Richard Siklos writes:
... But — blame a different kind of heat — the AOL plan does reflect a new audaciousness that is returning to Rupert Murdoch, Robert A. Iger and other masters of Big Media as they grapple with the unending technological upheaval of the day. ¶ After the wave of big mergers that shaped the industry in the 1990’s and early part of this decade, and the dot-com debacle (chief among them the AOL-Time Warner merger itself), many of these companies were understandably gun-shy about changing their business models and embracing the Web. But then a second wave of digital excitement took hold — led by Google’s initial public offering — and many traditional media stocks went into a malaise. ¶ What has become clear is that something had to give. Financial engineering — mergers, breakups, stock buybacks and the like — has not been enough by itself to get investors excited in these companies. Whether it works or not, the new AOL gambit shows the prevailing belief that no one ever dug themselves out of a hole by playing cards at the two-dollar table. ...
Link: New York Times. Rafat and Staci at paidContent.org were doing a great job covering the AOL stories last week. Too many to link to here, but just go to the site and scroll down. --Dennis
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