Jorge, At The Risk of Exceeding My Posting Quota...
The Time Warner "rumor" is quite old... actually.
I think it was Joyce Whelan at Volpe Brown (or some
relatively well-known analyst) who commented about
this rumor in a Forbes.com piece a while back... but,
admittedly, my mind is getting spongy from all the
SEEK readings... so maybe I've invented this whole
scenario. (While I'm--if I'm--busy inventing, why don't I
focus on, say, Isabella Rossellini for starters?)
The Time Warner thing--is IMHO--Motro's ultimate
trump card. It sits somewhere up his sleeve. I think
it's kind of a perennial option for SEEK. Supposedly,
they've already made one pass at a significant offer...
which, again supposedly, Motro refused. (Motro as refuse-nik,
this is becoming a common theme--refuse and wait for
higher bids.) In the great meantime, Motro and SEEK
continue to add value: new sources of content, like
iVillage, etc. Advertising deals are IN the pipeline...
no question. Plus, remember SEEK's spin-off is already
DOING BUSINESS with Time Warner through CNNfn.
When Motro speaks of convergence... and that seems
to be his current mantra (and reflects his resume, if you will...
he's using code speak (like the word "hegemony" used to
be used in diplomatic circles). He's saying to TimeWarner,
NBC Interactive (another SEEK client) and all other
media organizations... "Look, you're going my way... I'm here
and quite well established, thank you... let's talk possibilities."
SI word quota maxed out... Best Regards,
c m |
