and other expenses the site is projected to see this year. A similar problem to what Facebook sees, server costs are supposed to be as much as $360 million this year. Here is how”
To arrive at the estimated $360 million bandwidth tab for YouTube, the analysts assumed the site will receive 375 million unique visitors in 2009 and that a maximum of 20% of those users are on the site at any given time. Credit Suisse’s analysis then assumed each user downloads a video at 400 kilobits per second, to yield a peak bit run-rate for YouTube of 30 million megabits per second.
- YouTube is in a confused state at the moment, continuing to try to answer the question of how to monetize the majority of their contnet. Premium content competitor Hulu is monetizing 100% of their content and has deals struck with nearly every major network. YouTube has deals with CBS and Lionsgate, but that’s not enough to compete on Hulu’s level nor support the massive amounts of useless viral content driving most of their traffic.
Update: YouTube is in talks to acquire licensing rights to full-length content from Sony Pictures, home of such films as “The International” and “Spider-Man,” sources familiar with the negotiations told CNET News. Details about what a final agreement could look like are sparse, but any partnership between the two powerhouses would likely benefit both.
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by David Heyerman on December 29, 2008
- No surprises here, but just in case you’ve got money down on an Aptera, or are saving recessionary holiday cash for a Model S down payment, this news may be a little upsetting.
- Aptera just announced that they won’t be delivering any cars in 2008. They started the year out with an end-of-2008 projected delivery date.
- Tesla, like expected, is delaying the Model S introduction for at least a few months. So, if you were itching for that early 2009 unveil, I wouldn’t get too excited about it. They’ll also be delaying construction on the new San Jose production plant. Musk thinks the company may needs a government bailout to survive.
by David Heyerman on December 21, 2008
- GM – There’s been tons of news lately regarding GM. Most notably, the federal government just approved $17.4 billion in loans to the Detroit giant failure. Along with Chrysler, GM will receive $13.4 billion with $4 billion available in February. Immediate repayment to the government will be required if profitability isn’t shown by March 31st, 2009. In other, more cleantech related news, GM has put a hold on their $349 million dollar plant dedicated to production of the Chevy Volt. Even with this delay, GM vows that they will still meet the 2010 launch date.
- Chrysler – Along for the bailout ride, Chrysler seems to be really hurting. They’ve now idled all manufacturing operations for a month at the least. This is far from the company who back in the summer announced a fleet of plug-in hybrids to be brought to the market by 2010.
- Honda – Just signed a deal with GS Yuasa, a Japanese battery maker. The joint venture will go towards developing lithium-ion batteries for Honda’s hybrids. GS Yuasa will hold 51% of the $170 million deal. In other exciting news, CEO, Takeo Fukui just announced that Honda will have a fully electric motorcycles to the market within 2 years.
- Mercedes-Benz – Mercedes seems to be testing out their options with their recent Concept blueZERO annoucment. The high-end auto manufacturer will be unveiling 3 different models at the Detroit Auto Show in January; an EV, a gas-driven powergenerator/EV like the Volt, as well as a fuell cell vehicle, like the Honda FCX Clarity.
- Tesla - An interesting piece of information comes from the mouth of that dude Oprah leaned on, who also happened to buy the 100th production roadster. Sam Perry, president of startup consultancy Ascendance Ventures, claims that after conversations with CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, the Model S in still on track for an early 2009 reveal as well as a “budget” $30,000 Tesla announcement on the way. Hmm.
- Renault-Nissan – The car company just partnered with Energie Quest Suisse (EQS) to develop an EV network for Switzerland. The plan, like other car network developers is to create a grid of recharging stations throughout the country.
- Bentley – The super lux car brand is going eco. They are expected to launch their first production ethanol model at the Geneva Motor Show in spring of 2009.
by David Heyerman on December 11, 2008
- It’s no breaking news to hear that Tesla is a little strapped for cash. Maybe it’s the recent GM bailout that’s softened my senses a little, but I’m not in the least surprised to hear that CEO, Elon Musk, is asking for a bailout from the government himself.
- Musk recently told the Detroit Press that unless he gets a $350 million dollar loan from the government that the Tesla Model S will be pushed back (surprise, surprise) and their new San Jose plant will not open.
- This comes in right after the relatively average milestone of delivering their 100th production roadster. Speaking of disappointing, remember when they made a big deal about the recipient of that 100th car a few days ago, you wanna know who it was? ….This Guy:
- Musk explained that without the bailout, production of the model S will have to ride out the current economic conditions, possibly delaying it 1-2 years. This is a serious problem considering the roadster retails at $109,000, with the Model S shooting for a $55-60,000 price range. The relatively low sum of $350 million mixed with the long term benefit of a sustaintable automotive company like Tesla might just be too good of a proposition for Obama to turn down.
- Think about it, we literally just bailed out GM for near 43 times that amount.
by Jason Wilk on December 8, 2008
- More bad news for the big newspaper publishers this week, as The New York Times and Tribune, Inc look for ways to stay afloat. Their businesses are being hit hard by diminishing advertising sales as well as competing online papers and professional blogs.
- The Tribune owns eight major daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, plus a string of local TV stations. Many papers will need to fold in coming months, but for both the NYT and Tribune, some internal cash infusions are possible.
- The NYT is looking to borrow against its new Manhattan headquarters. It has hired a real estate firm to raise up to $225 million using the value of the building as collateral. The company owns 58% of the headquarters which is valued at somewhere between $900 million and $1 billion. Pulling money out of commercial real-estate is a good option for property owners looking for a tax free way to raise capital if they are to throw the money back into another investment.
- The Tribune too has their share of investments that it can salvage some money. A sale of its Chicago Cubs baseball team is under way, which will help the company in it’s effort to pay soon to be owed debts.
- Both the NYT and Tribune are under more heat than usual as they both have loans in the hundreds of millions that need to be paid back in 2009. The NYT needs to ante up $400 million by May in debts (ATD) and Tribune owes $512 million come June. Unofrtunatelly selling their paper assets are most likely not possible as the buyers market for old media is getting thin. The amount of money they are both able to pull from their other assets are limited and neither business will be able to withstand the ever-growing transition to new media outlets.
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