Some news from DIS kind of made me think. DIS claims that when the internet becomes a broadband medium that DIS will have this huge library of media to profit from over our broadband connections, giving them an advantage over many others in that not-too-distant future. This got me to thinking... The internet is going to leave consumer's PC's for the most part very soon. It is going to move to a variety of smart devices and it going to move into our living rooms. In our living rooms it will show up on a High-Definition TV screen powered by a STB with a TiVo-like Hard drive that can multitask, recording and playing whatever broadband content you desire. This machine will make present-day STB's and TiVos look like Edison wax cylinder records.(The smart devices , the Set-top box, and the band width are why I am so bullish on WIND, LBRT, CNXT etc...)
With this broadband content coming into our living rooms, the Internet and the world of media are going to be drastically changed as the content will be incredibly rich. YHOO has made it's success on very simple text content that can easily travel over primitive networking devices. It's content is far from rich. What happens when consumers are able to download much richer content? They will no longer be satisfied with content that is not rich. A whole new world will be open. I am not saying that YHOO will not be a part of this world. But, traditional Internet companies like YHOO will have to provide much, much richer content. This is where a company like DIS comes in, also where the other traditional media powerhouses come in. You will have a very rich media experience including TV, movies, books, music, interactive talk, interactive shopping, etc. You will have smart devices throughout your living space that are customized to focus on specific area of infotainment. (BTW, have you noticed that traffic on XCIT has dropped off. Is this a measure of ATHM's failure. I say no. It is a measure of their success. When you bring broadband into the living room, the traditional portal becomes extinct! I have noticed this myself with my DSL)
DIS is just an example of the old guard media conglomerates that succeeded so well until now. I am not sure that DIS will succeed here either, but DIS has always been on the cutting edge. I have watched their web site for years and they have always been on the cutting edge, using the newest HTML and Internet technology to present their message. Also their Go.Com partnership was a cutting edge partnership of Broadcast, Hollywood, Cable, and news properites. DIS has not done well in the current environment. They are still judged by earnings. Investments in future media that do not yield immediate profits are judged as a drag on earnings. Imagine if YHOO or AMZN were judged by these rules... Can DIS overcome the distaste of its shareholders and directors to spend money without looking at the bottom line?
When the Internet is fed into our living rooms on a broadband hook-up, will it be companies like this that actually prosper?
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