Steve's Case
The New York Times has a story about whether Steve Case is relevant to AOL Time Warner anymore. People seem to forget the Time Warner has gone through its share of turmoil pre-AOL, after other mergers that were questioned for many years after their fulfillment. Steve Case is still important to the company and it makes sense for him to appear on the dais with his executive team when they make the case for their strategy on Tuesday.
Case is paraphrased, rather awkwardly, I think, saying:
The world can change fast, Mr. Case told the conference, citing the example of President Bush, who has also faced some doubts about his credibility. Two years ago, many doubted Mr. Bush's legitimacy as president over the election recount. But since the midterm elections, Mr. Case told the crowd, analysts consider his presidency a singular success.
The point I believe Case may have intended is: Analysts are full of shit.
The fact is that Bush's lack of credibility was overblown and his success even more so, because the press is covering his "national emergency" without asking if it is legit -- at least it justifies lots of breaking news announcements on CNN. Stilted coverage, emphasizing crisis instead of day-to-day decision-making, has created the breathless analysis of AOL Time Warner since the day it announced its merger near the end of the Internet bubble. Since then, the company has succeeded in earning more revenue and has not seen a reversal of ISP revenues, only a slowdown. Not bad in this day and age.
As for the wisdom of holding onto the 35 million subscribers at AOL, despite two offers for the ISP, any move to sell that audience base would be terribly misguided.
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe at December 1, 2002 09:25 PM | TrackBack