Vivendi, Softbank seduced
upside.com
By Ryan Tate
October 31, 2000 12:00 AM PT
Get-rich tip: Seduce the old media money.
It worked for AOL (AOL), the dotcom beauty queen who's now weathering the Internet stock downturn quite nicely, thanks to fogey partner Time Warner's (TWX) traditional assets and relatively stable stock.
As the market continues to chill, more and more top-drawer Net young 'uns are hooking up with elderly media czars.
Take PeoplePC (PEOP). Someone apparently forget to tell Vivendi (V) and Softbank that the Internet ad market has gone soft, or that venture capitalists are now machine-gunning holes in kooky dotcom biz plans. The French media conglomerate and Japanese tech investment house announced Monday that they are putting $50 million into a scheme that seems as outdated as an old Jerry Lewis flick or stale Power Rangers rerun: free, ad-supported personal computers.
That's right, the firms are backing a European excursion by the sweet-talking PeoplePC, which will give free PCs to folks on the continent who agree to sign up for a three-year Internet access contract that costs $30 per month. PeoplePC insists it is different from previous, failed free PC plays, and has managed to convince other top-tier partners like Ford (F) and Delta (DAL) to play ball.
The announcement comes days after a slew of Internet firms have conceded that they've seen the ad market soften. The companies making such statements in their quarterly earnings announcements include Yahoo (YHOO), RealNetworks (RNWK), Marketwatch (MKTW) and MP3.com (MPPP).
Vivendi and Softbank aren't the only ones who clearly aren't worried about the downturn. About.com (BOUT) said it has been insulated thanks to its targeted content. It was promptly swooped up by Primedia (PRM), an old hat at publishing magazines like Seventeen, but one hungry for the chance to puts its ad sales force to work cross-selling promotions for a fresh young portal site.
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