Are media stocks set to soar or sink?

May 14, 2009 "Commentary from management on second-quarter calls was virtually unanimous that the bottom is in for the economy and advertising growth," says Steve Birenberg of Northlake Capital Management and SNL Kagan's media blogger. Indeed, the bounce might be a temporary bear-market rally, as evidenced by declines this week and persistent skepticism from European and Canadian execs at ad-reliant media companies. Analysts have suggested everything from Time Warner selling off its troubled AOL division and using the money to buy Lionsgate (which is relatively cheap right now at about $530 million) to CBS offloading its radio division to raise its dividend.

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