Content area
Full Text
NEW YORK--NBC has launched the boldest multimedia mission of any major television network.
The various multimedia ventures launched by NBC over the past year, ranging from NBC Desktop Video to its NBC SuperNet site on The Microsoft Network (MSN), illustrate how the company is channeling its core assets to revamp its vision of what a broadcast network can do.
"It's NBC trying to be more forward thinking," said Laura Sachar, vice president, new media and entertainment for Communications Equity Associates (CEA).
NBC views its multimedia offerings as an extension of its core business, rather than a separate business.
"It's just like cable, it's just like international," said Marty Yudkovitz, senior vice president, NBC Multimedia. "It's anew distribution form." But determining what kinds of programming works best withmultimedia, and how to deliver that content, remains NBC's biggest challenge.
"The issue is to see how many places you can be because the risk is, you're going to back the wrong horse," said Christopher Dixon, an analyst with Paine Webber.
The good news for NBC?
Its deep pockets make a trial-and-error approach to new media possible....Raiding the Nest Egg Analysts project the network's 1995 operating profits will reach between $630 to $730 million, representing more than $100 million above the $500 million NBC earned in 1994.
The company is...