IP: Web presence of publishers

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>
Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 04:00:46 -0500
To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
Subject: Fwd: Web presence of publishers


for IP  (perhaps bolstering the argument below!)

>
>Media chiefs reject internet business model
>By Maija Pesola at the FT New Media and Broadcasting conference in London
>Published: March 4 2002 14:04 | Last Updated: March 4 2002 14:15
>
>The death-knell of the internet as a commercial media vehicle was sounded
>at the FT New Media and Broadcasting conference, as for-profit
>broadcasters dismissed the medium as an impossible business model.
>
>Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corporation
>said that there was "no viable business model that works" for the
>internet, and said he saw the sites run by the company's UK newspapers
>such as the Sun and Times as nothing more than adjunct, promotional
>vehicles for the newspaper.
>
>The company has already aggressively cut back on its staff, and Mr Chernin
>said these reductions were likely to be enough, although the company would
>continue to review the business.
>
>Similarly, Juergen von Schwerin, chief finance officer of SBS, the
>pan-European television broadcaster, said his company had sold out of its
>intenet activities, as these were "not feasible" for the company.
>
>The only enthusiasm for the internet as a medium came from the public
>service broadcasters, with Cindy Johanson, senior vice president of
>interactive and digital content planning at the US's PBS pointing out that
>seven years after launching its internet offerings, these sites were now
>reaching an audience as large as that reached through broadcasts.
>
>Viewing figures for broadcasts were falling, Ms Johanson said, while the
>internet audience was growing, particularly in terms of children logging
>on to sites related to programmes such as PBS's long-running Sesame Street.

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