Art,
You may be correct.....
Below is an article from the Raging Bull.
ACTV is commented upon within the article.
It's quite a long email, but it is worth the time to read.
Article discusses Malone, Murdoch, ACTV, FoxSports etc....and THE relationship between the companies.
GO ACTV!
PHILM
Sent: Friday, July 16, 1999 7:05 PM To: ragingbull Subject: Raging Bull's Cyberstock Investor Report - July 16 THE RAGING BULL'S CYBERSTOCK INVESTOR REPORT "Your Weekly Internet Stock Newsletter" July 16, 1999 "Now Read By Over 140,000 CyberInvestors Weekly" Editor: Matthew W. Ragas ragingbull.com
To Subscribe ragingbull.com ------------------------------------------------------- Talk about your favorite Internet stocks with Matt Ragas and other investors on Raging Bull's CyberStock Board (http://www.ragingbull.com/cgi-bin/boards.pl?board=INTER) *********************** Advertisement ********************** LOOKING FOR WIRELESS INTERNET STOCK RESOURCES? IBC StockLine Newsletter publishes new report on why Microsoft founder Paul Allen invested $300 Million in Wireless and on emerging Wireless Internet Broadband Provider USURF America - www.usrf.com (OTC: USRF). Free Daily Internet report visit ibchannel.com ********************************************************* ------------------------------------------------------- ***RAGAS SPEAKS FOR THE WEEK*** ------------------------------------------------------ Crazy as a Fox Are there any Web naysayers left today in the off-line media world? I strongly have my doubts. Just look at the frantic string of Internet related investments and deals made in the past few months by CBS Corp. (CBS), Walt Disney (DIS), General Electric's (GE) NBC, New York Times Co. (NYT), Viacom (VIA) and others. The list goes on and on. Faced with a sharp dose of reality, every traditional media company now appears desperate to transform its off-line businesses into Web-centric operations. And I mean everyone. Even one of the Web's previously sharpest critics, News Corp. (NWS) Chairman Rupert Murdoch, seems to be whistling a different tune about the Web these days. Let's not forget that it was Murdoch who previously stated that the Internet would "destroy more businesses than it creates." Apparently, Murdoch has now come to the conclusion that while his previous statement may be true, the Internet may in fact dislodge and eventually destroy a large portion of News Corp.'s off-line media holdings in the process. Judging by News Corp.'s latest moves, it appears that Murdoch has finally come to the conclusion that it is better to have the reckless and hyperactive Internet as a close friend than a dire enemy. After all, trying to work against the hyper-change the Internet has spawned in countless off-line industries would be ludicrous at this point. With this in mind, Murdoch recently told British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph, "I don't understand the technology, and I never will. But you don't have to. You have to understand what it can do for you.'' I agree. Murdoch doesn't have to ever understand the technological side of the Net, he just needs to surround himself with people that do. To be fair to Murdoch, I can understand some of his previous distaste for the Web. Murdoch's past plate of Internet stocks Not many remember that back in 1993 it was Murdoch's News Corp. that purchased Delphi, the first online service to offer full access to the Internet. Delphi eventually helped launch a variety of Web sites for News Corp.'s Fox channels. However, at the same time, increased competition from Compuserve, Prodigy (PRGY) and America Online (AOL) ate into Delphi's existing subscriber base and Delphi's losses continued to mount. Frustrated with continuing to have to plow cash in Delphi, Murdoch unloaded the company to some of its original management team in 1996. As one can see, this was not exactly the kind of first-time Internet experience for Murdoch that would endear him to the Web. On the plus side, Murdoch could have been involved in an even bigger potential Net money pit with "push technology" pioneer Pointcast roughly a year later. It's bad deals like those that could have given a media giant like News Corp. a permanent cyber-stomachache for anything Net-related. Widely circulated rumors suggest that News Corp. approached Pointcast executives back in 1997 willing to offer them roughly $450 million to acquire Pointcast. One must recall that back in 1997 push technology was heralded as the Net's next big thing and that Pointcast was one of the Web's hottest companies at the time, bar none. Looking back, Murdoch should have thanked his lucky stars that Pointcast