---------------------------------------------------------------------- I N S I D E . C O M D A I L Y D I G E S T : M E D I A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- April 6, 2001 10:08 a.m. ET - http://www.inside.com - YAHOO INVESTORS CAN STOP CRYING -- FOR NOW Finally, some good news for Yahoo: after superanalyst Holly Becker of Lehman Brothers talked up the struggling portal's stock yesterday, shares skyrocketed 23 percent. Becker's warned traders for nine months to stay away from the stock, reports the New York Post, but changed her tune in a report yesterday. "We are now convinced that the worst is over, and the risk-reward on the shares is favorable for investors with a longer-term time horizon," she wrote. "It is now widely understood that Yahoo's business model needs to change, and management appears more open-minded and ready to move." Currently, Yahoo is valued at $8.6 billion -- a far cry from January 2000's $134 billion. The Standard also covers the good news for Yahoo, which yesterday signed a music distribution deal with the Vivendi Universal/Sony-owned online subscription service Duet. http://nypost.com/business/37948.htm http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,23396,00.html FINANCIAL TIMES LOSES 40 The Financial Times is the latest newspaper company to cut jobs at its online properties. Today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that the Pearson Group's Financial Times Group will cut about 40 jobs from its 350-person staffed Internet units, including the paper's Web site, FT.com. (The Financial Times also has a career site, FT Careerpoint, and a personal finance site, FT Your Money.) The group's CEO, Stephen Hill, insisted the company will still break even in 2002 and that FT.com will see "very strong" revenue growth this year. "Although the economic climate is difficult, our online advertising revenues continue to increase," Hill said. http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB98648341568029422.htm BUSINESS 2.0'S SHRINKING PRICE TAG Good luck selling New Economy title Business 2.0: the longer the Future Networks title is shopped around, the less valuable it becomes. Rumors about the magazine's sale began circulating in December, but no one's made a serious bid for the title. When and if Business 2.0 is sold, Future Networks definitely won't be getting the $150 million they possibly could have received in December. "The market has changed so dramatically that a $40 million to $60 million price is more likely," a source told The Deal. Time Inc. might still be interested, The Deal reports. If AOL Time Warner's magazine unit bought Business 2.0, they'd most likely combine it with Time Inc.'s existing New Economy publication, eCompany Now. http://www.thedeal.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_FutureTenseContentServer=02ed4970d5f53548&pagename=FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/Render&c=TDDArticle&cid=TDD2ZC376LC&preview=true ALSO... These are troubled times for most newspapers -- the advertising downturn, the push from parent companies for cutbacks -- but it's still a boom period for ethnic newspapers, writes Paul Colford in the New York Daily News. A guide to New York's 198 ethnic papers, Many Voices, One City, has just been published by the Independent Press Association-New York. Wall Street's still sexy? Who knew? You'd think the market downturn would've taken away its circa '99 luster -- but Playboy.com obviously doesn't agree. The New York Post's Page Six reports that Playboy's Web site is taking a "hottest bear market babe" poll. CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, CNN Moneyline host Willow Bay, CBS's Susan McGinnis, Fox's Molly Falconer, and Bloomberg's Prue Lewarne and Monica Bertran are up for the, um, honors. The winner will be offered a Playboy pictorial. http://nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/Media_and_Business/a-106237.asp http://www.pagesix.com/pagesix/pagesix.htm TOP STORIES ON INSIDE: April 06, 2001 ONLINE MUSIC SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE: VIVENDI UNIVERSAL AND SONY'S DUET VS. MUSICNET, PROPERTY OF THE THREE OTHER MAJORS While digital downloads from the five big labels can now be sold at one place, the music world is currently split in half when it comes to subscription services. Why the divide? PLUS: Recording Industry Still Needs Publishers' OK to Launch Online Subscriptions. http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27659&pod_id=9 TOMCATS FLOP MAKES SURE-THING SUCCESSION AT SONY SEEM A LITTLE LESS CERTAIN Golden boy Joe Roth -- everybody's bet to run the studio -- complicates things by coming out of the gate with a big bomb. http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27940&pod_id=10 TIVO TO SLASH STAFF BY 25% As its stock price founders, and Congress members press for an FTC investigation into privacy violations, the digital video recorder manufacturer attempts to eliminate the need for new financing. http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27976&pod_id=11 ESPN REELS IN FISHING MEDIA EMPIRE BASS, COULD LAUNCH ALL-OUTDOORS CHANNEL In a deal worth $35 million to $40 million, the sports company gets properties ranging from Bassmaster mag to TV shows to a whopping 25,000 annual events. But synergy won't come easy. http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27876&pod_id=7 THE GLOSSIES: JANE + KIDS - SEX = ROSIE Forget the (obvious) comparisons to Oprah and Martha. With this week's launch of her very own magazine, Rosie O'Donnell is taking a page from an entirely different sort of (former) TV talk show host: Jane Pratt. Plus: Jann Wenner pays homage to Graydon Carter. http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27938&pod_id=7 --------------------------------------------------------------------- More Daily Digests: Books: http://www.inside.com/pods/index?pod_id=8 Digital: http://www.inside.com/pods/index?pod_id=13 Film: http://www.inside.com/pods/index?pod_id=10 Media: http://www.inside.com/pods/index?pod_id=7 Music: http://www.inside.com/pods/index?pod_id=9 TV: http://www.inside.com/pods/index?pod_id=11 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to more Inside.com newsletters or unsubscribe to this newsletter here: http://signup.inside.com/account Send letters to the editor to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reach our customer service with questions or problems at: http://www.tightlink2.net/XSupport?cid=4190 OR 1-877-262-5958 You are subscribed as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2001 Inside.com. All rights reserved.
