By: Matthew Doman Slump Will Strengthen Sector, Bressler Suggests
(The Hollywood Reporter)
Cutbacks at Internet media ventures and the
downturn in the market value of publicly traded new-media and e-
commerce stocks could serve to strengthen the online media and
entertainment sector, Time Warner Digital Media chairman and CEO
Richard Bressler said Wednesday.
Bressler, who is one of four executives overseeing the
integration of Time Warner Inc. and America Online ahead of their
planned $122 billion merger, said "The market is flushing out
those businesses that don't have a business. There are clear
losers out there, but fortunately the long-term winners are
[strengthened by] this process."
The former Time Warner chief financial officer said new-media
business models need to be based on the same economic
fundamentals as traditional advertising- and subscription-driven
media ventures.
"There were some that seemed to have the idea that they would
throw a $1 bill into the air, and the wind would blow back $10,"
Bressler said.
Bressler said business models based only on technology were
proving to be flawed. He insisted that the AOL-Time Warner deal
was based on the marriage of two companies with large, diverse
subscriber bases and the opportunities to cross-promote services
across multiple platforms - regardless of whether new or
traditional technologies are used.
Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher.
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