How To Save AOL: Spin It Off And Focus On Broadband
from the a-proposal dept
As AOL-Time Warner’s board discusses just what to do with Steve Case, Wired has written an open letter to Case telling him just what he needs to do to save AOL: spin it off from Time Warner and focus on broadband. The article makes some compelling arguments for why AOL is a better company without Time Warner (despite the arguments that some would make that AOL is “dragging down” Time Warner). Basically, the idea is that AOL has a brand and clout, and can leverage that to make a broadband service that has additional value beyond the broadband connection. Of course, originally, that was the point of the merger. The idea had been that they could leverage Time Warner content to create a digital media empire that would make it compelling to sign up for AOL. Now, though, the argument is that Time Warner is limiting AOL, and they could have much more success being independent. It’s an interesting argument, but (as we were just discussing) many feel that it’s not the lack of content holding back broadband adoption, but the price. Under that scenario, AOL would be in trouble, because they would spend a lot to offer content that wouldn’t necessarily be appealing to people – while pulling in fewer dollars from each customer (since they would have to share the subscription fees with the broadband providers).
