Item 3. Key Information
A. Selected Financial Data
Selected Financial Data
The following tables present our selected historical financial data, which
have been derived from audited financial statements. Ibero-American Media
Partners was deemed to be the acquiror for accounting purposes in the
combination agreement and accordingly, the historical financial statements of
Ibero-American Media Partners are presented as the financial statements of
Claxson preceding the transaction. In addition, all fiscal years presented
reflect the classification of Chilevision's financial results as discontinued
operations. See Note 3 "Acquisitions and Disposals" in the notes to the
accompanying consolidated financial statements.
The selected financial data should be read in conjunction with the
consolidated financial statements and Item 5. "Operating and Financial Review
and Prospects". We prepare our financial statements in U.S. dollars and in
accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America (which is commonly called "U.S. GAAP").
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
(In thousands of U.S. dollars)
Consolidated Statements of
Operations Data for the Years Ended
December 31:
Total net revenues $ 90,413 $ 92,318 $ 59,964 $ 62,994 $ 68,184
Total operating expenses 91,965 104,775 60,056 57,927 61,882
Operating (loss) income (1,552 ) (12,457 ) (92 ) 5,067 6,302
Other income (expense) (14,889 ) (47,178 ) (69,526 ) 5,106 (1,313 )
Gain on debt restructuring - - 15,274 - -
Share of (loss) income from
unconsolidated affiliates (4,930 ) (19,073 ) (6,746 ) 367 245
Benefit (provision) for income
taxes (855 ) (4,328 ) (215 ) (2,911 ) (1,861 )
Minority interest (4 ) 127 68 46 267
Change in accounting principle - - (74,789 ) - -
Net (loss) income from continuing
operations (22,230 ) (82,909 ) (136,026 ) 7,675 3,640
Discontinued operations 761 (1,977 ) (2,403 ) 662 3,050
Net (loss) income $ (21,469 ) $ (84,886 ) $ (138,429 ) $ 8,337 $ 6,690
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data As
of December 31:
Cash as cash equivalents (including
restricted investments)(1) $ 21,963 $ 15,207 $ 8,819 $ 7,890 $ 7,270
Total assets 367,450 278,002 147,622 145,339 156,515
Working capital (deficiency)(2) 37,453 (71,037 ) 1,734 676 11,391
Total long-term liabilities 122,570 27,689 80,824 77,362 80,475
Minority interest 2,053 - 1,164 1,128 562
Shareholders' equity 180,465 102,753 3,195 9,993 22,603
(1) Includes U.S.$4.3 million, U.S.$0.8 million and U.S.$0.2 million in 2000,
2002 and 2003 respectively, of restricted investments.
(2) For 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, includes U.S.$79.5, U.S.$3.2 million,
U.S.$2.3 million, and U.S.$0.5 million respectively, of Imagen's 11% Senior
Notes due 2005.
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B. Capitalization and Indebtedness
Not Applicable
C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds
Not Applicable
D. Risk Factors
The following summarizes certain risks that may materially affect our
business, financial condition or results of operations.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
We may not be able to continue as a going concern.
The report of the independent registered public accounting firm with respect
to our consolidated financial statements includes a "going concern" explanatory
paragraph, indicating that our potential inability to meet our obligations as
they become due raises substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a
going concern for a reasonable period of time. Our ability to achieve long-term
profitability is dependent on our ability to accomplish our business plan
objectives, which includes projected revenue increases, stabilization of the
economies in which we operate, and the availability of additional liquidity. Our
failure or inability to successfully carry out these plans, could ultimately
have a material adverse effect on our financial position and our ability to meet
our obligations when due.
We are a highly-leveraged holding company and depend on our subsidiaries'
revenues and cash flows to meet our obligations, and the availability of
funds from these subsidiaries may be limited by contractual or statutory
restrictions.
We are highly leveraged. At December 31, 2004, we had approximately
U.S.$69.2 million in aggregate principal amount of indebtedness and accrued and
unpaid interest, plus U.S.$16.6 million of future interest payments on our
8.75% Senior Notes due 2010 and U.S.$22.6 million in total shareholders' equity.
We conduct our operations through subsidiaries, and these subsidiaries are
our primary source of cash flow. Our ability to use and distribute funds out of
cash flows generated by Imagen Satelital and Radio Chile, two of our
subsidiaries that generate a significant portion of our cash flows, is
restricted. Our syndicated bank facility also contains covenants that restrict
our and our subsidiaries' ability to utilize cash and the collateralized assets
of our Chilean operations. In addition, our subsidiary, Imagen Satelital S.A.,
had outstanding U.S.$0.3 million in principal amount of 11% Senior Notes due
2005 which matured in May 2005 but which we have not repaid.
The degree to which we are leveraged has important consequences to us,
including the following:
• Our cash flow available for use in our business is reduced,
• We are vulnerable to changes in economic conditions, and
• Our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital
expenditures, acquisitions, general corporate purposes or other purposes
could be impaired.
We depend on a limited number of pay television system operators for a
significant portion of our revenues and the loss of any of our major pay
television system operators or renegotiation of existing contractual terms
could significantly reduce our revenues.
Our five largest pay television system operators accounted for approximately
38% and 31% of our total revenues in the years ended December 31, 2003 and 2004,
respectively. The loss of any of our major
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existing pay television system operators, unless replaced by other operators,
could have a material adverse effect on our financial performance.
Our largest pay television system operator, DIRECTV Latin America accounted
for approximately 22% and 19% of our total revenues for the years ended
December 31, 2003 and 2004. On December 22, 2003, The News Corporation Ltd.
completed its acquisition of a controlling interest in Hughes Electronics
Corporation (now known as DIRECTV Group, Inc., the majority owner of DIRECTV
Latin America). NewsCorp owns a significant interest in Sky Latin America, a
direct-to-home satellite programming provider like DIRECTV Latin America, which
operates in many of the same markets as DIRECTV Latin America, including Brazil,
Chile, Colombia and Mexico. In October 2004, DIRECTV Group, Inc. and NewsCorp
announced a series of business combinations and reorganizations, which if
completed, will result in the termination of the DIRECTV Latin America platform
in Brazil and Mexico and/or the migration of the majority of DIRECTV subscribers
to the Sky platform in those territories. We currently have distribution
agreements with Sky Latin America in Mexico and Brazil for a limited number of
our channels, and have distribution for all of our pan-regional channels with
DIRECTV Latin America in those countries as well as the rest of the region, but
do not have distribution agreements with Sky Latin America in other markets
where we have distribution rights with DIRECTV Latin America. If the announced
business combinations and reorganizations are completed and we are unable to
negotiate similar distribution agreements with Sky Latin America for Brazil or
Mexico or for any other region in which we operate where the DIRECTV Latin
America platform is discontinued, we will experience a significant decrease in
revenues.
Our existing distribution agreements with DIRECTV Latin America for our
premium channels expired in December 2004. Although the final agreements have
not yet been executed, we have negotiated new terms for these agreements and
have been operating under these terms since January 2005 which provide us with a
lower revenue share percentage for our premium channels than previously
received. In addition, our basic channels expire on December 31, 2005. We are
currently negotiating these agreements with DIRECTV Latin America and based on
those negotiations believe that the new agreements will contain lower per
subscriber rates than our current contracts. If we are unable to negotiate new
agreements with similar terms as the existing agreements, we will experience a
reduction in our revenues. In addition, on October 19, 2004, an affiliate of the
Cisneros Group of Companies that is a minority shareholder in DIRECTV Latin
America filed a lawsuit against DIRECTV Group Inc. and others, including, The
News Corporation Ltd., Sky Multi-Country Partners, Innova S. de R.L. de C.V.,
Globo Comunicacoes e Participacoes, S.A., and Grupo Televisa, S.A., related to
the business combination and reorganization of DIRECTV Latin America with
NewsCorp's affiliates.
Our businesses have incurred losses and may incur losses in the future.
Our businesses have a history of losses and may continue to incur losses,
given the costs of servicing our debt and the volatility of currencies in the
region in which we operate, if we are unable to increase our revenues. Our
businesses incurred total net losses of U.S. $138.4 million for the year ended
December 31, 2002 and U.S. $84.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2001.
