• CNNMoney, Tuesday, January 31, 2006 11:16 AM

Paul R. La Monica, who writes for CNNMoney.com, says industry observers are seeing a heating up of the M&A market this year, resulting in higher share prices for companies in the sector. The recent acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios by the Walt Disney Company and the merger of UPN and The WB are just the beginning. Rik Toulon, a partner in the entertainment practice of law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, tells La Monica, "The industry is so fiercely competitive. Everyone is focused on how to maximize profits and best use assets. It's pretty frenetic out there." The upcoming spate of quarterly earnings announcements, which analysts expect will be decent but unspectacular, only serves to fuel speculation about mergers. "These companies somehow need to change the perception that old media is passé," says Joe Bonner, an analyst with Argus Research. "Old media is trying to grab on to the new generation of media properties."

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