Icahn-Lazard Report: Online Publishing Presence

Anything that goes all the way back to Pathfinder is bound to be less than glowing.

– “Publishing’s online presence has arguably been hindered by a lack of consistent strategy at TWX. The online strategy of Publishing appears to have been driven by two tenets: (1) a corporate view that the size of Publishing portfolio has relevance to the audience (e.g., Pathfinder, AOL exclusivity) and (2) under-investment at the individual title level. Publishing, over the years, has pursued its own initiatives and pursued strategies directed by corporate. In the 1990s, the division was asked to coordinate its online efforts with Pathfinder
and, after the AOL Time Warner merger, asked to coordinate its activities with AOL. None of these initiatives proved successful at creating and industry-leading products or services with longterm appeal or traction with the consumer. The result is that Publishing is late in its efforts to gain a leadership position and needs to aggressively invest in online initiatives. SI.com has a substantially smaller audience than ESPN.com. Time.com is trailing Newsweek online and Fortune’s online effort has lagged, while Forbes has a successful online presence.”

– “The recent re-launch of CNNMoney.com, a merger of old CNNMoney.com, Fortune.com, FSB.com and Business2.com, is both an acknowledgement of competitive concerns versus Forbes and MarketWatch and a step toward online growth. ‘This is an unprecedented combination of worldclass brands.’ ‘It reinforces Time Inc.’s commitment to the Internet and our effort to deliver content in multiple ways,’ (a) said Ms. Moore. … The success or failure of the CNNMoney.com launch will be determined in time; however, this integrated approach, in general, has had limited success online and is reminiscent of the strategy of Pathfinder. Publishing executives believe that a comprehensive site is what users want.”

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