turned down his generous offer. A few months ago, after a variety of failed mergers and IPOs, Pointcast was finally purchased for a fire-sale price of $10 million in cash and stock by Internet incubator idealab. News Corp. definitely dodged a bullet by not getting sucked into the Pointcast fiasco. In the past two years, investors have watched portals like Yahoo! (YHOO), ExciteAtHome (XCIT) and Lycos (LCOS) grow into powerful media companies. While Time Warner (TWX) has tried and failed at building its own super portal in Pathfinder, News Corp. has kept an especially low profile on the Web. Murdoch clearly has no intention to build his own Fox-branded portal site. Instead, Fox spouted the well used traditional media rhetoric that it would instead concentrate on building "vertical sites" geared around existing programming. However, up until a few weeks ago, I felt that Murdoch's conservative Internet-oriented moves showed that News Corp. really didn't have any long-term strategic plan for the Net. I was wrong. The pieces of the Internet strategy puzzle for Murdoch seem to finally be falling into place. Let's take a closer look. Cobbling together an Internet strategy Broadband distribution deals: In February, Fox unveiled a broadband content agreement with Time Warner's high-speed cable Internet service, RoadRunner. As part of the agreement, RoadRunner agreed to carry a variety of video and graphic intensive programming from Fox sites like Fox Sports and Fox News over its service. In late April, Fox announced that it had struck a similar multi-year broadband content deal with high-speed cable service ExciteAtHome. Look for Murdoch's next move to be a variety of broadband content deals with some of the Baby Bells and satellite providers. Murdoch's primary Web play appears to be in leveraging existing off-line programming assets, which are video oriented in nature, and proliferating that content on the Web. To do that, he needs "fat pipes" and that means content distribution deals with every broadband service in creation. Stay tuned. Build a portfolio of content-driven Net companies: While many traditional media companies and Internet venture capitalists are betting their chips on Net infrastructure and e-commerce plays, News Corp. is staying focused on backing content oriented Net companies. This makes sense to me, since Fox has its roots in the programming and content creation world. To jump start News Corp.'s Net investment activities, Murdoch formed a separate $300 million Internet venture firm called ePartners back in April. To date, News Corp. holds minority stakes in financial news site TheStreet.com (TSCM), free e-mail provider Juno Online (JWEB), community site sixdegrees.com, and e-pharmacy and health care site PlanetRx.com. EPartners also recently made a minority investment in W.R. Hambrecht + Co., a fledgling online investment bank. The Hambrecht connection could become especially useful in the future as a cost-effective means for Murdoch to take various components of his growing Net portfolio public. Partner with existing Net investment veterans: Three weeks ago News Corp. announced that it would form a joint venture with Japan's Softbank to invest in Internet companies looking to launch services in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and India. Softbank is undoubtedly one of the Web's most well known venture investors and holds stakes in over a hundred Internet companies ranging from E*Trade (EGRP) to Yahoo. The new venture will be called eVentures and will be initially capitalized with $50 million. EVentures is not wasting any time sprinkling its cash into the coffers of Net startups. Already, the investment firm has made a $22.5 million investment in E*Loan (EELN) to help the company expand overseas. News Corp.'s ePartners unit will also invest $100 million in another Softbank-controlled Internet venture fund. The joint venture between both companies should not have come as a surprise to investors. Softbank was one of the original investors in JSkyB, the subscription-based satellite television venture of News Corp. The tightening of relationships between the two should give Fox's programming assets and Web investments an opportunity to work more frequently with Softbank and its vast portfolio of Internet companies in the future. In my opinion, the eVentures joint venture is the most aggressive and crafty move that Murdoch has made on the Net to date. Utilize TV Guide Interactive as "TV Portal": One possible explanation for News Corp.'s decision to not build a general purpose Internet portal, is that it already believes that in many respects it already