by: Diane Mermigas posted on: August 01, 2008 | about stocks: Hang on to your balance sheets. Advertising and consumer-generated revenues are on a steep dive that could take a devastating toll on media company spending and development well into 2009. Viacom's second-quarter earnings report (see conference call transcript) has been the most telling so far in a steady flow of "don't know what hit me" admissions that advertising fall-off will only get worse. Industry analysts had expected Viacom to weather the economic tumult better than its peers on the strength of its popular cable networks. What really happened here? The damage would have been worse had it not been for Paramount Studio's "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones" box-office hits. Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente expects more dramatic margin pressure in the...
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