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Technology Stocks : Ticketmaster-Citysearch (TMCS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ayahuasca who wrote (735)	10/24/1999 10:50:00 PM
From: ayahuasca	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 803

10 Companies That Get It .... Ticketmaster By Daniel Roth www.ticketmaster.com Eddie Vedder be damned. Ticketmaster's a power online too. Ticketmaster didn't have to move to the Web. UnlikE, say, Toys "R" Us, Ticketmaster not only dwarfs its rivals but also has a near monopoly. Its 3,750 clients sign exclusive distribution deals, and Ticketmaster tacks a stiff fee onto each of the 75 million tickets it sells each year. The Net startups nipping at Ticketmaster can't even break skin. In its IPO filing, rival Tickets.com concedes that it often sends customers to Ticketmaster's site, where the giant "receives all revenue...." Some competition. So what's surprising is how big a move Ticketmaster has made. After USA Network's Barry Diller acquired the company in 1998, he combined its Website with his CitySearch investment. Suddenly Ticketmaster's 30-person online team found itself sitting in pods instead of offices and getting equity instead of big raises. Ticketmaster Online quickly staked out its own turf. Whereas Ticketmaster targets big stadiums, the Website hits even music venues with fewer than 200 seats. Whereas Ticketmaster waits for buyers to come to it, the Website e-mails buyers the play list from the most recent concert they attended with an offer to sell a concert T-shirt. The My Ticketmaster service e-mails members news of events that might interest them. The site is a great example of what can happen when a big company is willing to set its Webheads free. "When you spin something off," says online chief Charles Conn, "you don't worry about cannibalization. You worry about making a business."