:TimesOnline: Josh Berger, the managing director of Warner Bros Entertainment UK, warned against divesting AOL during a weekend appearance at the Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention. “He said that the internet portal could provide a platform over which Warner Bros content, which includes the Harry Potter films and television series such as The West Wing, could be distributed. ‘AOL would be helpful to that process. … So we’re going to keep AOL.”
AdAge (reg. req.): In addition to the Google-smackdown potential, a deal could give Microsoft access “to what many view as AOL’s killer app, its video-search product Singing Fish. “Singing Fish is a sexy application, especially when people talk about the next generation of advertising,” said Joshua Stylman, managing partner of search marketing agency Reprise Media. MSN does not have a video-search tool.” (That we know of …) From an ad perspective, AOL visitors spend more time at the portal than visitors to its competitors.
Bear Stearns (via Forbes.com): “While obviously not desired, the numbers clearly show that the financial hit from losing the AOL relationship to a competitor would be minimal for Google. … We think that with Google’s approximately $7 billion of cash on hand and a debt free balance sheet, that Google could pursue a strategic move with AOL. However, what multiple to pay and whether Google would ultimately want to would remain at hand (especially given Google’s current pseudo portal status today).”
Harry DeMott, Bourgeon Capital (via MarketWatch): “I think the question is more, at what price should AOL be jettisoned from, or kept within, Time Warner. … If Microsoft wants to have the whole thing, fine; if they want to pay for the future upside of it, why not? Take the money today. … unless they’re absolutely convinced that they can get better value elsewhere, they should probably just keep [AOL] and operate it on the course that they’ve been taking, because they’re finally on the right course.”
Tolman Geff, JEGI (via MediaWeek: If true, “It solves a big problem for Microsoft and it solves a big problem for Time Warner.” (Disclosure: JEGI is a paidContent.org sponsor.)
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