Should we experience losses in the future, the extent of such losses will
depend, in part, on whether we can increase our revenues. Our business plan
contemplates increasing our profitability by increasing our revenues while
maintaining our operating expenses at current levels. Our failure to increase
revenues or maintain our operating expenses at their current level, or otherwise
meet our business plan objectives, may result in our incurring losses in the
future.
Members of the Cisneros Group and Hicks Muse control Claxson, which could
inhibit or cause potential changes of control of Claxson.
Members of the Cisneros Group and Hicks Muse control, in the aggregate,
approximately 80% of the voting power on all matters submitted to our
shareholders and control the outcome of actions requiring the approval of
holders of a majority of our common shares, including a sale or a material
acquisition. In
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addition, through their ownership of our Class C and Class H common shares,
these shareholders are entitled to designate seven of the twelve members of our
board of directors. This control could discourage other parties from initiating
potential merger, acquisition or other change of control transactions that might
otherwise be beneficial to our shareholders. In addition, the Cisneros Group and
Hicks Muse could use their ownership position to cause a transaction to occur in
which either or both of these shareholders or a third party would acquire most
or all of Claxson, in which event other shareholders could be deprived of the
opportunity to remain shareholders of Claxson.
Conflicts may arise between members of the Cisneros Group and Hicks Muse, on
the one hand, and our other shareholders, on the other hand, whose interests may
differ with respect to, among other things, our strategic direction, significant
corporate transactions or corporate opportunities that could be pursued by us or
by either or both of our controlling shareholders.
Hicks Muse and members of the Cisneros Group could have interests in other
businesses which conflict with ours.
In addition to their interests in Claxson, members of the Cisneros Group and
affiliates of Hicks Muse hold, and may in the future acquire, interests in other
media businesses in Ibero America, some of which may compete, or have
relationships with strategic partners that compete, with us. In particular,
members of the Cisneros Group own an interest in AOL Latin America and DIRECTV
Latin America, and funds affiliated with Hicks Muse own interests in CableVisión
and Teledigital Cable in Argentina, TV Cidade in Brazil and Intercable in
Venezuela. DIRECTV Latin America, CableVisión, Teledigital Cable, and Intercable
are significant pay television system operators in Latin America.
Persons serving as our directors and members of the Cisneros Group or Hicks
Muse may have conflicting interests with respect to the above and other matters.
These conflicts could limit our effectiveness in capitalizing on opportunities
for growth.
Competition in the media industry is intense and we expect it to increase
significantly so that any failure by us to compete successfully would
adversely affect our financial performance.
We derive substantially all of our revenue from subscriber-based fees and
advertising, for which we compete with various other media, including
newspapers, television, radio stations and other pay television channels that
offer customers information and services similar to ours. Increased competition
could result in price reductions, reduced margins or loss of market share, any
of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial performance.
We face competition on both country and regional levels. In addition, each
of our businesses competes with companies that deliver content through the same
platforms and with companies that operate in different media businesses. Our
competitors may develop content that is better than our content or that achieves
greater market acceptance. Some of our competitors may have better brand
recognition and significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other
resources than we do. We will have to devote significant resources to maintain
the competitive position of our brands. Competition in our businesses and
markets may limit our ability to expand our market share and increase revenues
in these businesses and markets.
Our businesses involve risks of liability claims for media content, which
could result in significant costs.
As a distributor of media content, we may face potential liability for:
• defamation;
• negligence;
• copyright, patent or trademark infringement; and
• other claims based on the nature and content of the materials distributed.
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These types of claims have been brought, sometimes successfully, against
broadcasters, online services and other disseminators of media content. In
addition, we could be exposed to liability in connection with material available
through our Internet sites or for information collected from and about our
users. Although we carry general liability insurance and errors and omissions
insurance, our insurance may not cover potential claims of defamation,
negligence and similar claims, and it may or may not apply to a particular claim
or be adequate to reimburse us for all liability that may be imposed. Any
imposition of liability that is not covered by insurance or is in excess of
insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on us.
We may not be able to retain or obtain required licenses, permits and
approvals, which could result in increased costs and limit our ability to
achieve our strategic objectives and increase revenues.
We must maintain licenses, permits and approvals from regulatory authorities
to conduct and expand our broadcast radio businesses in Chile and Uruguay and
may need to obtain additional permits and licenses. The process for obtaining or
renewing these licenses, permits and approvals could be complex and
unpredictable. In addition, many of our licenses may not be transferred without
regulatory approval. If we are unable to maintain the licenses, permits and
approvals that we currently hold or to obtain those that we need to conduct and
expand our businesses at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner, our ability
to achieve our strategic objectives could be impaired. In addition, the
regulatory environment in the countries in which our businesses operate is
complex and subject to change, and adverse changes in that environment could
also impose costs on, or limit the growth of our business.
Changes in governmental regulation could reduce our revenues, increase our
operating expenses and expose us to significant liabilities.
Our businesses are regulated by governmental authorities in the countries in
which we operate. Regulation relates to, among other things, licensing, access
to satellite transponders, commercial advertising, foreign investment and
standards of decency/obscenity. Changes in the regulation of our operations or
changes in interpretations of existing regulations by courts or regulators,
could adversely affect us by reducing our revenues, increasing our operating
expenses and exposing us to significant liabilities for noncompliance with such
modified or reinterpreted regulations.
El Sitio, one of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a defendant in several
civil securities cases arising out of its initial public offering, which
could result in significant litigation expense and, if not decided in its
favor, damage payments to the plaintiffs.
El Sitio and some of its former and current directors and principal
executive officers have been named as defendants in several civil cases arising
out of its initial public offering in December 1999. The complaints primarily
relate to alleged share allocation and commission practices undertaken by the
underwriters for the offering. We believe, after consultation with counsel, that
the allegations relating to El Sitio and its directors and principal executive
officers are without merit. However, these cases could result in significant
litigation expense for us and, if not decided in El Sitio's favor or
successfully settled, damage payments which would among other things adversely
affect our financial performance. See "Item 8A Financial
Information-Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information-Legal
Proceedings" for more information.
Our financial results could be affected by potential changes in the
accounting rules governing the recognition of stock-based compensation
expense.
We have chosen to account for stock based compensation expense to employees
and non-employees using the intrinsic value method prescribed by Accounting
Principles Board Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees and
related interpretations. As required by Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards No. 123R, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, we have presented
in the notes to our consolidated financial statements certain pro forma and
other disclosures related to share-based compensation plans which show the
potential impact of SFAS 123R on our financial results if we
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had accounted for stock based compensation under the fair value method. Under
the current proposals, adoption of SFAS 123R will become effective for us in the
first quarter of 2006. If SFAS 123R becomes effective in its current form, it
will result in our reporting lower earnings per share, which could negatively
impact our future stock price. In addition, this could also impact our ability
or future practice of utilizing broad-based employee stock plans to attract,
reward, and retain employees, which could also adversely impact our operations.
RISKS RELATED TO LATIN AMERICA
Because our pay television business is concentrated in Argentina and our
broadcast radio business is concentrated in Chile, our financial performance
is especially sensitive to risks associated with political, regulatory and
economic conditions in these two countries.
For the year ended December 31, 2004, our pay television business derived
33% of its revenues from operations in Argentina. In addition, our broadcast
radio business derived 92% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2004 from
our operations in Chile. As a result, changes in Argentine or Chilean government
policy affecting trade, investment, taxes, protection of intellectual property
or the media industry generally or instability in the Argentine or Chilean
currency, economy or government could have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations and financial condition.
