Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: EJhonsa who wrote (9915)	12/23/2000 7:53:55 PM
From: ftth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

[edit] re:"...doesn't WebTV have a few million subscribers? " I believe it's only a shade over 1 million, with minimal growth of late (which is why they are offering incentives and rebates). The first beta of WebTV was around April of '96. In line with what you mentioned in another part of your post, here's a snip from a recent press release: ----------- "The company's WebTV unit has found out the hard way that people don't want to send e-mails or surf the Web on their televisions, but chances are better that they'll take to trivia questions, news updates, and sports statistics that can be brought up on their screens at will." ---------- Chances may be better that a person that aligns with the WebTV demographic will "take" to it but I don't think any more than a small percentage of the population would pay for this. --------------- The full article is below: Microsoft, CBS May Actually Get It: WebTV Is About TV, Not the Net. Internet World, Oct 15, 2000 By Anastasia Ashman UNLIKE MOST ATTEMPTS TO BRING THE INternet to televisions, Microsoft's recent deal with CBS shows some signs of intelligence. The company's WebTV unit has found out the hard way that people don't want to send e-mails or surf the Web on their televisions, but chances are better that they'll take to trivia questions, news updates, and sports statistics that can be brought up on their screens at will. Microsoft reportedly paid CBS more than $20 million to deliver 500 hours of enhanced CBS programming, including sitcoms, dramas, and "reality-based" shows like "Survivor," to WebTV customers (the company has only I million-plus customers after three years on the market). Starting with the 2000-'01 TV season, CBS will provide dramas, comedies, specials, movies, and sports programming to WebTV's 1 million subscribers, whose televisions are equipped with a special set-top box. While watching those programs, subscribers will be able to access enhanced content on demand. If interactive television is going to work anywhere in the near term, it would be with this deal, suggests Rob Enderle, vice president of desktop and mobile technology at Giga Information Group. One important aspect of this partnership is that it's more about television than the Internet, giving users a chance to supplement TV--which they like more than the Web--with additional information and features. Also, teaming up with a major network to achieve full programming capability is critical for Microsoft to showcase its next-generation technology. "CBS needs the experience, since they agree this is where the market is going," Enderle says, "and Microsoft is the only game in town with an installed user base." However, that user base may be a stumbling block, according to Sujata Ramnarayan, a digital media analyst at the Gartner Group. "WebTV's installed base is not exactly high, so even though the timing for interactive TV is on the mark, in terms of reach, CBS might not get what it is shooting for," she says. The quantity of users isn't much to brag about, but the quality of these users might be. Gary Arlen, president of Arlen Communications, an interactive consultancy based in Bethesda, Md., says the technophobic demographic of WebTV's user base is very similar to CBS's watchers. In that case, CBS may be able to retain its demographic as the age of interactivity dawns.