It's no wonder, given the prevailing sentiment, that media stocks collectively trade for less than half their 2007 peak, and that best-in-class outfits, such as Omnicom (OMC), Walt Disney (DIS), News Corp. (NWSA), the parent of Barron's publisher Dow Jones, and Comcast (CMCSA) are as cheap, based on earnings and cash flow, as they have been in two decades. Still, it is courageous to argue that traditional media largely control their destiny, that consumer eyeballs still have value and that businesses will continue spending money to reach those eyeballs, even if they spend in different, more targeted ways in the digital era.

But shares of the company with cable's best brands -- Disney, with ESPN and the Disney Channel -- look woefully underpriced. DiClemente figures that Disney's cable business alone is worth $24. That is almost exactly what Disney now fetches in toto. So anyone buying the shares gets ABC, the theme parks, the movie business, the Pixar animation studio, consumer merchandise, the Mouse, etc., free.

It's no wonder, given the prevailing sentiment, that media stocks collectively trade for less than half their 2007 peak, and that best-in-class outfits, such as Omnicom (OMC), Walt Disney (DIS), News Corp. (NWSA), the parent of Barron's publisher Dow Jones, and Comcast (CMCSA) are as cheap, based on earnings and cash flow, as they have been in two decades. Still, it is courageous to argue that traditional media largely control their destiny, that consumer eyeballs still have value and that businesses will continue spending money to reach those eyeballs, even if they spend in different, more targeted ways in the digital era.

It's no wonder, given the prevailing sentiment, that media stocks collectively trade for less than half their 2007 peak, and that best-in-class outfits, such as Omnicom (OMC), Walt Disney (DIS), News Corp. (NWSA), the parent of Barron's publisher Dow Jones, and Comcast (CMCSA) are as cheap, based on earnings and cash flow, as they have been in two decades. Still, it is courageous to argue that traditional media largely control their destiny, that consumer eyeballs still have value and that businesses will continue spending money to reach those eyeballs, even if they spend in different, more targeted ways in the digital era.

Even movie-theater chains such as Cinemark (CNK) and concert sponsor Live Nation (LYV) -- which has a deal to merge with Ticketmaster (TKTM) -- occupy resilient pieces of the media landscape and have shares that still appear attractive for risk-tolerant investors.

More speculative is Live Nation. Its pending deal with Ticketmaster makes sense, uniting the largest ticket retailer with a big entertainment-management and concert-promotion firm. Regulators are scrutinizing it closely. Yet the stocks are depressed, summer-concert sales are brisk, concerts have good pricing power -- and the live experience isn't replicable on an iPhone.

Even movie-theater chains such as Cinemark (CNK) and concert sponsor Live Nation (LYV) -- which has a deal to merge with Ticketmaster (TKTM) -- occupy resilient pieces of the media landscape and have shares that still appear attractive for risk-tolerant investors.

Ryan, the advertising and media entrepreneur, believes that "the companies least affected" by the industry's evolution "are the big ad agencies." The likes of Omnicom and WPP Group (WPPGY) have interwoven themselves into corporate clients' brand marketing strategies across all media, new and old. They operate more on retainer fees than they used to, they all have built or bought online ad exchanges that facilitate digital ad buys -- and their stocks are valued as if their services are nearly obsolete and the ad cycle will never turn for the better.