Paul LaMonica, editor at CNNMoney.com writes “Time Warner chief operating officer Jeffrey Bewkes said Tuesday he was confident that the media giant would be a leader in online media, even though the turnaround at the company’s struggling AOL unit is just beginning. “
I think this is a very smart move for them. Online media can be more cost effective for a business if you know how to do it right. Broadcast television is really limiting when it comes to growing your brand and garnering attention because of the lack of “cross talk” or the ability to promote one brand through another. But when it comes to the internet, its as easy as integrating content from one brand into another to help grow a new site.
AOL? Sell them now while you can. They are making desperate moves, losing viewers and brand loyalty. They should have stuck with their subscriber model and continue to target their older demographic.
An interesting blog post I found the other day compares the age comparison of Netscape users compared to Digg. The results? The typical Digg visiter falls into the 17-24 age bracket while the typical Netscape visitor is over 55 years old. While Netscape is obviously not the same as AOL, it is still an AOL brand and I am willing to bet their visitor demographics are very close. This is a tool that AOL needs to use, do not flip the switch on your audience! Ween and teach them to use newer progressive technologies, you cannot just expect them to be so tolerant.
“Wall Street has been concerned about the steady decline in sales and operating profits at AOL as well as the sluggish performance in Time Warner’s magazine and movie studio businesses. “
AOL: RIP