The rumor was reported in Adweek.Microsoft may not want to part with the stake. NBC could use it as a portal to increase traffic to its media sites.

But, Microsoft has its large MSN.com operation which has a close relationship with MSNBC.com. As Microsoft works to drive traffic to its Bing search engine, MSNBC.com is strategically important.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The top mobile phone advertising platform was the iPhone, with 15% of the market, followed by RIM’s Blackberry Curve with 4.4% and Motorola’s Droid Razr with 4%. When combined with advertising served to tablets, Apple grabbed about 28% of impressions, followed by Samsung with 18%.

As a group, smartphones took 73% of all advertising in the first quarter, up from 62% in the same period a year ago. Tablets, however, took 20% of impressions, up from 15% last year, and now claim nearly 3x the ad impressions for feature phones.

The data comes from a survey by Millennial Media Inc. (NYSE: MM), a mobile ad network that competes with Apple’s iAds and Google’s AdMob.

Millennial also note that of the top 10 devices that display ads, 3 were tablets. A year ago only Apple’s iPad made the top 20. The two additions this year were Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

As tablets attract more buyers, it’s reasonable to expect that their share of the ad market will grow. Recent research from Nielsen indicates that tablets get 24% of all Worldwide Web ad clicks, compared with just 11% for phones. Tablets are more like desktop and laptop computers and users may click on ads because of the more familiar size of the screen. The small screens on smartphones are not as easy to use to find things quickly — and that’s the appeal of smartphones and smartphone apps — to find exactly what a user wants with the least amount of fuss.

This is good news for Apple, of course, and not-so-good news for Google, which pays a hefty price in traffic acquisition costs to maintain its position as the default search engine on OEM smartphones, including iPhones. By one estimate Apple gets 50%-60% of the revenue from a Google search on iOS, whether from an iPhone or an iPad. Google probably does not have to part with quite as much revenue for devices from other makers, but a cut of about 40% would match Google’s reported traffic acquisition costs. Google needs to find a way to hold onto more of its search revenue because its mobile ad network simply can’t make up the lost cash flow.

Paul Ausick

For the full year, Pandora sees revenues up in a range of $420 million to $427 million versus its prior forecast of $410 million to $420 million.  Its non-GAAP loss is now put in a range of -$0.11 to -$0.07 versus a prior range of -$0.16 to -$0.11 per share. Part of Pandora’s growth is due to a larger buildup of its sales force to better compete in advertising.

One issue that Pandora still faces is higher content costs.  As it grows in reach and listening, its expenses rise in a what is effectively a straight line.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is in a potential disarray after a large share sale by CEO Mel Karmazin that may actually help John Malone and Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LMCA) in its quest to take it over while Karmazin is publicly trying to defend the company against Malone’s efforts.

Pandora is up 18% at $12.22 in the pre-open session and this would generate an implied market capitalization rate of $2 billion.  That is valuing Pandora at 4.7-times revenue expectations for 2012.  SIRIUS XM is worth some $7.56 billion in market value, but it trades at only about $2.25-times revenue expectations of $3.37 billion for 2012.  Another difference between these two companies is that SIRIUS XM is profitable and it has a lot of exclusive content that Pandora does not have.

It is hard to think that things might be making a good turn at Pandora due to its cost structure, but that is what the market vote is with real trading and investing dollars this Thursday.

JON C. OGG

Wanda is transforming into a global cinema chain owner with this now culminating two of the world’s largest movie markets.  Wanda is private and most recently had more than $16 billion in annual sales from its commercial development and entertainment operations.  It currently owns some 86 theaters in China which was a total of about 730 movie screens.

So, here is Wanda is getting: 346 multiplex theaters located mostly in North America and a total of just over 5,000 movie screens.  This comes to a value of almost $517,000 per screen or just over $7.5 million per theater on average.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) operates 459 theatres with 5,181 screens in the United States and in the Americas.  It has a market value today of $2.6 billion and shares are up almost 1% at $23.09 against a 52-week range of $17.10 to $24.45.  That value is roughly the same as the AMC deal today.  The value here is almost $502,000 per screen or just over $5.65 million per screen.

Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) recently said that is the largest and most geographically diverse theatre circuit in the United States: 6,580 screens in 522 theatres in 37 states and D.C. as of April 26, 2012.  Shares are up 3.3% at $14.04 against a 52-week range of $11.15 to $14.74 and its market value is listed as $2.16 billion as of now. This value is about $328,000 per screen and about $4.13 million per theater.

Carmike Cinemas Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC) is the baby of the group with a market value of only $262 million.  As of December 31, 2011, it owned, operated, or had an interest in 237 theatres with 2,254 screens located in 35 states. Shares are up 3.4% at $14.79 against a 52-week range of $5.14 to $15.80.  The value here is down at about $116,000 per screen or about %1.1 million per theater.

Whether or not this drives up the price of feature films will only be known through time, and that may depend upon the movie studios more than the actual theaters.  Still, the value of movie screens and movie theaters just went up.

Not bad considering that the lion share of profits for theaters come from selling popcorn, food, fountain drinks, and candy.

JON C. OGG

The company raised $16 billion without taking into consideration the green-shoe or overallotment option for the underwriters.  We compiled a live blog of the matter throughout the day and that has been summarized here below.

The underwriting syndicate was perhaps the largest we have seen yet: Morgan Stanley; J.P. Morgan Securities; Goldman Sachs; Merrill Lynch; Barclays Capital; Allen & Company; Citigroup Global Markets; Credit Suisse Securities; Deutsche Bank Securities; RBC Capital Markets; Wells Fargo Securities; Blaylock Robert Van; BMO Capital Markets; C.L. King & Associates; Cabrera Capital Markets; CastleOak Securities; Cowen and Company; E*TRADE Securities; Itaú BBA USA Securities; Lazard Capital Markets; Lebenthal & Co.; Loop Capital Markets; M.R. Beal & Company; Macquarie Capital; Muriel Siebert & Co.; Oppenheimer & Co.; Pacific Crest Securities; Piper Jaffray & Co.; Raymond James & Associates; Samuel A. Ramirez & Company; Stifel Nicolaus; The Williams Capital Group; and William Blair.

Here are links to some of our earlier coverage:

• How Criminals Use Facebook
• Big Risks to Consider at Facebook’s IPO
• Facebook owning companies now have to fend for themselves
• Facebook share certificates as Collectibles

UPDATE 10:30 AM EST: We’ve been looking at different aspects of the Facebook IPO for the last few days.

UPDATE 11:05 AM EST: Opening delayed nearly half an hour. Expect heavy volume gets the blame.

UPDATE 11:29 AM EST: Still waiting. Opening price started at $45, now down to $42.

UPDATE 11:31 AM EST: Now open – at $42.35.

UPDATE 11:32 AM EST: nasdaq.com overwhelmed with traffic.

UPDATE: 11:33 AM EST: FB trading down slightly at $41.17. Enough. Other things to do for a while.

UPDATE 11:43 AM EST: Shares now bounced off $40 and turned north again.

UPDATE 11:52 AM EST: Less than 30 minutes after the first trade, shares are bouncing around the IPO price of $38.

UPDATE 12:37 PM EST: More than 261 million shares of FB have traded hands in just over an hour.  Share price now at $39.95.

UPDATE 12:55 PM EST: Shares of Zynga halted on IPO delay. More coverage here.

UPDATE 2:27 PM EST: After nearly 3 hours of trading, FB has moved nearly 385 million shares. The price jumped to around $41.70 at one point but has vacillated between $40 and $41 for the last 45 minutes or so.

UPDATE 2:44 PM EST: We have now seen the whole IPO volume trade as 425 million shares have traded hands; last print still up 5.2% at $40.00.

UPDATE 3:08 PM EST: Facebook has now broken an IPO record on share volume after passing the record held by GM with 458 million; FB volume is now 461 million shares.

UPDATE 3:25 PM EST: Shares hit $38.06 and the trading volume is now about 484 million shares.  It is expected that the underwriters will likely offer support to keep this from becoming a busted IPO, but ultimately that depends upon supply and demand.

UPDATE 3:41 PM EST:  Facebook shares were just at $38.00 on the bid with over 1 million shares supporting that bid.  Now shares are at $38.03.  Keep in mind that a $1.00 gain in this stock is $2.73 billion or so in total equity market value.

