By Graham Hayday, 18 January 2000 00:15
NEWS The record-breaking $350bn merger between AOL and Time Warner has mould breaking implications for the media world. In this week's News In View Silicon.com analysis editor Graham Hayday and reporter Tony Hallett contemplate what the deal means in terms of content aggregation, distribution, future tie-ups, and executive control of the new entity. Although the marriage has been portrayed as a meeting of an old-style media conglomerate (with an up-till-now immature online strategy), Silicon.com's Hallett noted that AOL has been an online media company for some time. The deal will give it vital access to US cable networks - a delivery path it has traditionally found hard to take - and Time Warner access to AOL's 20 million users around the world. It has also hit AOL's share price, even though some analysts have portrayed the agreement in terms of AOL buying stability. On future tie-ups, Hallett said: "With the older school media companies, everyone is saying they need to team up with a trendy online player. But if you've got a company like a News Corporation or a Bertelsmann even, these are often run like family businesses, and it may be very difficult for them to give up control." The News in View programme can be seen in Silicon.com's ISP channel (http://www.silicon.com/a35146 ).
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below