PREDICTIONS OF A MEDIA ANALYST: Doug Shapiro's hard-on for News Corp, developing into blue balls

Bank Of America media analyst Douglas Shapiro is sticking to his favorite big media pick which is News Corp. However his overall predictions for the big media sector is iffy. We still can't believe that analysts are still questioning the relevancy of traditional media. New media is the new traditional media boys and girls, swallow it. Heading into 2007, Banc of America analyst Douglas Shapiro has now downgraded the big media group to “marketweight” from “overweight.” Why the guarded outlook? Shapiro argued in a client note that, for one, valuations are closer to fair levels, in his opinion, generally trading at 30-40% premiums to the market. The analyst added, “While reports of the death of traditional ad media have repeatedly proved premature, they continue to slowly lose share and nothing seems likely to change the trend. History dictates that ad dollars follow eyeballs with a lag, and eyeballs continue to migrate away from traditional media.” Round of applause for Dougie Shapiro ladies and gents. Limited Upside Seen For Big Media [Forbes]