Argentina, in particular, has had a history of political and economic
instability and has recently experienced political upheaval and a severe
economic recession. These events coincided with a serious downturn in global
investor sentiment generally, marked by significant declines in international
equity markets, pronounced investor risk aversion and a decrease in investor
confidence throughout emerging markets. Some other risks of investing in a
company with operations in Argentina, as well as other countries in Latin
America, include:
• the risk of expropriation, nationalization, war, revolutions, border
disputes, renegotiation or modification of existing contracts, import,
export and transportation regulations and tariffs;
• exchange controls, currency fluctuations and other uncertainties arising out
of foreign government sovereignty over our international operations;
• taxation policies, including royalty and tax increases and retroactive tax
claims;
• laws and policies of the United States affecting foreign trade, taxation and
investment; and
• the possibilities of being subjected to the exclusive jurisdiction of
foreign courts in connection with legal disputes and the inability to
subject foreign persons to the jurisdiction of courts in the United States.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR CLASS A COMMON SHARES
Since our Class A common shares were delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap
Market, it may be more difficult for investors to trade in our Class A common
shares.
Our Class A common shares are currently traded on the OTC Bulletin Board.
Compared to the NASDAQ SmallCap Market, an investor may find it more difficult
to sell our securities. Also, since we are no longer traded on the NASDAQ
SmallCap Market and the average trading price of our Class A common shares
remains below $5.00 per share, trading in our Class A common shares is subject
to certain other rules of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such rules
require additional disclosure by broker-dealers in connection with certain
trades involving a stock defined as a "penny stock." "Penny stock" is defined as
any non-Nasdaq equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per
share, subject to certain exceptions. Such rules require the delivery of a
disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the risks associated
with that market before entering into penny stock transactions. The rules also
impose various sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny
stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors. For
these types of transactions, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability
determination for the purchaser and must receive the purchaser's
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written consent to the transaction prior to the sale. The additional burdens
imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements could discourage broker-dealers
from effecting transactions in the securities. This could severely limit the
market liquidity of the securities and the ability to sell the securities in the
secondary market.
Our shareholders may face difficulties in protecting their interests because
we are a British Virgin Islands international business company.
Our governance matters are principally determined by our memorandum and
articles of association and the International Business Companies Act of the
British Virgin Islands. The rights of shareholders and the fiduciary
responsibilities of directors, officers and controlling shareholders under
British Virgin Islands law have not been extensively developed, particularly
when compared with statutes and judicial precedents of most states and other
jurisdictions in the United States. As a result, our shareholders may have more
difficulty in protecting their interests in the case of actions by our
directors, officers or controlling shareholders than would shareholders of a
corporation incorporated in a state or other jurisdiction in the United States.
You may experience difficulty in enforcing civil liabilities against us.
We are a British Virgin Islands international business company with a
substantial portion of our assets located outside of the United States. In
addition, many of our directors and executive officers, as well as other of our
controlling persons, reside or are located outside of the United States. As a
result, it may not be possible for investors to effect service of process within
the United States upon us or these persons or to enforce judgments obtained
against us or these persons in U.S. courts predicated solely upon the civil
liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws. We have been
advised by Conyers Dill & Pearman, our British Virgin Islands counsel, that
there is doubt as to the enforceability in the British Virgin Islands in
original actions or in actions for enforcement of judgments of U.S. courts, of
civil liabilities predicated upon the U.S. federal or state securities laws.
There is also doubt as to enforceability of judgments of this nature in several
of the jurisdictions in which we operate and our assets are located.
We are a foreign private issuer and you will receive less information about
us than you would from a domestic U.S. corporation.
As a "foreign private issuer", we are exempt from rules under the
U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that impose certain disclosure and
procedural requirements in connection with proxy solicitations under Section 14
of the Exchange Act. Our directors, executive officers and principal
shareholders also are exempt from the reporting and "short-swing" profit
recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules thereunder
with respect to their purchases and sales of our shares. In addition, we are not
required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as frequently or as promptly as
U.S. companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. As a
result, you may not be able to obtain some information relating to us as you
would for a domestic U.S. corporation.
Item 4. Information on the Company
A. History and Development of the Company
We were incorporated as an international business company under the laws of
the British Virgin Islands on October 16, 2000. Our registered office is at
Romasco Place, PO Box 3140, Wickhams Cay I, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin
Islands. Our headquarters and principal executive offices are located at Avenida
Melian, 2752, C1430EYH Buenos Aires, Argentina and our telephone number is
011-54-11-4546-8000. We maintain a United States principal executive office
located at 1550 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33132. Our telephone number
in Miami is (305) 894-3500.
We were formed in a merger transaction that combined media assets
contributed by Ibero-American Media Partners II, Ltd., and other media assets
contributed by members of the Cisneros Group and
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El Sitio, Inc. For a description of the merger transaction, see the
"Introduction" to this annual report on Form 20-F.
B. Business Overview
We are a multimedia provider of branded entertainment content to Spanish and
Portuguese speakers around the world. We have combined assets in pay television,
broadcast radio, and Internet and broadband to create an integrated media
company with a portfolio of popular entertainment brands and multiple methods of
distributing our content.
Our pay television business, currently our largest source of revenues,
includes 13 pay television channels distributed to approximately 11.7 million
pay television households, which account for approximately 53.3 million basic
channel subscribers through cable and direct-to-home television platforms. We
calculate the number of subscribers based on the number of channels received per
household so that if for example a household receives five channels, we count
five subscribers for such household. Three of these pay television channels are
owned by Playboy TV Latin America, our 81% owned joint venture with an affiliate
of Playboy Enterprises Inc.
Our broadcast radio business includes an eight-station radio network with
the largest audience share in Chile, which constitutes the largest radio group
in Chile, and three radio stations in Uruguay. We formerly operated the fourth
largest broadcast television network in Chile which we sold in May 2005, see
Note 3 "Acquisitions and Disposals" in the notes to the accompanying
consolidated financial statements.
Our Internet and broadband business, which is our newest business, is
primarily dedicated to support our media assets and the production, distribution
and selling of digital content specifically developed for broadband.
We integrate licensed and proprietary content for pay television, radio and
Internet formats. By taking advantage of the complementary nature of our assets
and the experience of our management team, we seek to achieve revenue growth and
reduce expenses through operational synergies that we believe will lead to
enhanced long-term financial performance and better position us to take
advantage of emerging trends in media distribution.
The following tables present historical selected financial information for
our business operations for the years and periods indicated (in thousands of
U.S. dollars):
Year Ended December 31, 2004
Internet
Pay Broadcast and
Television Radio Broadband Corporate Total
Revenues $ 49,931 $ 18,103 $ 100 $ 50 $ 68,184
Operating Income (Loss) 6,571 4,796 (964 ) (4,101 ) 6,302
Net Income (Loss) 5,978 5,134 (661 ) (3,761 ) 6,690
Cash Flows from Operating Activities 1,825 808 123 864 3,620
Cash Flows from Investing Activities (3,767 ) 50 (3 ) (1,960 ) (5,680 )
Cash Flows from Financing Activities $ (1,455 ) $ (507 ) $ (144 ) $ 3,691 $ 1,585
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Year Ended December 31, 2003
Internet
Pay Broadcast and
Television Radio Broadband Corporate Total
Revenues $ 48,215 $ 14,601 $ 178 $ - $ 62,994
Operating Income (Loss) 7,266 4,731 (1,898 ) (5,032 ) 5,067
Net Income (Loss) 13,289 2,953 (1,685 ) (6,220 ) 8,337
Cash Flows from Operating Activities 5,675 5,855 (1,364 ) 2,865 13,031
Cash Flows from Investing Activities (1,322 ) (378 ) 242 (3,890 ) (5,348 )
Cash Flows from Financing Activities $ (1,313 ) $ (4,853 ) $ - $ (1,398 ) $ (7,564 )
Year Ended December 31, 2002
Internet
Pay Broadcast and
Television Radio Broadband Corporate Total
Revenues $ 46,192 $ 13,582 $ 190 $ - $ 59,964
Operating Income (Loss) 9,303 1,064 (7,684 ) (2,775 ) (92 )
Net Income (Loss) (116,363 ) (7,331 ) (13,549 ) (1,186 ) (138,429 )
Cash Flows from Operating Activities (214 ) 4,808 929 (4,075 ) 1,448
Cash Flows from Investing Activities 8,322 (340 ) (3,128 ) (330 ) 4,524
Cash Flows from Financing Activities $ (2,178 ) $ (4,747 ) $ (1,934 ) $ (3,881 ) $ (12,740 )
Business Strategy
Our vision is to provide high-quality branded content to serve the tastes
and needs of our target audience. We tailor multi-media programming to the Ibero
American market by creating original content, as well as by dubbing and
subtitling third party content into Spanish and Portuguese, while remaining
sensitive to local preferences. We seek to fill the need for a pan-regional
alternative that can create, gather, package and deliver differentiated content
across multiple media platforms. The key elements of our strategy include the
following:
• Increase Subscription Revenues from a Portfolio of Leading Pay Television
Brands. We hold a number of well-known pay television brands under "one
roof". We expect to increase subscriber-based revenues by expanding
distribution of our channels to pay television system operators that we do
not reach today, and by benefiting from anticipated growth in pay television
subscribers in Ibero America.
