Review
March 21 – 27
And the Loser Is…: ABC had the lowest rating of any Academy Awards broadcast, going back to 1953. The 75th annual Oscars were watched by 20.4 percent of U.S. households with TV sets and 32 percent of homes with their TVs turned on. Among the factors cited for the low ratings was coverage of the war with Iraq on other networks and ABC’s decision not to air a Barbara Walters special on the night of the telecast.
Pancake Dividend: IHOP Corp., the Glendale-based parent of International House of Pancakes, declared its first quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents a share, payable May 19 to shareholders as of May 1. The company also chose not to proceed with plans to sell and monetize $200 million in receivables as a way of raising money, saying that a sale would come at a discount and might lead the company to violate certain debt terms.
Jobs Plus: Los Angeles County more than held its own on the employment front last month with the jobless rate falling to 6.5 percent from a revised 6.8 percent in January and lower than the statewide 6.6 percent figure. L.A. County also added 2,700 jobs in February. Southern California generally has been spared the massive job losses seen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Big Bucks: Northrop Grumman Corp. Chief Executive Kent Kresa’s pay almost doubled last year when the company completed the acquisition of satellite parts-maker TRW. Kresa received a salary of $1.4 million, a $5 million bonus, and a $2.8 million long-term incentive payout, the L.A.-based aerospace company said in a filing. He also received options on 125,000 Northrop shares with a potential value of $23 million. Kresa will retire as chief executive on March 31 and remain chairman until Oct. 1.
Deal Done: An agreement has been reached between K2 Inc. and Major League Baseball that will allow the Carlsbad-based sporting goods company to purchase Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. The Los Angeles Times reported that negotiations centered on the price of transferring the exclusive rights to manufacture and market baseballs used in the major leagues to K2.
Homeland Cuts: L.A. Mayor James Hahn reduced the number of staff members in the city’s emergency operations center to between two and five, from 25, and asked Gov. Gray Davis to provide National Guard support at Los Angeles International Airport to relieve L.A. police. Hahn also reiterated calls for federal funding to help pay for homeland security expenses.
Dole Buy: Shareholders of Dole Food Co. approved Chief Executive David Murdock’s plan to buy the 76 percent of the stock that he and his associates didn’t already own for $2.5 billion and take the Westlake Village-based company private. The transaction is expected to close March 28, after financing is completed.
Another Step: Univision Communications Inc. has been cleared by antitrust enforcers to acquire Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. was $2.3 billion. Univision’s buyout of the No. 1 Spanish-language radio broadcaster still requires approval by the Federal Communications Commission, which has asked for more information about the transaction. L.A.-based Univision has agreed to reduce its stake in another media company to win Justice Department backing.
Signal Maintained: Hughes Electronics Corp.’s DirecTV has agreed to keep broadcasting the ABC Family Channel, backing off of a threat to drop the network. The new agreement calls for DirecTV to continue carrying ABC Family and other cable networks owned by Walt Disney Co., including ESPN and the Disney Channel. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Preview
March 31 – April 6
Jobless Data: The March U.S. unemployment numbers are due out on Friday (4th). The February rate was 5.8 percent but perhaps more important than the unemployment rate will be a second survey that measures the number of jobs added or lost for the period.
Weapons Talk: Scott Ritter, a former United Nations chief weapons inspector, will speak about Iraq on Friday (4th) at Pomona College. Ritter led the U.N. weapons team into Iraq in 1998, only to be blocked from weapons sites by Iraqi officials, who accused him of being a spy. The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. and there is a $5 charge. For information: 909-621-8611.
Venture Session: Presentations from companies in information technology, biotech, nanotechnology and security will highlight the Venture Forum 2003 on Thursday (3rd) at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Forum is organized by Larta and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. For information: 213-765-4830.
Milken Gathering: Nobel laureates, chief executives and public policy leaders headline the sixth annual Milken Institute Global Conference from Monday to Wednesday (March 31-April 2) and the Beverly Hilton. This year’s conference, presented in conjunction with Forbes magazine, will focus on the outlook for the U.S. and global economies, as well as specific industry areas. For information: 310-570-4605.
Keynote Address: Former Presidential Advisor Stuart Eizenstat is keynote to the Jewish Federation Legal Services Division’s 55th annual dinner on Tuesday (1st) at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. The event will also honor real estate attorney Francis Maas. For information: 323-761-8297.
Sports Beat: With just a few more weeks to go in the regular season, the Lakers are home on Sunday (6th) against Phoenix, while the Clippers are home on Tuesday (1st) against Utah and Saturday (5th) against New York. The L.A. Avengers are home on Friday (4th) against Carolina. Also this week is the Office Depot LPGA Championship at El Caballero Country Club and, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, it’s the Men’s Final Four on Saturday and the Women’s on Sunday.
Spring Forward: Time to take out the barbecue. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday (6th).
Ex-Fed: Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker addresses a Town Hall Los Angeles luncheon at the downtown Marriott on Wednesday (2nd). More recently, he was tapped to restructure accounting giant Arthur Andersen after it was tainted by the Enron scandal. For information: 213-628-8141 or townhall-la.org.
