Very inactive thread here at SI. The Yahoo UPCOY board seems to be where all the action is.
Not sure as to how many subscribers UPCOY currently has. I was fortunate enough to sell my UPCOY shares before the big sell off. Thus, I have not been diligent with my UPCOY homework.
What I can say is that UPCOY, and other top tier cable companies around the world for that matter, are fantastically positioned to become the home communication medium of the future. Video conferencing, CD rom access, telephony, net access, and video on demand are all services that cable is on pace to deliver the consumer in the future. UPCOY's parent, UCOMA, is another fine way to play UPCOY and cable assets in emerging markets.
I used to own ATHM a while back. Saw it run up to 198/share on me only to come entirely around the horn and sell at break even at 34. In my opinion, ATHM seems uniquely doomed due to it's fragmented ownership structure.
I think you will be better suited in purchasing UPCOY as opposed to ATHM as UPCOY will enjoy the entire $s from all it's three streams of income (net/telephony/programming) whereas ATHM has to split it's net access $ stream with the cable companies and any future telephony (should AT&T allow them to get involved with telephony) rev streams with T.
Yet another star on UPCOY's chest is the fact that within in it you have 2-3 companies that will eventually will be spun off: 1)Priority Telecom - the wireless operations of UPCOY 2)Chello - UPCOY's net access division 3)Media division - UPCOY's content subsidiary.
Bottom line on UPCOY vs. ATHM: UPCOY, hands down.
Other cable companies around the world that you might consider: GLCBY in Brazil, KOREA in S.Korea, TWSTY in the U.K.
A hybrid alternative to buying ATHM is to buy the interactive tv division of programming giant Liberty Media(LMGA), called Liberty Digital (LDIG). LDIG has *exclusive* rights to provide 12-15 thematic interactive "tv portals" on AT&T's cable networks. That means no other corp can have an interactive channel with the same theme (i.e. Sports, Health, etc) as LDIG's on T's cable network, which is set to become the largest in the USA. Huge barrier to entry.
Taiwanese GIGM is yet another alternative to ATHM. Basically, buy any of these...just don't make the mistake, IMO, of buying ATHM.
-Adam |