• Create Significant Operating Benefits. We endeavor to combine our product
offerings to create operating benefits across all of our businesses,
including:
• cross-promotion across multiple channels, thereby increasing brand
awareness while driving audience growth and reducing marketing
expenditures; and
• aggregation of management expertise in traditional and new media to create
innovative and interactive content and to expand our brands across all
media.
• Develop Additional Revenue Streams. We intend to capitalize on our diverse
media assets to develop additional sources of revenue, including, among
others, the sale or license of content through existing and new media, such
as broadband.
• Exploit Market Opportunities for Growth Through Strategic Alliances. Our
strategy includes geographic expansion of our existing pay television
business, as well as increasing penetration in those geographic markets in
which we currently operate, through strategic alliances and opportunistic
acquisitions of channels targeting specific genres, which compliment our
channel offerings.
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• Leverage Strategic Relationships. We believe that our relationships with the
Cisneros Group and Hicks Muse, our principal shareholders, provide us with
competitive advantages. We draw upon the relationships, regional expertise
and extensive media assets of our principal shareholders to enhance our
content offerings and facilitate access to distribution and technology
platforms.
PAY TELEVISION BUSINESS
Our pay television business includes 13 pay television channels distributed
throughout various Ibero American countries. We have a strong presence in Latin
America with premium and pay-per-view services through our Playboy TV Latin
America joint venture, as well as in Argentina and the rest of the southern
portion of South America with the basic channels, which is commonly called the
"Southern Cone".
Our channels are tailored to Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking television
viewers throughout Ibero America and offer a diverse mix of programming,
including movies, music videos, local news, documentaries, fashion, family
series and adult entertainment on a basic, premium or pay-per-view basis.
Content for local, regional and international markets, is either originally
produced in, dubbed or subtitled into Spanish or Portuguese.
At December 31, 2004, we wholly-owned seven of the channels that we
distributed: Space; I.Sat; Retro (formerly known as Uniseries); Infinito; FTV;
MuchMusic and HTV. We control the programming content of our wholly-owned
channels. In addition to Venus (a partially owned channel), we distribute two
other channels in Ibero America through our Playboy TV Latin America joint
venture, the Playboy TV channel and the Spice Live channel. In June 2004,
through our Playboy TV Latin America joint venture, we launched a new adult
pay-per-view service called "G Channel." In May 2005, Playboy TV Latin America
entered into an exclusive agreement with Private Media Group to operate and
distribute the Private channel and to offer it as part of our adult channels
bouquet in the market. We also have exclusive distribution rights throughout
certain parts of Ibero America with respect to certain channels, including
Crónica TV, a channel owned by Estrella Satelital S.A., in the Southern Cone;
Venevision Continental (solely with respect to distribution to pay television
providers other than DIRECTV Latin America), a channel owned by the Cisneros
Group, in the Latin America region; and Utilisima Satelital, a channel owned by
HediFam, S.A. in Latin America. Our 31% owned joint venture, DMX MUSIC Latin
America, offers digital music channels throughout Latin America. Digital Latin
America, LLC, a company in which we have a 48% equity investment, offers a
digital solution cable system by operating a digital network through satellite
transmission.
Wholly Owned Basic Tier Channels
Film Channels
Space offers 24 hours of a varied selection of Hollywood movies and
blockbusters from the rest of the world, among a varied programming line-up for
the entire family in the Southern Cone. Programming includes thematic blocks
featuring horror movies, Italian films, Spanish productions, action movies,
major boxing events and artistic specials. With 200 different films aired every
month, Space offers its audience an important number of movies with the majority
dubbed into Spanish. Space's live boxing events have often set ratings records
in Argentina, frequently surpassing broadcast television.
I.Sat specializes in current and alternative entertainment designed
especially for the 18-35 year old urban market. I.Sat presents contemporary
movies, series, music, documentaries and original productions. I.Sat offers its
viewers in the Southern Cone not only recent Hollywood blockbusters, but also
independent films and movies popular with the 18-35 year old urban market. In
addition, all genres of international music are featured including videos and
specials showcasing contemporary music artists from all over the world.
Retro (formerly known as Uniseries) specializes in classic films and series
focused on genres such as westerns, gladiators, cult horror, and science fiction
of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Retro also showcases such milestone TV series as
Mission Impossible, The Untouchables, Combat, The Fugitive and others.
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Entertainment
Infinito offers programming based on themes of the new millennium. Infinito
is dedicated to the unknown, the occult and the unexpected and presents an
alternative to traditional documentary channels. Bringing viewers closer to the
unknown, Infinito features documentaries, interviews, talk shows, series and
news. Infinito is available throughout Latin America.
FTV/ Fashion TV is a global television network entirely dedicated to the
fashion world. Since November 2001, we have controlled the distribution and
advertising sales rights for Latin America of FTV. Under an agreement with FTV
Paris, which expires in December 2005, we develop original content featuring
local celebrities and brands to customize the channel to the preferences of the
local markets. FTV is a 24-hour international television channel targeting
fashion enthusiasts around the world. FTV's programming highlights include Focus
On..., a daily show covering the regional fashion scene; Fashion Clips, Haute
Couture Paris, covering fashion events from Paris, Rome and Milan; and major
fashion events from Sao Paulo, New York and Buenos Aires.
Music Channels
MuchMusic Argentina is a channel that integrates music, interactivity and
humor. MuchMusic Argentina targets the 12-24 and 25-34 age brackets and combines
live productions and localized content with local production packaging, and
international flair through a wide spectrum of styles: Rock, Pop, Latin Music,
Dance, Hard Core and other new music trends. MuchMusic also offers original
non-musical content developed under the same "localist" programming philosophy.
We license the MuchMusic brand and certain content from CHUM Limited, a Canadian
company and content provider. In addition, we have the right to develop the
MuchMusic television service in Latin America and Ibero America and we
distribute the MuchMusic Argentina channel pan-regionally on DirectTV Latin
America.
HTV is a vehicle of Latin culture and offers a diverse music mix overcoming
geographic barriers and language. Taking advantage of the popularity for all
things Latin and Latin music, HTV has established a following in Latin America
and the U.S. Hispanic market. HTV programming covers a spectrum of Latin
American music genres, including pop, Latin rock, tropical, hip-hop, reggae and
ballads. HTV also features current popular crossover hits, introduced by the
artists themselves. HTV plays uninterrupted Spanish and Portuguese-language
music without "VJ's" or other non-musical programming.
Partially Owned Channels - Adult
Playboy TV Network and Spice Live Network are owned, operated and
distributed throughout Latin America, Spain and Portugal by Playboy TV Latin
America. Playboy TV Latin America is a joint venture that was created in 1996
between a member of the Cisneros Group and an affiliate of Playboy Enterprises,
Inc. Today, a subsidiary of Claxson owns 81% of Playboy TV Latin America, while
an affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. owns the remaining 19%. Playboy TV
Latin America offers high quality adult entertainment, which generally can be
purchased monthly as a premium channel or on a pay-per-view basis. A portion of
Playboy TV Latin America's programming is tailored to the Ibero American market
and is customized according to regional preferences.
Venus is a premium and pay per view adult content channel that we launched
in 1994 and targeted specifically to the Latin American audience. Venus offers
themed features, specials and weekly shows to demanding subscribers. Venus
brings a wide variety of adult genres and high quality programming, including
original productions and a sophisticated on-air look. Venus was transferred to
the Playboy TV Latin America joint venture, as part of the overall restructuring
of the relationship with Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
G Channel is an adult content pay-per-view channel targeted specifically to
gay males featuring premium films and features containing gay male themes.
