Frank, and others, if I were running any of these bandwidth-centric companies, I would be begging Steve Case to enter into a partnership. 50M eyeballs (AOL + NSCP + Compuserve + ICQ) and AOL's content in exchange for broadband access. By the time ATHM or any broadband ISP/Portal combos have enough eyeballs to make a difference, the ball game will be over. But, given the turf wars, I doubt if this will happen.
About five or six years ago Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, tried a hostile takeover of AOL in order to take it into broadband. Case thought that was premature, and emphasized content. Instead of working with AOL, Allen backed off (with the help of a poison pill defense). Case was right then, but today broadband is much closer to reality. Rather than fighting a losing narrow-vs-broad bandwidth battle with AOL, ATHM would be wise to join forces and form the next generation media company. |
