Willing risk-takers
Yet big media companies are willing to face these risks for the
opportunity to dominate the world of new media.
“The Internet for Disney is mission critical,” says Jake Winebaum,
chairman of Disney’s Buena Vista Internet Group. “It is at the core of a
lot of our strategies.”
For example, families planning vacations to Disney World or Disneyland
soon will be able to make all of their travel arrangements via Disney’s
Internet sites. That keeps the Disney brand name in front of the
customers and gives Disney a percentage of the travel purchases.
What sets Disney apart from America Online, Yahoo and Excite,
Winebaum says, is that his company directly controls massive amounts of
potential Internet content. While the other services have partners
providing news, such as Reuters, Disney can draw on ABC News, which
it owns.
“We can do a lot of clever things,” Winebaum says. Not only will Disney
know what its Internet viewers are looking for, it knows exactly what is
in the Disney stockpile of content.
All of this builds the loyalty that all of the Internet companies believe is
key to future profits. The portal site that gets people to keep coming back
–and gives them what they want without having to send them elsewhere
on the Internet–can charge higher prices for advertising and win bigger
commissions from online sales.
“These are early chess moves by traditional media companies to get their
foot into the next medium,” says Ron Rappaport, an analyst with Zona
Research. “A company like Disney can’t afford to start taking steps two
years from now.”
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
Contributing: Doug Levy, Kevin Maney, Steve Rosenbush and Julie Schmit
