HVCB ad campaign targets chilly Chicago
The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has launched a monthlong tourism campaign in Chicago, geared to getting more bookings from the state’s fifth-largest visitor market.
The campaign, which comes at a time when Chicagoans are enduring freezing temperatures and record snowfall, has already garnered some tongue-in-cheek attention
from Windy City media. “CTA Hawaii Ads Torment Cold Chicagoans: ‘Some Sadist Put This Here,’” was the headline of a story published Monday by DNAinfo.com Chicago on its news site. The first sentence of the story, written by Jackie Kostek and Kyla Gardner, exclaimed “Quit rubbing it in, Hawaii!”
“It was great to see a Chicago news outlet have some fun with our current campaign and I can assure you we’ve only had the best of intentions in reaching out to Chicagoans who we know enjoy vacationing in the Hawaiian Islands,” said John Monahan, HVCB president and CEO.
HVCB’s effort combines print, broadcast, online and out-of-home advertising with public relations, consumer events and travel trade outreach. While the media blitz is focused on Chicago, its reach likely will extend since the city serves as an airline hub for many East Coast cities.
Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45B
LOS ANGELES >> Comcast has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion in stock, or $158.82 per share, in a deal that would combine the top two cable TV companies in the nation.
That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced formally. An announcement is set for Thursday morning, the person said. The price is about 17 percent above Time Warner Cable shares’ closing price Wednesday.
The deal trumps a proposal by Charter Communications Inc. to buy Time Warner for about $38 billion in cash and stock worth $132.50 per share and comes just a day after Charter said it was preparing a proxy fight by nominating a full slate of directors to Time Warner Cable’s board.
CBS Corp. earnings exceed expectations
CBS Corp. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue growth that beat Wall Street expectations, posting flat advertising revenue but growth in content licensing thanks to the sale of shows such as “Hawaii Five-0” for domestic reruns.
Along with the earnings announcement, the company said it would quadruple the pace of its share buybacks in the current quarter as it spends cash raised from the pending spinoff of its outdoor billboard business.
CEO Les Moonves also told analysts on a conference call that the company was setting its sights on generating $2 billion a year in 2020 from so-called “retransmission fees” that it gets from cable and satellite distributors for the right to carry CBS content.
Those fees were at the heart of a dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable Inc. last fall that resulted in a monthlong blackout. The goal is up from $1 billion a year the company is eyeing for 2017.
Net income in the quarter rose to $470 million, or 76 cents a share, from $393 million, or 60 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue grew 6 percent to $3.91 billion.
Foreclosed homes decline to 6-year low
Lenders repossessed fewer U.S. homes in January, bringing the number of completed foreclosures down to the lowest level in more than six years.
Even so, many states posted sharp increases in the number of homes entering the foreclosure process for the first time, a trend that raises the likelihood that those states will see a surge in foreclosed homes later this year.
Banks took back 30,226 homes last month, a drop of 4 percent from December, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. Completed foreclosures were down 40 percent from January last year to the lowest level since July 2007, the firm said.
Whole Foods stock drops amid lower profit
Shares of Whole Foods Market Inc. dropped in after-hours trading Wednesday after the grocery chain reported that its fiscal first-quarter profit and revenue fell below analysts’ forecasts. The results show that Whole Foods is facing an increasingly competitive landscape.
Its shares dropped more than 7 percent, or $3.97 per share, to $51.49 in after-hours trading. That’s after they slipped 42 cents to $55.46 in regular trading.
The chain earned a profit of $158 million, or 42 cents a share, in the quarter ended Jan. 19. That compares with a profit of $146 million, or 39 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 10 percent to $4.24 billion.
ON THE MOVE
ProService Hawaii has announced the following new hires:
>> Kimberly Koide Iwao as director of legal and regulatory affairs. She was a former partner at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, practicing in employment and labor law. She is also currently secretary and director of the Physician’s Exchange of Honolulu.
>> Jaren Shigeta as health care insurance analyst. He was previously an analyst for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and is an associate of the Society of Actuaries.
Keller Williams Realty on Maui has appointed Cherie Dasmacci to its chief executive officer/team leader position. She has more than 10 years’ experience in real estate ownership, recruiting, marketing, personnel development and brokering.
Hospice Hawaii has named Blayne Higa philanthropy manager. He was previously director of development and community relations for Pacific Buddhist Academy for two years and legislative office manager for state Rep. Sylvia Luke for 13 years.