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Private is a premium adult channel with hardcore, high quality features and
productions offering exclusive content under the Private brand, an adult film
producer. Its programming is comprised of a rotating digital library of 500
original films produced by the Private Media Group.
Distributed Channels
Crónica TV is a third party channel owned and produced by Estrella Satelital
S.A. We are the exclusive sales agent for Crónica TV programming in the Southern
Cone. Crónica TV is a 24-hour live news channel, delivering local and
international news coverage that is popular, in large part, for its live
coverage of events in Argentina. Crónica TV is one of the leading news channels
in Argentina.
Venevision Continental, which is owned by the Cisneros Group, is a general
entertainment channel with family programming that integrates highly rated shows
from the main Spanish-speaking television broadcasters. Venevision Continental's
programming includes soap operas, magazine and talk shows, variety shows,
comedy, children's programming, beauty contests and news. Venevision Continental
is distributed pan-regionally. We represent Venevision Continental for sales to
cable operators throughout Latin America.
Utilisima Satelital, which is a third party channel owned by HediFam S.A.,
is designed by and targeted to today's woman, and is the market leader in its
category in Argentina. Utilisima combines a mix of content and services in an
educational, entertaining format with subjects such as arts and crafts, cooking,
beauty, quality of life, and home decor. Utilisima broadcasts 10 daily original
hours and 3,000 premiere shows a year through 40 programs with original content.
Utilisima was launched in 1996 and we commenced pan-regional and U.S. Hispanic
distribution for Utilisima on January 1, 2004.
Production Operations
Claxson Playout Inc., formerly known as The Kitchen, Inc., offers network
playout and post production services. Claxson Playout Inc. offers broadcast
services to customers in Miami. Prior to May 2005, Claxson Playout Inc. also
provided language conversion and international master recording traffic
services. As a result of the weak performance of this division in the past, and
our increased focus on our channel business, we sold our language conversion and
international master recording traffic operations in Miami along with The
Kitchen trade name in May 2005.
In Jaus is our creative division in charge of broadcast design (both video
and audio) as well as the production services for promotional spots, feature
films and made for TV movies, and documentaries or video clips. The original
production of documentaries and other programs is also managed by In Jaus , as
well as the distribution and sale of these programs and all proprietary programs
and television formats to third parties. During the year 2004, In Jaus provided
services to external clients, generating revenues of U.S.$0.2 million as well as
U.S.$0.3 million in content sales.
Pay Television Distribution
As of December 31, 2004, our channels were distributed in 23 countries in
Ibero America and reached approximately 53.3 million basic channel subscribers
in over 11.7 million pay television households. We believe that our ability to
provide a diversified package of branded channels to pay television operators is
a favorable alternative to individual channels that offer a more limited menu of
programming choices. We have distribution agreements with pay television
operators that distribute our channels in each of our markets.
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The following table identifies the number of subscribers for each of our
basic channels as of December 31, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The total number of
subscribers for each channel in 2002 was strongly affected by a decrease of
approximately 25% in the total subscribers in Argentina as a result of the
economic situation during 2002.
Total Number of Subscribers
December 31,
2002 2003 2004
(In thousands)
Basic Package
Space 4,805 4,861 5,336
I. Sat 4,674 4,724 5,194
Retro(1) 3,555 5,005 5,868
Infinito 8,229 8,330 9,266
FTV 3,576 4,055 5,520
MuchMusic 4,494 4,569 5,245
HTV 5,061 4,947 5,644
Cronica TV(2) 3,997 3,881 4,267
Venevision Continental(2) 998 901 978
Locomotion(3)(4) 5,330 - -
Cl@se(5) 1,718 - -
Utilisima Satelita(6) - - 5,955
Total Basic Channel Subscribers 46,437 41,273 53,273
(1) Retro was known as Uniseries prior to March 2003.
(2) Represents cable subscribers only.
(3) Represented channel.
(4) We sold our 50% interest in Locomotion in May 2002 and ceased providing any
transitional services for the channel in August 2003.
(5) We sold Cl@se in January 2003 and ceased providing sales representation
services to the channel in 2004.
(6) We commenced distributing Utilisima Satelital on January 1, 2004.
Pay Television Revenue Sources
Like most providers of pay television content, we derive substantially all
of our pay television revenues from subscriber-based fees and advertising
revenue. Subscriber-based revenues currently are the primary source of revenue
for our pay television business, accounting for 80% of total pay television net
revenue in the year ended December 31, 2004 and 81% in the year ended
December 31, 2003. Advertising accounted for 11% of total pay television net
revenue in the year ended December 31, 2004 and 8% in the year ended
December 31, 2003. In addition, we derived 9% of total pay television net
revenue in the year ended December 31, 2004 and 11% in the year ended
December 31, 2003 from other sources, including production services, management
and other fees for services we provide to third parties.
Subscriber-Based Fees. We charge pay television operators either a flat or
per-subscriber fee for the right to broadcast our channels through their
networks. Pricing for basic channels typically involves a lump sum monthly
payment per channel or package of channels or fixed price per subscriber.
Generally, we enter into long-term distribution agreements with an average term
of approximately three years. For premium and other pay-per-view channels, we
determine a retail price in each market and receive a percentage of the revenues
generated from subscribers of those channels.
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Our channels are distributed by more than 1,100 pay television operators in
Ibero America. These operators include, among others, DIRECTV Latin America,
CableVisión (Argentina), Multicanal (Argentina), Digital Plus (Spain), Sky Latin
America, Net Brasil (Brazil), Cablevisión (Mexico), VTR (Chile) and Intercable
(Venezuela). Our five largest pay television distributors accounted for 43% of
total pay television net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2004, and
DIRECTV Latin America, our largest pay television distributor, accounted for 27%
of total pay television revenues for the year ended December 31, 2004. See
Item 3D "Risk Factors - We depend on a limited number of pay television system
operators for a significant portion of our revenues and the loss of any of our
major pay television system operators or renegotiation of existing contractual
terms could significantly reduce our revenues."
Advertising Revenue. We derive revenues from the sale of advertising on our
pay television channels to advertisers and agencies. We believe that our
geographic reach enables us to pursue local, pan-regional and global advertising
budgets. We offer advertisers pan-regional reach, local focus and the
opportunity to incorporate direct marketing and promotional events to create
multimedia campaigns. We believe that our channels' spectrum of highly-rated
programming appeals to advertisers that want to target audiences in specific
demographic and other focused groups. We seek to offer advertisers maximum value
for their advertising expenditures and have implemented a strategy that provides
customized options, including the following: on-air spots; program sponsorships;
on-air promotions; product integration; customized commercials; special events;
and interactive elements.
For the year ended December 31, 2004, our channels sold advertising to 273
advertisers. In the year ended December 31, 2004, our top ten advertisers
accounted for approximately 49% of our pay television advertising revenues. Our
strongest advertising sales were made for the Space channel, which accounted for
33% of pay television advertising revenue in the year ended December 31, 2004.
Production Revenue. We derive other revenues from services that we provide
to pay television businesses we partially own and to certain third parties.
These revenues include playback, library, satellite space, dubbing, subtitling,
creative services, and programming from our partner channels as well as from
independent third parties and fees for back office and other services provided
to these joint ventures.
Marketing
We focus our marketing efforts on increasing pay television operator
interest, subscriber levels and brand awareness, maintaining and improving the
ratings of our channels, and creating promotional opportunities that are
attractive to our target audiences, distributors and advertisers. We conduct
multimedia marketing campaigns designed to promote audience loyalty and support
the programming of our channels. These campaigns generally combine on-air and
off-air events with traditional print, radio and billboard advertising targeted
to current and potential viewers. Our channels also have promotional websites
that allow our subscribers to learn more about our programming and off-air
events, while providing sponsors and advertisers with another medium for
interacting with subscribers.
