Home

Fight

Frank Biondi Joins Carl Icahn in Time Warner Proxy Fight

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 31, 2006 - 7:22am.
Dulles, Va. - Frank Biondi, the former CEO of Viacom, has joined billionaire Carl Icahn in a proxy fight for control of media giant Time Warner, with the intention of forcing a sale or spin off of the company's America Online unit, Icahn's group said. Biondi would serve as Time Warner's CEO, if the group manages to gain control of the company’s board of directors. A report from the investment bank Lazard, commissioned by Icahn and expected to be released next week, will provide a detailed plan of how Time Warner could be restructured to maximize the company's business prospects and share price, Icahn said. The plan will include separating Time Warner's component businesses and significantly reducing corporate overhead.
tags: Time Warner | Carl Icahn | Frank Biondi | Proxy | Fight |

Mobile Content Firm Jamster to Fight U.K. TV Commercial Restrictions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 21, 2005 - 8:55am.
London -- Mobile entertainment distributor Jamster, a unit of VeriSign, said on Wednesday that it plans to contest a recent ruling from the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority Council, stating that the company's ads appeal to children and should be restricted to broadcast only after 9 P.M. "In particular, the ASA fails to adequately consider the well-established fact that the overwhelming majority of Jamster's customers are above age 16 or the protective measures that Jamster has exercised as part of its advertising, including a specific '16-and-over' callout button," the company said in a statement. Jamster cited an ICM Research study that found the mean age of its customers to be 32, and that just 1.6% of its customers were under the age of 16. The company's "Crazy Frog" animated character and ringtone was the first to cross over and become the top-selling overall U.K. music single, bettering Oasis and Coldplay. It also recently partnered with MTV on mobile entertainment initiatives. "Jamster intends to pursue all legal means to overturn the ASA's unjust and unfounded decision about its past advertisements," the company said.
tags: Mobile Content | Jamster | Fight | U.K. TV Commercial Restrictions |