has one. Here's what I mean. Murdoch controls a 49% voting and 44% equity stake in TV Guide. No, it's definitely not the well known weekly print magazine that has News Corp. excited. TV Guide has also developed an on-screen programming guide called TV Guide Interactive for digital television and interactive television viewers. Murdoch is betting that as the Net and television continue to converge, viewers will increasingly turn to interactive programming guides to navigate the Web and sort through the hundreds of channels available. I'm sure News Corp. would then like to plug in its Fox-branded Web sites and various Net investments into this interactive programming guide, creating a broadband portal directory in effect. We shall see. This is a nice thought, but TV Guide Interactive's success is far from certain. They face heavy competition from GemStar International (GMST), which has already struck licensing agreements with AOL, Microsoft (MSFT) and a variety of television manufacturers. Build on Malone and Liberty Media relationship: Future Internet-related deals between cable cowboy John Malone and News Corp. would appear to be on the horizon. Earlier this year, Fox purchased the 50% of Fox/Liberty Networks that it didn't already own from Liberty Media (LMGA,LMGB), the programming arm and investment vehicle of cable company TCI and John Malone. In exchange, Liberty boosted its stake in News Corp. to 8%. This makes Liberty the largest shareholder in News Corp. after the Murdoch family. This is also hardly the first time that Murdoch and Malone have worked together. Liberty also holds a 44% stake in TV Guide. Liberty Digital (TUNE), a newly formed Internet investment vehicle controlled by Liberty Media, has the rights to develop 12 interactive television channels to be carried over AT&T's (T) cable systems. James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's son and president of News America Digital Publishing, recently stated that News Corp. is working with its "programming partners" to create interactive television services. News Corp. is cutting broadband content deals with ExciteAtHome, RoadRunner and others because it desperately needs distribution. Liberty can provide that.
Not only does Liberty Media control valuable AT&T cable system rights, but Liberty also has a minority stake in ACTV (IATV), a developer of interactive and personalized television services. I find it more than a coincidence that one of ACTV's first programming partners is FoxSportsNet. Watch, Murdoch and Malone, as well a number of their various Internet investments, will break bread together in the near future. Forecasting Fox's Net future After an incredibly late start, News Corp. seems to finally be picking up steam on line and starting to make the right Net-related moves. Recent broadband content deals, a joint venture with Softbank and the formation of a separate Internet venture fund suggest that Murdoch has finally gotten the News Corp. machine into gear on the Web. Of course, a quick check of Internet research firm Media Metrix's Top 50 Digital Media/Web Properties for the month of May reveals that News Corp. Online ranks a lowly No. 41. A very embarrassing reality check for Murdoch & Co., I'm sure. While these recent moves are progress, News Corp. still has a tall mountain to climb on the Web. Could Murdoch's Fox end up looking like legendary mountain climber George Mallory, whose body was found frozen halfway up Mount Everest earlier this year? Perhaps, but I'm not counting out a cunning deal maker like Murdoch yet. He has too many off-line media assets that fledgling Web start-ups drool over to be called out of the game yet. Time and time again, Murdoch has persevered and succeeded in the past. The question now is: Does News Corp.'s team really have what it takes to succeed and thrive in this digital blizzard called the Internet? Better put on a thick parka, Rupert. It's going to get awfully windy half-way up this mountain. *********************** Advertisement ********************** LOOKING FOR WIRELESS INTERNET STOCK RESOURCES? IBC StockLine Newsletter publishes new report on why Microsoft founder Paul Allen invested $300 Million in Wireless and on emerging Wireless Internet Broadband Provider USURF America - www.usrf.com (OTC: USRF). Free Daily Internet report visit ibchannel.com ********************************************************* ------------------------------------------------------------ ***WEEKLY PUBLIC INTERNET MARKET NEWS*** ------------------------------------------------------------ ragingbull.com -- ONSALE and Egghead.com Announce $400M Merger -- Amazon.com Takes 