Our marketing staff works closely with our other departments, including
advertising sales, affiliates sales, creative, programming and communications,
to coordinate and implement activities that achieve its marketing goals. For
example, our marketing, affiliate and advertising sales departments work closely
together to create marketing concepts and off-air promotional events that appeal
to its advertisers and system operators and reinforce a brand's key elements. In
addition, our marketing staff works with the programming and creative
departments to develop strategic programming concepts that strengthen the
uniqueness of a channel's identity, increase viewership and create sponsorship
opportunities. We believe that our marketing initiatives achieve their primary
goals of growing our brands, retaining viewer loyalty, increasing the
distribution of our channels, creating innovative promotional opportunities for
their advertisers and affiliates and maintaining or improving ratings and
audience.
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Programming Sources - Basic channels
Our programming library includes licensed programming, owned films, original
productions and other programming totaling approximately 17,400 hours.
Approximately 15,660 hours are currently in our possession and 800 hours are to
be delivered pursuant to contracts with suppliers.
We tailor our pay television programming for the Ibero American audience and
air most of our programming in Spanish or Portuguese. We believe that our
library of customized Spanish-and Portuguese-language programming represents a
valuable asset, because many of our competitors air significantly more of their
programming with subtitles, which we believe is less popular with television
audiences in Ibero America. The availability of an extensive, edited and
ready-to-air programming library permits us to schedule movies and other
programming quickly for inclusion in theme-oriented programming blocks in
response to current events.
Licensed Programming. We have exhibition rights from third-party programmers
totaling approximately 15,100 hours of programming. These rights include
approximately 4,400 films, representing approximately 8,700 hours of
programming, which allows channels such as Space and I.Sat to air programming
with less repetition than many of their competitors. The remaining 6,400 hours
of programming consist of approximately 9,100 television series episodes and
documentaries, allowing Retro and Infinito not to repeat its episodes of any
series or documentary for up to one year. Our exhibition rights also include
sports and music entertainment events.
Our program license agreements generally provide for the non-exclusive right
to exhibit programming within a specified period of time by means of basic pay
television in the Southern Cone, and sometimes provide for options to extend
these rights on a pan-regional basis throughout Latin America. In the case of
each of Infinito, FTV and Retro, our pan-regional channels, we obtain exhibition
rights on a pan-regional basis throughout Latin America.
We have entered into programming agreements with key providers of
high-quality programming, including Sony Pictures Corp., Warner, CHUM Limited,
and FTV Paris. We believe that our relationships with pay television programming
suppliers are good.
Owned Programming. We own approximately 535 classic Argentine films,
totaling approximately 700 programming hours, including the San Miguel film
library and films from the Lumiton film library that we purchased. Many of these
films date from the golden age of Argentine filmmaking in the 1940s and 1950s.
We own a substantial amount of programming originally produced for the
channels, including approximately 1,500 hours of original programming recently
produced for Infinito and Fashion TV, as well as boxing and film commentaries
produced to air on Space and concert and film commentaries produced for
MuchMusic Argentina and I.Sat. We also own certain brief lead-in programming
that we produce relating to much of our film library and other interstitial
programming material.
In addition to owned and licensed programs, we have a limited amount of
first-run rights relating to boxing matches and other special events, such as
music concerts, exclusive interviews and specials featuring music artists.
Playboy TV Latin America Joint Venture
Playboy TV Latin America, a joint venture 81% owned by us and 19% owned by
an affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc., owns, operates and distributes
Playboy TV Network, Spice Live and the Venus channel throughout Latin America,
Spain, and Portugal and the recently launched G Channel as a pay-per-view
service. In 1999, an affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. and an affiliate of
the Cisneros Group created Playboy TV International LLC, a joint venture to own
and operate Playboy TV networks outside of the United States and Canada.
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In December 2002, we negotiated a restructuring of our relationship with
Playboy TV. As a result of the restructuring, we:
• transferred our 80.1% interest in Playboy TV International (outside of Latin
America, Spain and Portugal) to Playboy Enterprises, Inc.;
• contributed the Venus channel to Playboy TV Latin America;
• transferred all of its preferred shares of Playboy.com, Inc. to Playboy
Enterprises, Inc;
• were released from our capital commitments to Playboy TV International; and
• revised the terms for our continued relationship in Latin America, Spain and
Portugal by retaining through a wholly-owned subsidiary an 81% interest in
Playboy TV Latin America and now controlling the management of this joint
venture.
As a result of the restructuring, we began to consolidate the Playboy TV
Latin America operations into our pay television division, in December 2002.
Under the existing Playboy TV Latin America joint venture, Playboy Enterprises
has an option to buy up to 49.9% of the joint venture at any time prior to
December 2012. In addition, Playboy Enterprises has an option to buy the
remaining 50.1% of the joint venture during the year 2008, provided that, the
49.9% option has been exercised. Both options are at the fair market value at
the time of exercise. Consequently, we now operate all adult content operations
(which includes the Playboy TV, Spice Live and Venus channels) under the Playboy
TV Latin America joint venture. An affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. will
distribute the Playboy TV Latin America programs in the U.S. Hispanic market for
a 20% distribution fee to our joint venture.
As part of the restructuring, an affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
agreed to exclusively license to Playboy TV Latin America its entire Playboy TV
television programming library which was in existence as of March 31, 2002. The
library consisted of approximately 12,500 hours of Playboy original programming,
licensed movies, and other shows. The program supply agreement also requires an
affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to license exclusively all new programs
produced to Playboy TV Latin America each year, subject to a certain minimum
number of program hours. In exchange for these rights, Playboy TV Latin America
must pay an affiliate of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. 17.5% of the net revenues
from the distribution of these programs, with a guaranteed annual minimum of
U.S. $4.2 million, subject to annual increases equal to the consumer price
index.
DMX MUSIC Latin America
In May 2002, we completed a business combination transaction with DMX MUSIC
whereby DMX MUSIC contributed to our joint venture all its existing affiliation
agreements with cable and DTH operators in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic
market and cash in the amount of U.S.$0.7 million, in exchange for an additional
19% of the equity interests in the joint venture. After the business
combination, the venture re-branded its services as DMX MUSIC Latin America and
expanded its channel offerings. We now own 31% of DMX MUSIC Latin America. DMX
MUSIC Latin America also intends to develop and deliver music services to retail
and commercial establishments in Latin America.
Digital Latin America
Digital Latin America, LLC offers a digital equipment and programming
solution to cable companies by operating a digital network through satellite
transmission, including an interactive programming guide, digital music
offerings and pay-per-view Hollywood movies. Digital Latin America reached
224,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2004. On October 29, 2004 Claxson
purchased a 48% equity interest in DLA Holdings, Inc., the newly formed holding
company of Digital Latin America. Claxson obtained its equity interest in DLA
Holdings in exchange for U.S.$3.4 million in funds and an agreement to provide
services of up to an aggregate of U.S.$3.0 million (including satellite space,
playout of Digital Latin America's channels and back-office support) over three
years. Concurrently with this transaction, Hicks Muse purchased 830,259
newly-issued Class A Common Shares of Claxson. Hicks Muse owns 38% of the
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equity interests of DLA Holdings. An affiliate of Motorola owns the other equity
interests of DLA Holdings.
BROADCAST RADIO BUSINESS
We wholly own and operate two integrated broadcast radio businesses:
Iberoamerican Radio Chile, S.A., which we refer to herein as "Radio Chile"; and
Radio Sarandi. Radio Chile is the radio network with the largest audience in
Chile, and we operate two radio stations owned by Sarandi Communications, S.A.
in Uruguay, together with a third station that we lease from a third party.
Market Overview
Our radio broadcast business is presently concentrated in Chile. The
advertising market in Chile is seasonal, with advertising expenditures
increasing throughout the year and peaking in the fourth quarter when consumer
expenditures reach their peak.
Radio Chile owns and/or operates eight centrally programmed radio networks,
namely Pudahuel FM, Rock & Pop, Corazón, FM Dos, Concierto, Futuro, FM Hit , and
Imagina , five of which were among the top ten ranked radio networks during 2004
in Santiago, which represents 39% of the national population and 58% of Chile's
purchasing power. The Radio Chile networks deploy a variety of programming
formats designed to increase Radio Chile's market share and to present a wide
range of options to advertisers. We believe that our variety of programming
formats makes Radio Chile less susceptible to changes in listening preferences
than networks focused on a single segment.
