It now appears that a deal isn't that close. News Corp. has had...

It now appears that a deal isn't that close. News Corp. has had merger talks with Blinkx, an audio and video search company that has obvious relevance for a media empire with TV and movie holdings. "We have had discussions with them and others but are not near a deal at this point,"

"Until recently, there was always a sense that someone needed to stand in the middle between the content provider and consumers, but that is not necessary if the content provider has aggregated large amounts of diverse and compelling content," says Hindery.

HARD ROAD. Other media companies have tried this approach, without real success. Disney failed to turn its "Go" network into a major presence on the Web, although its espn.com has been a huge hit. Time Warner reached for the stars by acquiring AOL, but the combination has never quite worked, and there's speculation that AOL could be spun off if its new identity as a free portal fails to work.

And if the big media companies have largely failed to create their own portals, the big portals don't own their own content. Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Google distribute goods that are produced by others.

News Corp. wants to merge the content of a big media company with its own portal. It won't be easy. Time Warner still struggles to make its AOL deal work. But Murdoch may just succeed, just as he succeeded in upending the TV business in the 80s and 90s.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050816_5029_tc024.htm?chan=db

LOOK are already involved with a BIGGER Media Co called Viacom. Perhaps a 'compromise' by NEWS with Looksmart 'standing in the middle' as a facilitator ??

Now, THAT makes sense.

:)
LC

:)
LC