Worth It or Not:Inside the Verizon-AOL Deal

Telecom titan Verizon Communications is buying media platform company AOL for 4.4 billion dollars in an all-cash deal expected to close this summer,pending regulatory approval.
AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer,and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new course together in the digitally connected world,said Verizon Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdams.AOL's advertising mode aligns with this approach and the advertisng platform provide a key tool for us o develop future revenue streams.*
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and other leadership will stay on the job when AOL becomes a Verizon subsidiary.Mr.Armstrong described the combined company as deeply growth oriented and aimed directly at the platform shift that video and mobile are offering the world-today and 20 years from now.*
Verizon will get:
1.AOL's 2.2 million subscriber dial-up Internet business;
2.publications The Huffington Post;Engadget;and TechCrunch;
3.One,the automated cross-media ad-buying platform;
4.the video ad platform Adap.tv;and
5.the HuffPost Live streaming video network.
Verizon is acquiring AOL with the strategy of building the biggest media platform in the world,Armstrong said.Verizon will propel AOL and comes to the table with over 100 million mobile consumers,content deals with the likes of the NFL,and a meaningful strategy in mobile video.AOL will oversee AOL,s current assets plus additional assets from Verizon that are targeted at the mobile and video media space.The deal will give our content businesses more distribution and it will give our advertisers more distribution and mobile-first features.The deal will add scale and it will add a mobile lens to everything we do inside our content,ads and video strategy.*
AOL has over 30,000 business partners;while Verizon,born of the 2002 merger of telecom heavyweights Bell Atlantic and GTE,is the largest US wireless communications service provider.The name "Verizon" is derived from "veritas," the Latin word for "truth," and "horizon." Verizon had 125.3 million wireless service customers as of September 2014,along with residential and small business services customers that are provided with phone service,Internet access and TV via copper wire or fiber optic cable.It is in the process of transitioning wireline customers to its more economical FiOS fiber optic cable.*
Verizon stock has a 4.43% dividend yield.*
Verizon Communications Inc (VZ),AOL Inc (AOL)

Growth Trajectory:NFL Sets London Schedule

In a possible buildup to London securing its own National Football League franchise,the NFL has announced there will be three regular season games there next year.In Week 4,the Oakland Raiders will play the Miami Dolphins.In Week 8,the Atlanta Falcons will face the Detroit Lions.Finally,on Week 10 the Dallas Cowboys will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.All games will be at Wembley Stadium.*
The London fans have been most supportive of all the NFL games there to this point.The city and stadium want more games there as well.And a weak franchise such as the Jacksonville Jaguars,who have played several London games,would be a logical candidate to move there.*
As a business,the NFL has largely reached saturation point in the United States.The growth trajectory is pretty much to London and Canada. This Sunday,the Atlanta Falcons will play the Buffalo Bills at Rogers Centre in Toronto.Since 2008,the Bills have played an annual regular season game in Toronto,becoming in effect a regional franchise.Hundreds of thousands of Canadian fans venture south regularly to attend games in border cities such as Buffalo and Seattle,or watch the teams on television.NFL Canada handles the league's business north of the border,and works closely with the Canadian Football League to promote the sport in Canada.*
In Thanksgiving holiday action,the Baltimore Ravens snuck past the Pittsburgh Steelers 22-20;the Dallas Cowboys edged the Oakland Raiders 31-24;and the Detroit Lions smashed the Green Bay Packers 40-10.

Dick Vermeil On Stress

Retired football coach Dick Vermeil,73,has been offering some advice to Type A personalities.The leave of absence of Florida coach Urban Meyer on account of stress-induced chest pains has highlighted the effects of stress in a very bold way,making Coach Vermeil's insights especially relevant:
1.Don't let your passion become your obsession.
2.You have to delegate.
3.You have to let others do what you do well.
4.Realize when you can get away,even if only for 25-30 minutes,to regroup.Many times,under pressure you're not making the right decisions.
5.You have to be yourself.If I'm offensive,they have to live with it.People appreciate you most if you're yourself.
6.I'd coach tomorrow if I were younger.It doesn't mean you can't be a good parent or grandparent.As I got older,I did a better job of balancing.You only have one chance,Dick Vermeil observed.
Coach Vermeil said he was glad Coach Meyer was taking a leave of absence,rather than resigning.Stress can be managed,the former coach of the Philadelphia Eagles,St.Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs explained.Mr.Vermeil has been married to Carolyn White since 1956.They are the parents of three and grandparents of eleven.Coach Vermeil was the first coach in the history of football to win both the Rose Bowl(1976)and Super Bowl(2000).He was portrayed in the 2006 film "Invincible" by Gary Kinnear.

Shop Talk

A special greeting to Oregon,where I advertised for the first time this week.I always think of Mount Hood when I think of your state,and the Mount Hood daffodils on the property.They are both tranquil thoughts.Goodness knows we can use such thoughts in the wake of the Mumbai battle.It was a somber backdrop for the American Thanksgiving,but we managed to celebrate anyway,not letting the militants have their way.The uncompetitive National Football League games on T.V. were a joke.That can't be good for ratings or the sport itself.There's a real problem with selecting the teams so far in advance.You can't always tell which teams might be incompetent or dominant in a season. It would probably be best to have the day be more fully-scheduled.If the games turn out to be poor,you could just switch the coverage to another one.