Interesting.
Looks like they got Insight to do basically the same deal. Lucky they already have Insight's President and CEO on the Board of Directors.
But, why is Insight doing this? They only have about 1 million subsrcribers, so they must be thinking about becoming a provider to other MSOs which is a big leap. This makes no sense for Insight. The only argument I can see, is that Insight didn't want to lose their interactive software supplier. And actually, if SRCM goes BK in 2001, Insight keeps the Virtual Modem software without buying it out of bankruptcy court.
I think this is an ego deal for Michael Willner. He got them the original Insight rollout and now got them cash for one more year of life. It would be very embarrassing for him to get them to roll out SRCM's products, only to have SRCM go under a year later. I would not be surprised if this deal never closes, but who knows. It depends on Insight's board of directors and how much control Willner has. Maybe he gets fired over this.
Regardless, Insight is a far inferior partner than TV Guide. While I never thought that the original JV would succeed, this JV is even less viable. Since they were already doing a rollout with Insight, I don't see this as an improvement in that side, but it certainly makes it less likely they get other carriage agreements.
Still, I like my short long term, although the January puts I bought may not work out as well as I thought.
So what do you think MW? Compare it to the TV Guide deal. I think we can both agree it is much better for SRCM than bankruptcy.
Archer |
