NBC announces massive layoffs - now to focus on the Internet
- By: The Founder [privmsg - website] On 19th Oct 2006 In
"As we reprioritize ourselves toward digital, we've got to be as efficient in our current businesses as possible," said Wright, who was expected to make an official announcement Friday.
NBC Universal plans to cut US$750 million in operating expenses by the end of 2007 by eliminating employees, cutting back on scripted shows, and slashing its news budget, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.
Founders Note:
Now the question is do they exactly know how to do this... seriously asking the question if their skillset even allows them to focus online.
Dollars does not exactly translate into success, they have to have the right people with the right focus and the right ideas. I don't see this happening at NBC, as headlines of layoffs make far more news than anything positive. What they need to do is think really how and where they asset allocate to provide something of measurable success.
Just buying high priced sites without a plan, or even without figuring a way to drive traffic to them would be a mistake of epic proportions. They need to allocate resources to something that delivers a positive ROI.
If they had the right people there, they wouldn't of had this problem in the first place.
Its not about focus
Their problem is that they are no longer needed or viewed as a news source. Instead of breaking stories, they regurgitate the news that was online within minutes of real time.
I dont think this about the right people or the right skillsets, but about the right mindset. Do they have the vision needed and the guts to completely reinvent themselves?
I second that emotion
Well said Kirby - I completely agree. Further to that point, I will be interested in how the old transition to the web...
I don't see this happening
Exactly.
October 2006 - hey, we need a blog!
>>he, we need a
>he, we need a blog!
Converting most of NBC's current programs to a blog only format would be an improvement.
maybe
they'll bring back Snap ...the OLD Snap. ...with my old rankings.
Brian Williams' thoughts
Here.
>Brian Williams
wonder who wrote that for him?
Push vs Pull
Times are a changin'. Why sit through countless stories that don't really interest you when you can just skim the headlines to read what's of interest. Click for more, search for related, download the video clip.
And shop online while you're at it. It won't be long before we'll have interactive newscasters (not annanova or eyeblaster) that will behave like something that Hollywood dreamed up.
NBC Ya Later
GE loved NBC when it was throwing off tons of cash even though the strategic fit within GE was questionable. It always made the shareholders feel good to see the cast of Friends and Katie on the annual report. Now that they are in the basement, now that they have made huge, overvalued and/or strategically questionable acquisitions (Uni, Telemundo, IVillage, etc.), methinks it is time for GE to dump the peacock. Prediction - they do a brutal cleanup of the numbers over the next couple of quarters and sell the bejesus out of the Olympics. The day after the closing ceremonies they sell NBCUni to a private equity firm.
FYI even though its Internet strategy seems a bit all over the place I believe for the first time in a long time they actually have some decent operators over there. The problem is that the Web is still outside the comfort zone of most of the guys at the top.
>decent operators
I was only half-joking about Snap, even then someone working with NBC almost had a clue. When they were very actively promoting Snap (which was stupidly rebranded as NBCi after it started gaining traction) on late evening programming and through affiliates, Snap could generate good, strong, money-spending traffic.
Snap/NBCi IPO'd to early.
Snap/NBCi IPO'd to early. It could have evolved into a portal to rival Yahoo if they didn't had to meet quarterly profit expectations. Ditto, on traffic. Sigh.