USWB <NEWS> More news
Topic: (NASDAQ:USWB) United Screw & Bolt Corp,
Headline: USWeb/CKS Report Explores the Future of Entertainment Online; Industry
Executives Weigh In
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Industry Outlook Examines Evolving Business Models, Digital Distribution,
E-Commerce Impact
LOS ANGELES, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Challenging the online and
entertainment communities to identify the Internet's unique role as an
entertainment medium, the Entertainment and Media Practice of USWeb/CKS
(NASDAQ:USWB), a leader in strategic Internet and marketing communications
services, has unveiled an Industry Outlook report entitled, "Charting the
Future of the Online Entertainment."
The report includes insight from top entertainment and media industry
executives and explores the Internet's evolving role as a unique entertainment
medium -- identifying areas of optimism, opportunity and concern.
The report was released during Spring Internet World at the "Second Annual
Toast to the Digital Coast: The Next Hollywood: The Biz, The Buzz, The Bucks,"
an event co-sponsored by USWeb/CKS and Lawnmower, the Los Angeles New Media
Roundtable.
"With more than 700 new media companies in Silicon Valley, Southern
California's Digital Coast and in New York's Silicon Alley, no one yet has
found the unique 'entertainment proposition' the Internet offers -- one that
leverages the medium's special qualities, and delivers compelling content,
community and interactivity," said Nick Rothenberg, partner, USWeb/CKS, and
head of the firm's Entertainment & Media Practice. "We prepared this report
to simultaneously look back and look ahead, to see how we might achieve the
right formula for entertaining consumers online."
Insight from Industry Insiders
In developing the Industry Outlook, USWeb/CKS interviewed senior
executives from major entertainment and media organization, including
20th Century Fox, Atomic Pop, FX Networks, Hard Rock Cafe, The Hollywood
Reporter, Motion Picture Association of America, NBC, Sony Pictures and
UBL.com. The firm also relied on its experience as the Internet strategy
partner to a host of leading companies in music, film, broadcast and
publishing.
"Like other global industries, entertainment has spent the last five years
on a steep learning curve," Rothenberg said. "Now, as network bandwidth
expands and e-commerce becomes a reality, the Entertainment Industry is poised
to tackle the really big questions: 'How will consumers be entertained five
years from now? And how will companies build viable entertainment businesses
online?'"
"This much is clear: for Internet users to be entertained, they must feel
involved," he added. "They want to manipulate the programming and entertain
themselves. They demand to participate; they want to be the show."
Five Principles for the Future
The USWeb/CKS Industry Outlook identifies five principles that will shape
the future of entertainment on the Internet:
* The user's experience will become the "product"
* "Creative" will leverage the Internet's interactivity
* Personalized digital delivery will replace mass distribution
* Commerce will become the primary revenue generator
* The major players will remain the major players
"We're all learning that the Internet really does operate by different
rules," said Steve Rennie, president, UBL.com. "Traditional marketing and
selling paradigms don't apply, nor do the usual business models.
Entertainment and media companies must make a cultural shift to both operate
on 'Internet time' and accept a technological way of doing business. But
everybody better get used to it, because technology will be integrated into
everything we do from now on."
Among the report's other conclusions:
* Entertainment & Media companies will increasingly be capable of either
selling the product or serving up an experience (or both) while entertaining.
* Technological advances will drive user experiences to an even greater
level of intimacy, and in varied aspects of daily life.
* Entertainment & Media companies will begin to replace traditional mass
marketing with niche marketing efforts capable of leveraging the Internet's
interactive potential.
* The largest Entertainment & Media companies will use their information
assets to act as "infomediaries" -- keepers of critical consumer data for sale
to smaller players, or which can serve to fuel entirely new lines of business.
For a copy of the USWeb/CKS Industry Outlook, visit www.uswebcks.com.
About The USWeb/CKS Entertainment & Media Practice
The USWeb/CKS Entertainment & Media Practice offers expertise in all
aspects of Internet technologies, strategic consulting, site design and
development, content creation, online marketing and merchandising and
sophisticated Internet systems integration. The Practice is committed to
helping clients use the Internet strategically to develop additional revenue
streams and boost ROI, through such activities as building brands, transacting
commerce, creating community, improving customer service and supporting
employees.
With headquarters in Los Angeles, the Entertainment & Media Practice
serves organizations in music, film, broadcasting and publishing, from the
company's offices worldwide. Leveraging the creativity and technical skills
of the firm's more than 2,000 employees, the Entertainment & Media Practice of
USWeb/CKS works with a diversity of marquee clients managed by a core team of
Internet professionals with unsurpassed experience and expertise.
In Entertainment & Media, the USWeb/CKS client base includes music
companies such as Atlantic, Atomic Pop, Elektra, EMI, Epic, Interscope,
Mercury, Polygram, Sony and Virgin; broadcasters NBC, ABC, CBS, FX Network and
the BBC; and such diverse entities as The Academy Awards, America Online,
Go Network, Pixar, Starwave, Columbia TriStar, DirecTV, Hard Rock Cafe,
Paramount Pictures, SFX Entertainment, Radio City Music Hall, Times Mirror,
Twentieth Century Fox, UBL.com, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and Warner
Chappell.
About USWeb/CKS
USWeb/CKS is a professional services firm that works with clients to
define strategies and implement innovative ways to build their businesses
through the combination of expertise in strategy, Internet technology and
marketing communications. USWeb/CKS helps clients differentiate their
products and services, strengthen customer relationships, leverage human
capital, and improve business efficiency in the digital economy. With more
than 2,300 professionals, USWeb/CKS has helped hundreds of businesses advance
their marketing communications programs as well as their traditional IT and
Internet systems. The Company provides a broad selection of services from
brand development and advertising to business process automation and
e-commerce solutions. The Company headquarters are in Santa Clara,
California. Additional information about USWeb/CKS is available at
uswebcks.com or by calling 408-987-3200.
NOTE: This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
(as defined under securities law) regarding the future of the Internet as an
entertainment medium. USWeb/CKS's industry insight and future predictions
discussed in this release may change over time due to future industry
developments and various market factors. There can be no assurance that the
predictions relating to the Internet as an entertainment medium will
materialize. For additional information about factors that could affect the
USWeb/CKS Entertainment and Media Practice's Industry Outlook, see the
documents filed by USWeb and CKS Group with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission.
SOURCE USWeb/CKS
-0- 04/21/99
/CONTACT: Ken Greenberg of Edge Communications Inc., 818-719-9292, or
edgepress@netzero.net, for USWeb/CKS; or Tamairah Woodward of USWeb/CKS,
310-664-5100, or twoodward@uswebcks.com/
/Company News On-Call: prnewswire.com or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 120663/
/Web site: usweb.com |