49% Stake in Gear.com -- Excite@Home Acquires iMALL for $425M -- E*TRADE Acquires TIR Holdings for $122M -- DoubleClick Acquires NetGravity for $530M -- iVillage Acquires Lamaze Publishing for $86.7M -- CDNOW and Columbia House Announce Merger -- Walt Disney Merges Its Internet Assets with Infoseek ------------------------------------------------------------ ***WEEKLY PRIVATE INTERNET MARKET NEWS*** ------------------------------------------------------------ ragingbull.com -- Sportvision Lands $9.3M in Second Round Financing -- Intel Takes Stake in HealthAxis.com -- HardwareStreet.com Secures $5.5 Million in Funding -- Petopia.com Announces $66M Capital Infusion -- Barksdale Group Leads $8M Venture Round for Respond.c -- BuyMedia.com Raises $5.1M in New Financing ------------------------------------------------------- ***WEEKLY INTERNET IPO FILINGS*** ------------------------------------------------------- ragingbull.com -- NetZero Inc. -- Ashford.com ------------------------------------------------------- ***QUARTERLY EARNINGS RESULTS*** ------------------------------------------------------- ragingbull.com -- Cnet (CNET) -- Multex.com (MLTX) -- EarthLink (ELNK) -- Inktomi (INKT) ------------------------------------------------------------ ***UPGRADES, DOWNGRADES & COVERAGE INITIATED*** ------------------------------------------------------------ DOWNGRADES ------------------------------------------------------ ragingbull.com -- Egghead.com NEW COVERAGE INITIATED ------------------------------------------------------ ragingbull.com -- AppNet Systems (First Union Capital) -- Razorfish (First Union Capital) -- Sapient (First Union Capital) -- AppNet Systems (Hambrecht & Quist) -- CNet (CS First Boston) -- Exodus Communications (Bank of America Securities) -- GoTo.com (DLJ) -- GoTo.com (Salomon Smith Barney) -- GoTo.com (Thomas Weisel) -- Inktomi (Bank of America Securities) -- TicketMaster Citysearch (Bank of America Securities) -- Streamline.com (Bank of America Securities) -- Mail.com (PaineWebber) ------------------------------------------------------- ***QUOTE OF THE WEEK*** ------------------------------------------------------- "This is a platform to build commerce and travel initiatives. We will sell everything the Disney catalogue sells, and eventually will expand beyond the Disney-branded merchandise." -- Comments made this week by Steve Wadsworth, the president of Walt Disney's Buena Vista Internet Group regarding the company's decision to include its off-line Disney Catalog business in the proposed merger of Infoseek and Disney's Internet assets. ------------------------------------------------------- ***NEWS LINKS OF THE WEEK*** ------------------------------------------------------- Stock of China.com Raises Many Flags - Washington Post washingtonpost.com Murdoch's Digital Plans - Cable World cableworld.com Net Consolidation: Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor... - SmartMoney.com smartmoney.com The Net Mogul Who Almost Was - The Industry Standard thestandard.com InterVU's Stock Continues to Defy Logic - Red Herring Online redherring.com Audiohighway.com: We Own Net Music - Wired News wired.com Drawing the Line at ValueLine - TheStreet.com (subscription required) thestreet.com Is French Group Becoming the Next CMGI? - News.com news.com Microsoft is Moving Closer to Creating an Internet Tracking Stock - Wall St. Journal (subscription required) interactive.wsj.com Is Critical Path Still on Course? - Business Week Online businessweek.com ..htm CBS Ready to Take a Bite Out of Portals? - ZDNet zdnet.com Online Drugstore Cowboys - Upside Today upside.com ------------------------------------------------------- If you have friends who might enjoy this mailing, please feel free to forward it to them. COMMENTS: We want to hear from you- Please e-mail any comments or feedback to CyberStock Investor Report's Editor, Matt Ragas at matt@ragingbull.com. Ragas is available to the press for comments on Internet stocks upon request. ------------------------------------------------------- To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to this report, please point your browser to: ragingbull.com ------------------------------------------------------- The Raging BullTM aims to provide a forum for investment ideas. Our articles and columns should not be construed as investment advice, nor does their appearance imply an endorsement by Raging Bull, Inc. of any specific security or trading strategy. An investor's best course of action must be based on individual circumstances. This material is for personal use only. Copyright 1999, RagingBull.Com ragingbull.com |
