America Online and Time Warner Wednesday started what may be the first of a great number of cross-promotions, making CNN Interactive the premier broadcast news
partner for Netscape Netcenter and
for ICQ.
The agreement gives Netscape Netcenter users access to CNN.com’s top
headlines and to the news organization’s other services. CNN will be
prominently featured on the Netcenter home page, and users will soon be
able to add the CNN.com service to their personalized My Netscape channel.
In addition, CNN and Netscape are also considering how to integrate other
CNN brands into Netscape, and they plan to offer users programming specials
including topical CNN-Netscape Instant Polls and talk shows integrated with
real-time online chats with key figures in the news.
The ICQ deal calls for it and CNN Interactive to develop a co-branded news
product to be distributed through ICQ’s Web site and the ICQ client. CNN
will also get a prominent presence on ICQ’s News Channel.
“As we move forward with the merger of AOL and Time Warner to create the
world’s first fully integrated Internet-powered media and communications
company for the Internet Age, today’s announcements are great examples of
the quick synergies we can achieve together and the beginning of what we
already know will be an extraordinary partnership,” says Bob Pittman,
president and chief operating officer of AOL.
