An ongoing special report
and adjunct to the NUblog Weblog on online content
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2000.09.10
We are aware that the NUblog is not exactly CNN, but give us some credit: We were explaining just how foolish are the strategies of portals and convergence weeks and months ago.
The legitimate press is finally catching on. Matthew Ingram:
[I]t's now taken for granted that a new media company such as Quebecor needs to own the delivery system for its content.... But does it makes any sense for a media or "content" company to merge with a delivery or "pipes" company, or vice versa? So far, there's little evidence that a merger of content and pipes is a recipe for success. Part of the problem is that content-related companies do best when they can sell their content wherever and whenever they want – and when they can distribute it in a way that suits it best. Controlling distribution doesn't necessarily guarantee a better return, which is why film studios don't own movie theatres. [Um, no. Antitrust regulations forced divestiture of movie theatres in the U.S.]
But the Internet changes everything, doesn't it? [...] That's the theory. At least AOL and Time Warner have movies and music and TV shows and books to try and shove down their big pipes. What does Quebecor have? At this point, a few Web sites and some newspapers. Canoe and its various French and English offspring may be fine Web sites, and the Sun newspaper chain has its fans as well, but it remains a mystery how putting these together with a cable company suddenly becomes a new-media slam-dunk.
Finally, someone with half a brain. But will it be enough to prevent wasting millions of shareholder dollars? Ask Pierre-Karl Péladeau.
Meanwhile, a dumb-arse article by some journeywoman at Canadian Press was valuable only for its quotes, which actually made sense, unlike the addled connective tissue produced by the writer, whom we won't bother to name. She mixes E-commerce and content sites in the same piece and calls it analysis. As we know, motorcycles and cars are quite the same for running on rubber tires.
"For any ambitious large company that wants to develop a strong presence
on the Internet, you've really got to stick it out," said Jordan Worth, an
Internet analyst with IDC Canada. "And it's going to cost you. If you don't have the stomach for it, then
you need to reconsider what it is you're trying to accomplish."
The lesson is clear: Stick with it. Content online should not be expected to take a shorter time to "succeed," however you wish to define that, than content in other media.
← Previous: The convergence myth, Part II: Can even AOL get it right?
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