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Technology Stocks : IATV-ACTV Digital Convergence Software-HyperTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (5539)	7/17/1999 3:33:00 PM
From: art slott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13157

Conference Call by: no_where_to_go_but_up 20117 of 20128 I, too, thought the conference call had some gems in it. At first, I thought it was going to be a repeat of the annual shareholders meeting, Bill on his soapbox preaching the company line. There is no question he is a very good speaking. He was definitely selling yesterday, having heard the previous presentation, but if you listened carefully, and it appears everyone did, you picked up the important pieces of information. BS tried to put some structure on revenue model, albeit thin, saying the breakeven was 150,000 subscribers with a 50/50 split. I could not determine whether the breakeven was for the MSO or ACTV or both. Whichever it is, the number is still low. The PPV model we know from previous discussions is about a 1/3rd split and there should be at least one "marquee" event this year or the beginning of next. HyperTV is about ready to rollout to the entertainment business and from evey sign is going to be quite successful. No real feel for revenues here other than to say they will have some ad revenue sharing, as I recall. No question BS was clear that the greatest revenue source over time will be Advertising. I suppose it is no big surprise since the market for advertising is $48 billion. At this time, they are focusing on these three areas and not looking at other areas (I think it is probably enough for the time being). Good news seems to be that all the necessary programming for individualized TV is done and we are waiting on others to roll it out. BS did say he would like to say it would be available on Sept 16, the day after the TVGIA rollout, but he has no control over it and it may be later. The point here is that ACTV is NOT in control of the rollout. Somebody on the board said ACTV was analagous to INKT and I agree. Nobody really advertises they use INKT to any great extent, but you know they are critical to the internet etc. Focus. It seems BS finally is hearing the cries of the investors as he will be focused primarily in the days, weeks and months ahead on promoting ACTV to tier 1 analysts in order to get the stock price up. BS believed once the analysts understand the potential of ACTV they would give it a much greater value. ACTV also hired a new PR firm that is focused on getting the word out to the media (i.e., NY Times etc) on individualized TV and ACTV. The hope here is that when the media talk about digital they talk about individualized TV. BS also addressed PR announcements, saying that they will only post news when it is something worth talking about and he reiterated many times throughout the speech how grateful ACTV was to AT&T/LMG/TCI for their support..so much so that it made me think that BS was not in control of the company, but AT&T/LMG/TCI were. Well, this may not be a bad thing, but it was clear, in my mind, who was controlling the shots. Further good news, LMG completed their deal for ACTV stock on June 30. However, BS seemed pretty clear that further financing, in order to rollout indiv. TV to the other 18 regions in the states, will come from increasing the stock price and adding shareholder value. He also stressed the relationship with GIC, our other major partner, and the advertising venture they recently announced. It almost seemed as though BS was careful about what he said and about whom with regard to their partners. I suppose I would too if my future depends on these guys. Lastly, BS seems passionate about the company, which is a good thing, and the vision so far has been spot on. We can all get excited about the potential of the company and revenues will follow. My personal belief is "the street" is waiting for the rollout or some other "big" news before the stock goes up. I remain optimistic and am looking forward to the coming months, but I do wish it was September already. Good luck and GO ACTV! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: 07/17/1999 09:58 am EDT as a reply to: Msg 20116 by GUYCE View Replies to this Message Related Links Quote & News Profile Research Insider