UPDATE 4:00 CLOSING BELL: Facebook closed at $38.23 on more than 560 million shares.

Today’s filing lists the underwriters initially as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley.  As a reminder, Serafina acquired Intelsat at a value of about $5 billion for the equity value back in 2008.

Here is the company’s own description: “We operate the world’s largest satellite services business, providing a critical layer in the global communications infrastructure. We generate more revenue, operate more satellite capacity, hold more orbital location rights, contract more backlog, serve more commercial customers and deliver services in more countries than any other commercial satellite operator. We provide diversified communications services to the world’s leading media companies, fixed and wireless telecommunications operators, data networking service providers for enterprise and mobile applications, multinational corporations and Internet service providers (“ISPs”). We are also the leading provider of commercial satellite capacity to the U.S. government and other select military organizations and their contractors.”

Intelsat also has one of the largest satellite fleets with its global communications system featuring a fleet of over 50 geosynchronous satellites which covers more than 99% of the world’s populated regions.

As of March 31, 2012, the company’s contracted backlog (expected future revenue under existing customer contracts) was approximately $10.5 billion.  That is said to be more than four times its 2011 annual revenue. For the year ended December 31, 2011, Intelsat generated revenue of $2.6 billion and a net loss of $0.4 billion.

FULL F-1 FILING

JON C. OGG

The underwriting syndicate was perhaps the largest we have seen yet: Morgan Stanley; J.P. Morgan Securities; Goldman Sachs; Merrill Lynch; Barclays Capital; Allen & Company; Citigroup Global Markets; Credit Suisse Securities; Deutsche Bank Securities; RBC Capital Markets; Wells Fargo Securities; Blaylock Robert Van; BMO Capital Markets; C.L. King & Associates; Cabrera Capital Markets; CastleOak Securities; Cowen and Company; E*TRADE Securities; Itaú BBA USA Securities; Lazard Capital Markets; Lebenthal & Co.; Loop Capital Markets; M.R. Beal & Company; Macquarie Capital; Muriel Siebert & Co.; Oppenheimer & Co.; Pacific Crest Securities; Piper Jaffray & Co.; Raymond James & Associates; Samuel A. Ramirez & Company; Stifel Nicolaus; The Williams Capital Group; and William Blair.

UPDATE 10:30 AM EST: We’ve been looking at different aspects of the Facebook IPO for the last few days. Here are links to some of our earlier coverage:

• How Criminals Use Facebook
• Big Risks to Consider at Facebook’s IPO
• Shares Getting a Boost from Facebook’s IPO
• Facebook Shares as Collectibles

UPDATE 11:05 AM EST: Opening delayed nearly half an hour. Expect heavy volume gets the blame.

UPDATE 11:29 AM EST: Still waiting. Opening price started at $45, now down to $42.

UPDATE 11:31 AM EST: Now open – at $42.35.

UPDATE 11:32 AM EST: nasdaq.com overwhelmed with traffic.

UPDATE: 11:33 AM EST: FB trading down slightly at $41.17. Enough. Other things to do for a while.

UPDATE 11:43 AM EST: Shares now bounced off $40 and turned north again.

UPDATE 11:52 AM EST: Less than 30 minutes after the first trade, shares are bouncing around the IPO price of $38.

UPDATE 12:37 PM EST: More than 261 million shares of FB have traded hands in just over an hour.  Share price now at $39.95.

UPDATE 12:55 PM EST: Shares of Zynga halted on IPO delay. More coverage here.

UPDATE 2:27 PM EST: After nearly 3 hours of trading, FB has moved nearly 385 million shares. The price jumped to around $41.70 at one point but has vacillated between $40 and $41 for the last 45 minutes or so.

UPDATE 2:44 PM EST: We have now seen the whole IPO volume trade as 425 million shares have traded hands; last print still up 5.2% at $40.00.

UPDATE 3:08 PM EST: Facebook has now broken an IPO record on share volume after passing the record held by GM with 458 million; FB volume is now 461 million shares.

