Articles of the Day
Microsoft Delivers Ultimatum to Yahoo! — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has given Yahoo! three weeks to begin bargaining in good faith or face a hostile takeover. In a letter sent to Yahoo!’s board of directors, Ballmer claims that his company’s initial bid to acquire Yahoo! at a 62% premium to its closing price on 31 Jan was “generous”. He adds that if the companies fail to reach an agreement within the next three weeks, “we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo! board”. Ballmer also indicated that if Yahoo! continues to stall, Microsoft might lower its offer, initially valued at USD44.6 bn, or USD31 a share. Analyst consensus is that the two companies will eventually reach a deal priced at around USD35bn.
Yahoo Promises to ‘Amp’ Up Ad Platform — In conjunction with its rejection of Microsoft’s latest demands, Yahoo on Monday released more details about an upgrade to its advertising system. Called “Amp,” the upgrade is part of the Web giant’s continued efforts to try and convince shareholders that remaining independent is a more valuable option than combining with Microsoft. “Amp,” like AOL’s Platform A and Microsoft’s adCenter before it, is an attempt to become a “one-stop shop” for Web advertising buyers. It won’t be available until some time this summer, and even then on a limited basis among Yahoo’s more than 600 newspaper partner sites. Yahoo began promoting the system on Monday through an online video presentation.
News Corp Raises Stake in Germany’s Premiere — News Corp today has raised its stake in German pay-TV operator Premiere to 22.7%, nearing the 23% threshold that would give it a controlling majority. Premiere holds the rights to broadcast live games from Germany’s top football league, the Bundesliga, which is probably the main reason behind News Corp’s interest. Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate first acquired a 14.58% stake in Premiere in Jan, and upped it to 19.9% a month later. Last week, News Corp said it would accept a seat on the supervisory board of Premiere. The US firm may ask for it at Premiere’s annual shareholders’ meeting on Jun 12. The German TV’s board is currently made up of three members in charge until 2009. Shareholders, however, may vote to expand it with a New Corp representative.
Offline Stores Big Winners From Online Ads, Says comScore — Physical stores, rather than online retailers, are emerging as the biggest winners of online advertising, says comScore CEO Magid Abraham. Abraham says comScore research shows that businesses that operate primarily in bricks and mortar stores but use online advertising and online sales portals have seen impressive increases in walk-in trade as opposed to online sales and services. comScore admits that the results of its research are based on an opt-in approach to gathering data and are therefore limited in scope. However, Abraham says the recent results, including information from a major retailer that sees more than USD15bn in annual revenues, are noteworthy.
Fox Interactive Media In Corporate Reshuffle AsRevenues Falter — Fox Interactive Media (FIM) is to undergo a series of restructuring efforts as fiscal year revenue is expected to come in approximately USD100m under its USD1bn target, reports TechCrunch. The News Corp-owned online division, responsible for MySpace, will lose chief revenue officer Michael Barrett as advertising is split into a separate division and sales are moved into a number of targeted teams. FIM is setting up a separate advertising unit called The FIM Audience Network, which will use its targeting and optimisation technologies to serve ads on all FIM’s sites. This will be run by FIM’s former VP of production and technology, Adam Bain. The company claims the new division will help FIM offer better ad solutions, and will bring together its technology, operations and ad sales teams.
NBC Launches New WebisodeIn Online Push — NBCU is due to launch a number of short online ‘webisodes’ this summer to coincide with the return of three of its popular shows. Short original episodes of ‘The Office’ and ‘Chuck’ will debut from Jul, as part of a wider digital push to offer further online content for its TV titles. In Oct the US TV giant is due to launch an original web-based series called ‘Fears, Secrets and Desires’. This will be based around user-submitted clips in which viewers reveal their personal hopes and secrets. Shows such as ‘30 Rock’ are due to carry a blog on the NBC site written from the perspective of its lead character, while other shows will encourage online fan interaction by letting viewers upload clips impersonating parts of the show.
Prime TV On the Net. See PrimeTimeRewind.com –The dream of some TV network executives is to have one site where consumers can get all network programming–the original intent of Hulu.com, the NBC-Fox Internet TV platform. One recently launched Internet site has a better idea. PrimeTimeRewind.com uses the free video links of every available full-length network program and presents those shows in an easier format for consumers to access.
Stereogum To Launch Videogum As Result Of Buzznet Acquisition — Pop culture and music community Buzznet has completed the acquisition of music blog Stereogum for close to $5 million in stock. As a result of the acquisition, Stereogum on Tuesday plans to launch Videogum, a new entertainment blog focused on what’s happening in the world of pop culture programming, including television, movies, Web shorts and video games.