The following table identifies the formats and target audiences of the radio
networks.
Radio Network Format
Pudahuel FM News, Latin music and talk show formats targeted to women 25
to 59 years old.
Corazón Interactive, tropical music format targeted to listeners 25 to
59 years old.
Rock & Pop Rock music and talk show format targeted to listeners 15 to
24 years old.
FM Dos Romantic music format in Spanish (70%) and English (30%)
targeted to women 20 to 34 years old.
FM Hit Top 40 music format targeted to listeners 15 to 19 years old.
Futuro Classic rock format targeting men 25 to 44 years old. Futuro
complements Concierto in Santiago, where the two stations
occupy the number one and two spots in their segment.
Imagina Romantic music format targeted to women 25 to 59 years old.
Concierto Adult contemporary music format in English (70%) and Spanish
(30%), targeting men and women 25 to 44 years old.
Radio Chile's eight radio networks had a combined 36.4% audience share in
the Santiago market for the period from January through December 2004. The
following table presents the rank and audience share in Santiago for each Radio
Chile radio network for the periods indicated.
2004 Rank 2003 Rank
FM Dos 6.1 1 5.4 5
Pudahuel FM 5.6 3 6.3 1
Corazón 5.5 4 5.8 3
Rock & Pop 4.6 7 4.8 7
FM Hit 4.3 9 4.3 10
Futuro 4.0 12 4.1 11
Imagina 3.6 13 2.5 19
Concierto 2.7 16 2.7 15
Total audience share 36.4 % 35.9 %
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Source: Search Marketing Reports
Radio Chile is a distant leader in audience share in Santiago, compared to
the other radio groups that operate more than one network. The Garcia Reyes
Group captures a 7% audience share with the operation of two networks; the
Consorcio Radial de Chile (PRISA Group) obtains 9% audience share operating four
networks; and the Bezanilla Group has an 8% audience share operating three
networks.
Radio Chile's networks reach over 90% of Chile's population in 28 cities
through 142 FM concessions. Our three largest networks reach over 90% of the
total population, two reach over 70% of the total population, and the rest reach
between 40% and 70% of the total population depending on the concentration of
the target market of each network. Radio Chile had U.S.$13.7 and
U.S.$16.7 million in revenue in 2003 and 2004, respectively, which accounted for
an estimated 35% and 37% of the Chilean radio advertising market in 2003 and
2004, respectively.
Radio Sarandi On September 21, 2001, our Uruguayan subsidiary executed a
five-year lease and co-management agreement for the operation of three radio
stations owned by Sarandi Communications, S.A: AM 690 (Sarandi), AM 890 (Sport),
and FM 91.9 (Music One, today known as Radio Disney). Our chairman of the board
and chief executive officer, Roberto Vivo-Chaneton and one of the beneficial
owners of our Class F common shares, Guillermo Liberman (the owner of SLI.com),
each owns a 25% equity interest in Sarandi. See Item 7B. "Related Party
Transactions." We coordinate the programming and marketing strategy and manage
the advertising sales and other operational matters of AM Sarandi and operate
the Radio Disney station pursuant to a franchise agreement with an affiliate of
Disney, while we sub-lease the AM Sport station to a third party. We have also
negotiated an option with Sarandi, (see Item 7B. "Related Party Transactions")
to acquire the company holding the Sarandi radio concession. Should we choose to
exercise the option, the option price may be paid, at our election, in cash
and/or our Class A common shares, which will be valued at the market price of
the shares at the time of exercise and 50% of all amounts previously paid by us
in lease monthly payments will be applied towards the option payment. We
believe, that the proposed structure for the lease transaction complies with
Uruguayan laws and regulations that prohibit foreign (i.e., non-Uruguayan)
ownership of broadcasting transmission licenses. However, no Uruguay regulatory
authority has approved the terms and conditions of this agreement. In June, 2004
we commenced the operation of Radiofutura 91.1 FM station which we lease from a
third party under a five-year contract.
INTERNET AND BROADBAND BUSINESS
We created and launched El Sitio Digital Channel in the fourth quarter of
2001, with the first broadband operator in Argentina, one of the first concrete
efforts in Latin America toward digital-age content production specifically
developed for broadband. El Sitio Digital Channel offers features organized
along three axes: video and audio streaming and pay per view; 2D and 3D
multiplayer games; and a community engine that allows users to personalize their
content. This interphase was specially designed to run in broadband platforms
such as cable modem, ADSL, wireless and satellite (DirectPC). In addition, for a
limited time, we are offering users the option to acquire content by downloading
it via a modern e-license system.
Currently El Sitio Digital Channel is offering through Argentinean and
Brazilian multiple system operators and telecommunication networks a wide range
of content tailored to the interests of its target audience on a video-on-demand
basis (e.g., family, news, sports and adult content) with own and third party
brands such as Reuters, Foxsport, Playboy and Utilisima. El Sitio Digital
Channel includes more than 2000 digitized videos - in AVH and DVD quality -
Venus and Playboy TV clips for adults, Infinito documentaries, current events
and information, MuchMusic music, its own radio, channels to upload personal
videos and audio files, video tutorials and 2D community tools.
During 2004 we were able to advance the development of a broadband and
narrowband platform to sell originally produced and third party content, as well
as improve our technology with respect to the digitalization of our content. In
September 2004, we entered into an agreement with Microsoft Corporation pursuant
to which the Windows Media Player 10 incorporates El Sitio Digital Channel's
platform to
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distribute digital content in Latin America. In October 2004, we entered into an
agreement with Brazil Telecom for the license of our El Sitio Digital Channel
broadband platform and content to be distributed throughout Brazil Telecom's
client network. We were also able to continue to update and consolidate the El
Sitio Digital Channel platform, and renew our relationship with Fibertel, a
broadband provider in Argentina.
Intellectual Property and Proprietary Rights
Some companies, including other participants in the media industry, use
and/or may use trademarks or service marks in English or other languages which,
when translated, are similar to certain of our core marks. This usage may hinder
our ability to build a unique brand identity and may lead to trademark disputes.
If we lose the right to use a trademark or service mark, we may be forced to
adopt a new mark which would result in the loss of substantial resources and
brand identity. In any event, even if successful, litigating a trademark dispute
would result in expenditures and diversion of executives' time. Any inability to
protect, enforce or use our trademarks, service marks or other intellectual
property may have a material adverse effect on us.
We also depend upon technology licensed from third parties for chat,
homepage, search and related web services. Any dispute with a licensor of the
technology may result in El Sitio's inability to continue to use that
technology. Additionally, there may be patents issued or pending that are held
by third parties and that cover significant parts of the technology, products,
business methods or services used to conduct our business. We cannot be certain
that its technology, products, business methods or services do not or will not
infringe upon valid patents or other intellectual property rights held by third
parties. If a third party alleges infringement, we may be forced to take a
license, which we may not be able to obtain on commercially reasonable terms. We
may also incur substantial expenses in defending against third-party
infringement claims, regardless of the merit of those claims.
REGULATION
Regulation of the Pay Television Industry in Latin America
In general, many of the Latin American markets in which we operate do not
have specific pay television laws. As a result, many of the old broadcast laws
are applied to the pay television industry. The scope of broadcast regulation
varies from country to country, although in many significant respects a similar
approach is taken across all of the markets in which we operate. For example,
broadcast regulations in most of our markets require cable and direct-to-home
system operators to obtain licenses or concessions from the applicable domestic
authority. In addition, most countries have regulations which set certain
minimum standards regarding programming content, prescribe minimum standards for
the content and scheduling of television advertisements and provide that a
certain portion of the programming carried by the operators be produced
domestically.
