FIM reincarnated NBCi ?
I remember doing my political honours thesis in 1993 on "The transition from a mass to multi-media" at a time where "information superhighway" was the buzzword and Rupert Mudoch, was basically my hero. So, its like the launch of a new blockbuster with a budget and special effects never before seen (which Murdoch also knows alot about) I was very excited about Murdoch's acquisition of MySpace.com
Yay ! We have a new portal player on the scene. Oh I fondly remember the days of going down to NBCi on the San Francisco Wharf where there was a new Porsche Boxster parked inside which could be won by an employee who successfully recommended an engineer that got hired. I also got my taste for Herman Miller Aeron Chairs. (also remember when corporate softball was all about poaching opposition staff ?) Go Rupe - show em that fearless Aussie spirit ;) From his Fox Interactive Media President;
"I will promise you there is no intention to be Yahoo or MSN or AOL. We're not a technology company, we're a content company." Levinsohn said "It will provide the ultimate home base for users' news, information, entertainment and community needs... I wouldn't profess to say we're going to do what Microsoft does. That's really not who we are." He adds: "One of the things Mr. Murdoch said to me was this is not about next quarter, this is about where is our company in 10 years. If we can set it up so that we're in the right place, I think all the other things will take care of themselves." One question being asked about the roll-ups at Fox and CBS is what makes them think they can succeed with content portals when it's already been tried and failed -- think Disney's Go and NBC. What makes Fox different? "Look, the internet business is in a different place than it was five years ago. I've heard plenty of arguments that's say had Go just stayed the course, they might be in a different place today but that's not where we focused on. The business is far more mature today in that broadband is real, wireless is real. On any given day I have millions of people visiting FoxSports.com and if you added up all our sites we have millions of people visiting our collection of sites on a daily basis. That wasn't the case five years ago, six years ago. It is the case today. We weren't doing seven-figure ad deals with clients six years ago and we are doing them today. There weren't north of 100 million people online six years ago, there are today. It's just the evolution of the business. The bubble was symptomatic of any new industry; it in some ways had to happen ... it only makes brands like ours stronger because you can't recreate what a News Corp. or a Viacom or a NBC Universal has spent 25-50 years building, You can't replicate that over night. You can't say I'm going to be a dominant content player, which is a very expensive proposition, and snap your fingers and have it happen."
Time after time, internet efforts by traditional media and entertainment companies have been stymied, even torpedoed, by internal resistance. The intense involvement of Rupert Murdoch and Peter Chernin sends the right signals from the very top but FIM still has to work across multiple constituencies. That's one reason the executive team at FIM has representatives from sports, cable, entertainment and news. For instance, Bert Solivan moves from Fox News to be EVP. "I wouldn't profess to tell Roger Ailes what news content should be news. ... to disenfranchise him wouldn't be taking advantage of the synergies of News Corp. We want him to feel like this is his. ... It's an extension and a continuance of what they've done a really nice job of doing."
Don't make the mistake of thinking FIM encompasses all of Fox's advanced media. For instance, Lucy Hood continues to run the recently established Fox Mobile Entertainment and report to 20th Century Fox Television president Gary Newman. But Hood doesn't oversee all mobile across Fox. How will that work? "It doesn't become an issue because we're both marching down the same path and this is what Mr. Murdoch and Peter want. We're smart enough to know we're not going to screw that up over territorial things. ... One of the things Mr. Murdoch has said to me is you shouldn't worry about any of this because it all goes to the same place."
Yay ! We have a new portal player on the scene. Oh I fondly remember the days of going down to NBCi on the San Francisco Wharf where there was a new Porsche Boxster parked inside which could be won by an employee who successfully recommended an engineer that got hired. I also got my taste for Herman Miller Aeron Chairs. (also remember when corporate softball was all about poaching opposition staff ?) Go Rupe - show em that fearless Aussie spirit ;) From his Fox Interactive Media President;
"I will promise you there is no intention to be Yahoo or MSN or AOL. We're not a technology company, we're a content company." Levinsohn said "It will provide the ultimate home base for users' news, information, entertainment and community needs... I wouldn't profess to say we're going to do what Microsoft does. That's really not who we are." He adds: "One of the things Mr. Murdoch said to me was this is not about next quarter, this is about where is our company in 10 years. If we can set it up so that we're in the right place, I think all the other things will take care of themselves." One question being asked about the roll-ups at Fox and CBS is what makes them think they can succeed with content portals when it's already been tried and failed -- think Disney's Go and NBC. What makes Fox different? "Look, the internet business is in a different place than it was five years ago. I've heard plenty of arguments that's say had Go just stayed the course, they might be in a different place today but that's not where we focused on. The business is far more mature today in that broadband is real, wireless is real. On any given day I have millions of people visiting FoxSports.com and if you added up all our sites we have millions of people visiting our collection of sites on a daily basis. That wasn't the case five years ago, six years ago. It is the case today. We weren't doing seven-figure ad deals with clients six years ago and we are doing them today. There weren't north of 100 million people online six years ago, there are today. It's just the evolution of the business. The bubble was symptomatic of any new industry; it in some ways had to happen ... it only makes brands like ours stronger because you can't recreate what a News Corp. or a Viacom or a NBC Universal has spent 25-50 years building, You can't replicate that over night. You can't say I'm going to be a dominant content player, which is a very expensive proposition, and snap your fingers and have it happen."
Time after time, internet efforts by traditional media and entertainment companies have been stymied, even torpedoed, by internal resistance. The intense involvement of Rupert Murdoch and Peter Chernin sends the right signals from the very top but FIM still has to work across multiple constituencies. That's one reason the executive team at FIM has representatives from sports, cable, entertainment and news. For instance, Bert Solivan moves from Fox News to be EVP. "I wouldn't profess to tell Roger Ailes what news content should be news. ... to disenfranchise him wouldn't be taking advantage of the synergies of News Corp. We want him to feel like this is his. ... It's an extension and a continuance of what they've done a really nice job of doing."
Don't make the mistake of thinking FIM encompasses all of Fox's advanced media. For instance, Lucy Hood continues to run the recently established Fox Mobile Entertainment and report to 20th Century Fox Television president Gary Newman. But Hood doesn't oversee all mobile across Fox. How will that work? "It doesn't become an issue because we're both marching down the same path and this is what Mr. Murdoch and Peter want. We're smart enough to know we're not going to screw that up over territorial things. ... One of the things Mr. Murdoch has said to me is you shouldn't worry about any of this because it all goes to the same place."
posted by redbarren at 6:06 PM
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