• Hollywood Reporter, Tuesday, April 4, 2006 11:01 AM

Bank of America's recent Media, Entertainment and Telecommunications investor seminar attracted 37 percent more attendees than it did in 2006, a possible sign that media companies are of greater interest to investors than in the recent past, says The Hollywood Reporter. But if that's the case, the jump in their stock price will need to occur beginning sometime in this second quarter; for the most part, traditional media companies did not impress Wall Street in the first quarter of the year. Radio stocks in particular were under pressure. Time Warner, the biggest media conglomerate of all, went nowhere, as did CBS and Viacom.  Actually, all three marked slight losses.  A few companies posted gains: The Walt Disney Company and Pixar, obviously. And Sony seems to have persuaded investors that its picture, long dark, is brightening.  Radio, however, may not get out from under the hammer anytime soon, according to The Hollywood Reporter and those with whom it talked.  "'Continued poor performance [in the industry] has been mainly due to other forms of new digital technology and satellite radio vying for the same listeners and competing for the same advertising revenue,' BIA Financial Network vice president Mark Fratrik said. 'This challenge is significant and is certain to cause revenue to remain significantly below the growth of the overall economy in the near future.'"

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