The content regulations concerning programming in the countries in which we
operate often prohibit material which contains excessive violence and
pornography and usually provide a restricted exhibition schedule for adult-rated
content and other material that is deemed inappropriate for children or the
population at large. The general scheme of regulations governing the content of
television advertising focuses on prohibiting fraudulent and misleading
advertising. Many countries also restrict television advertising of alcohol and
tobacco products. Generally, the domestic broadcasting licensing authorities
have the responsibility for monitoring and enforcing compliance with
broadcasting and programming content regulations; however, the level of
enforcement varies widely among the different countries in which we operate.
With the exception of Argentina, we are a foreign programmer of pay
television channels in every market in which our pay television channels
operate. As a foreign programmer, we are not directly subject to the
broadcasting and content laws of the foreign countries where we operate.
However, the local cable and direct-to-home system operators that distribute
foreign programming, including our pay television channels, are subject to local
broadcasting and content regulations and are therefore responsible for
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complying with any local programming requirements and advertising laws.
Consequently, many of our contracts with our cable and direct-to-home
distributors require that our programming comply with domestic programming
content and advertising regulations, and require us to indemnify our
distributors should they suffer damages arising from our noncompliance with such
domestic programming and advertising regulations. In December 2004, the
Venezuelan government enacted a new law regulating the content and advertising
for television and radio, including pay television. This new law which is called
the Radio and Television Social Responsibility Law and became effective on
June 8, 2005, imposes significant new restrictions on advertising over
television networks in Venezuela, and contains onerous penalties and fines for
the distributors in case of noncompliance. As a result, our clients in Venezuela
have requested that we comply with the regulations, including those restrictions
relating to the advertisement of alcoholic beverages, and have advised us that
our failure to comply with such new regulations will result in a breach of our
existing agreements and require us to indemnify them for any resulting damages.
Since most of our channels are distributed through one feed (i.e., the same
content and advertising is used in all regions), and certain of our channels
have sponsorships or other forms of indirect advertisement of alcoholic
beverages, our advertising revenues may be negatively affected, or our operating
costs could increase should we be required to separate the feeds in order to
allow different territories to air different advertising.
There is a bill pending in the Argentine Senate that would require all
programming broadcast through pay television in Argentina to be dubbed into
Spanish. The Argentine House of Representatives has already approved the bill. A
substantial part of our programming (especially the film channels distributed in
the Southern cone and our adult channels) is subtitled. Consequently, if this
bill were to become effective it would materially increase our programming
costs.
During 2003, the Federal Broadcast Commission in Argentina enacted a
resolution which was scheduled to become effective in April 2004 prohibiting
commercial breaks during movie broadcasts on pay television. The Argentine
Chamber of Satellite Programmers appealed the resolution and its application was
suspended until December 2004. The Federal Broadcast Commission extended the
suspension pending issuance of an opinion by the Argentine Attorney General
which has not yet been issued. Currently, under the interim rules of the
Argentine Chamber of Satellite Programmers, we may air up to three commercial
breaks during any movie broadcast. If the resolution or a similar law becomes
effective our advertising revenues from our film channels will be negatively
affected.
Several Latin American countries began the process of deregulation of their
telecommunications industries during 2001. Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador
and Mexico are all opening their telecommunications markets to private
competition. While deregulation will not immediately and directly affect the pay
television industry, the effects of deregulation, including increased
competition, lowered telephone tariffs and connection rates and increased
investments in new technologies, could lead to increased opportunities for
content distribution and higher Internet and multi-channel penetration rates.
Regulation of the Brazilian Pay Television Industry
During 2002 the Brazilian government enacted and amended various regulations
affecting the movie theater, home video and pay television industries. With
respect to the Brazilian pay television industry, the regulations require cable
and other pay television operators in Brazil to withhold 11% of the payments
made to foreign programming providers, unless the programming providers elect to
reinvest 3% of the revenues generated in Brazil in local productions. The
programming provider must register before the National Film Agency (ANCINE) and
the local cable operator must deposit such 3% in a bank account in Banco do
Brazil. The foreign programming provider has 270 days to utilize such deposited
funds for local production projects after which time any unused funds may be
utilized by ANCINE.
We have finalized the registration with ANCINE and the opening of the bank
account in Banco do Brazil and our Brazilian pay television clients are
withholding the required 3% of payments. Since its inception in early 2002,
these regulations have undergone many modifications and further modifications in
the future remain possible. If the regulations are further modified, it may
affect our business.
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Regulation of the Chilean Broadcast Radio Industry
The radio broadcast industry in Chile is regulated by the Subsecretariat of
Telecommunications, which is known as "SUBTEL", which is overseen by the
Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications. Legislation
regarding radio in Chile is contained in the 1982 General Telecommunications
Law, as amended. Broadcast radio licenses are currently awarded for 25-year
terms.
A Chilean law, published on June 4, 2001, includes provisions that may be
relevant to the ongoing operations of our Chilean broadcast radio businesses.
The law provides that any change in ownership or control of a radio business
concession is subject to approval of the Chilean anti-trust authorities who must
issue a report regarding the impact on the information and news market of the
change in control. If this report is not issued within 30 days from the filing
of the application it will be deemed that the authorities have no objections.
This law also provides that radio broadcasting concessions may only be granted
or transferred to entities that have more than 10% non-Chilean ownership if in
the country of origin of the foreign nationals, Chilean nationals are granted
similar rights. This provision may affect the manner in which Claxson and its
affiliates conduct its broadcast radio business in Chile, including the renewal
of the existing concession or acquisition of new ones.
COMPETITION
The media and entertainment business is highly competitive. Each of our pay
television, broadcast television and radio businesses competes against companies
operating in these and other media segments. For example, our pay television
business faces competition from other pay television operators as well as
Internet companies, broadcast networks, print media and other forms of
entertainment.
Within the pay television industry, our channels compete with programming
from AOL Time Warner, Viacom, Liberty Media, Disney, Globo and Televisa, among
others. We compete with their channels for carriage on cable and satellite
systems that have limited capacity. We also compete with these channels for
viewers and advertising dollars based upon quality of programming, number of
subscribers, ratings and subscriber demographics.
Our broadcast radio business in Chile competes with national and regional
broadcasters for audience share and advertising revenues primarily on the basis
of program content that appeals to a particular target demographic audience.
Radio Chile's main competitors are the Garcia Reyes Group, the Consorcio Radial
de Chile (Prisa Group) and the Bezanilla Group, each of which have established
significant audience share.
Many companies provide websites and services targeted to Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking audiences. All of these companies compete with our websites
for user traffic and advertising dollars. Competition for users and advertisers
is intense and there are no substantial barriers to entry in this market. We
also compete with providers of content and services over the Internet, including
web directories, portals, search engines, content sites, Internet service
providers and sites maintained by government and educational institutions.
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C. Organizational Structure
The following chart presents our current operational structure. The chart
omits certain intermediate holding companies. For purposes of this chart, names
in italics are brand names.
[[Image Removed: (FLOW GRAPH)]]
(1) Playback and post-production facility.
(2) Operated through lease and co-management agreement.
D. Property, Plant and Equipment
Properties
A description of the location and use and of our principal offices and
facilities is set forth below.
Pay Television Facilities
Our U.S. headquarters are located at 1550 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami,
Florida. This facility occupies approximately 25,600 square feet of leased
space.
Our principal executive offices and headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina
are located at Av. Melian 2752/54 in a 60,000 square foot building that we own,
containing both administrative and production functions, including two
television studios. We also own two additional offices that are located at
Av. Manuel Ugarte 3612/18 and Av. Melian 2760/62. Prior to May 2005, we also
leased approximately 8,000 square feet of warehouse space in Buenos Aires and
approximately 20,000 square feet of office and production space with a street
front television studio for our Much Music channel. As of May 2005, we have
moved the operations of Much Music into our Av. Melian location.
In addition, we lease office space in Mexico, the Bahamas and Brazil to
support sales efforts to cable and direct-to-home operators in certain markets.
Broadcast Radio Facilities
Radio Chile's principal offices are located in Santiago, Chile, where we own
an office building containing approximately 1,600 square meters of office space.
Radio Chile owns additional office space of
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400 square meters in Santiago, Chile and either owns or leases a number of radio
transmission towers throughout Chile.
Radio Sarandi leases office space of approximately 600 square meters in
Montevideo, Uruguay.
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