 | |
 |  |
Old media companies had a pretty great 2012, notes David Carr at the New York Times.
Despite all the hype from people like Carr, and even our own Henry Blodget, that the roof is about to cave in on the TV business, these companies are doing very well.
Below, you can see the stock charts for some traditional TV-based content companies. Overall, it was a very good year for these guys.
Why are they rocking? Two boring reasons and one not so boring reason.
The boring reasons: They aren't making really stupid acquisitions and they are doing dividends and buy backs. These restrained management practices are nice for investors.
The not-so-boring reason: Instead of getting eviscerated by the Internet, these companies are getting enriched by it. When Apple, Amazon, or Netflix want content, they come to these guys looking for hot movies and TV shows. These guys say, "Great, get out your check book!"
Unlike the music industry or the newspaper industry, the TV and movie content business is proving to be amazingly resilient.
Follow the