Report: Time Warner Considers Getting Rid Of The Cable
from the cutting-the-wire dept
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Time Warner is looking for ways to reduce its exposure to cable TV. Management is said to be concerned that cable won't always be as lucrative as it is now, particularly as the internet grows as a reliable option for watching video. The company has already spun off its Time Warner Cable unit into a separate company, but it retains a sizable stake in it. The company is unlikely to exit the line entirely, as it remains a steady cash cow. In fact, from a revenue perspective, it's the company's largest line of business. But there's pressure on the firm to invest more heavily into the internet, which represents the company's best hope for future growth. One problem, however, is that by reducing its cable business, it becomes more dependent on its slow-growing content business, such as films and publishing. These remain quite big as well, and could easily prove to be a drag on the company's internet operations. Another worry is that even if the company does invest heavily on the internet, there's no guarantee that it will be prove profitable. Obviously, the company hopes that it can buy or build the next MySpace, but that's a long shot proposition. What's funny about this report is that it comes at the same time that Comcast, a competing cable operator, is raving about its operations, claiming that the cable business is "on fire". Part of it may be that Comcast doesn't have Time Warner's breadth, so it has no choice but to be bullish about cable. It could also be that Time Warner is looking further into the future than Comcast, recognizing that today's good times may not last forever. Then again, the last major move that Time Warner made to bolster its internet business came to be regarded as the most disastrous merger of all time.
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Online is the place to be
Ummmm....Nevermind.
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Re: Online is the place to be
AOL bought Time-Warner.
So a large internet presence tried to get into the cable distribution and content creation business.
I think Time-Warner survived in spite of the AOL merger.
It is now time for Time-Warner to become two separate companies:
A content creator (Movie Studio) and
A content deliverer (Cable/Internet provider).
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What they don't seem to understand is - success on the internet has a LOT to do with new ideas and innovation. And very little to do with 'big corporate' palm greasing, anymore I think all these big companies are just too comfortable with the 'status quo' and don't focus on what the consumer wants.
Like the recording industry, they have been more or less doing the same thing for the last 40+ years....
What is it they say about teaching an old dog new tricks? Perhaps that's true afterall.
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There is a big storm brewing on
One day the CableTV as we know it will be gone, replaced by Digital services. Then Cable Companies will compete as internet providers that also supply entertainment (what you know as CableTV today).
The other side is the old style Telephone companies trying to beat Cable to the home with high-speed digital service in the form of DSL or Fiber.
Both want to sell you/us controlled digital two-way (sounds like the internet) traffic. That traffic could be an Internet connection, a Digital Cable Box, In-Home Gaming platform (XBox, PS2345) or some other as yet undreamed network content.
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Might be a good time for TW to off the C.
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Re: Re: Online is the place to be by Ajax 4Hire
it wasn't such a bad move as everybody thinks. from a business perspective. ..
and as an employe of TWC. changes are being made in the company. most of which, suck for the current employees, but benefit the customers.
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