News came on Thursday morning that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) (NYSE: BRK-A) has reached a deal with Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) to buy all of Media General’s newspapers outside of the Tampa paper.  Buffett is joining a sector that has wrecked many private equity firms looking for deals over the last decade in printed news.  The price tag is listed as $142 million in cash, but Berkshire Hathaway will simultaneously issue a $400 million term loan and a $45 million revolving credit line.

Today’s news is likely to bring a focus on other newspaper outfits around the nation.  Some companies with high concentrations in newspapers are Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Daily Journal Corp. (NASDAQ: DJCO), A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: BLC), Lee Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LEE).

Berkshire Hathaway also owns 1.7 million shares of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), although Warren Buffett does not hold a board seat any longer.  Does it beg the question, “Does this increase or decrease the value of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT)?”…

Media General will also issue Berkshire Hathaway ‘penny warrants’ for approximately 4.6 million Class A shares and that will give Buffett the right to buy 19.9% of Media General’s existing shares outstanding. Berkshire Hathaway also has the option to nominate a director to Media General’s board of directors.

The newspaper sale includes websites and mobile applications and these outfits have commercial printing businesses as well.  These include 63 daily and weekly titles in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.

Dare we say Buffett is back to his paper route he had as a teenager?  Mr. Buffett said, “In towns and cities where there is a strong sense of community, there is no more important institution than the local paper.  The many locales served by the newspapers we are acquiring fall firmly in this mold and we are delighted they have found a permanent home with Berkshire Hathaway.”

The move will allow Media General to focus on the broadcast television business, which accounted for some 77% of its 2011 platform cash flow in 2011.

Media General closed at $3.14 on Wednesday and its 52-week range is $1.14 to $6.84.  Its shares are indicated up about 40% around $4.75 in early indications.  With this newspaper and media outfit up so much, it may be safe to expect that other newspaper outfits could be worth more money than their battered shares indicate.

JON C. OGG

This may be a mixed blessing, but the number of mobile posts has now passed its desktop use.  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) devices using iOS amounted to roughly 33% of Weibo’s mobile traffic.

SINA’s growth news comes at a great time, because shares were only about 10% above the 52-week low.  After closing at $51.68, and against a 52-week trading range of $46.86 to $128.17, shares are trading up 11% at $57.57.

The news is interesting because the company warned that future results might be dragged down because of the increased investment in Weibo.  The company even noted that another operational loss may be expected in the second quarter. Another warning was that the Chinese advertising market is expected to remain weak.

As a reminder, SINA makes up more than 8% of the current weighting in the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL).

Shares of Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN), which is called the Facebook-equivalent of China, are up 4.5% at $5.84 this morning.  RenRen makes up almost 4.2% of the Social Media ETF.

JON C. OGG

We did witness some analyst upgrades today as both Stern Agee and also Citigroup raised their ratings to Buy from Hold after the earnings.  What may be driving shares the most today is continued short covering.  If you take a look below, you can see the settlement data for the short interest based on each settlement date but keep in mind that Groupon now trades only about 2.62 million shares on an average day:

Date….. Short Int.

4/30/2012  17,427,665

4/13/2012  19,210,861

3/30/2012  23,338,658

3/15/2012  21,675,204

2/29/2012  19,026,896

2/15/2012  18,396,790

1/31/2012  16,920,424

1/13/2012  16,484,330

12/30/2011  17,328,422

12/15/2011  14,796,819

11/30/2011  7,637,404

11/15/2011  2,919,091

If you include the after-hours session from Monday, volume was 16.2 million shares on Monday.  Only one day last week saw more than 2 million shares traded in a day.  If this is not a classic short-covering then nothing else is.

Another issue today is that as of 1:30 PM EST we have already seen some 28,000 call options trade for the May expiration alone and over 10,000 of the June expiration calls trade.  That is the equivalent of another 2.8 million shares and 1 million shares if you convert options contracts as 1 contract per 100 shares on a fully leveraged basis.

What is interesting is the put option volume today.  If you look at the June put options there have been almost 22,000 contracts and in the June expirations we have seen over 20,000 put options trade in the June contracts.

Groupon shares are currently up 11.5% at $13.09 and the post-IPO range is $9.63 to $31.14.  Groupon was a $9.90 stock at the close of trading on Friday.

JON C. OGG