The news department is a complete department operated by ABC alone, responsible for the production of all news columns of the ABC TV network, the profit margin of news programs has always been very low, and only CNN has broken this rule over the years, however, the news department is the most important media communication channel of a media group, this kind of national public opinion control tool is definitely not a simple profit can be measured, even if it is a money-losing operation, several major TV networks will not easily cut their news programs.

When Katzenberg talked about Nightline, a late-night news program, Eric didn't just be shocked by the huge profit gap between Nightline and NBC and CBS's late-night shows, but cautiously asked, "Robert and David, the president of the news department?" What is the contradiction between Westin, and also, the introduction of "David? Letterman's Late Late Show, what about Nightline? ”

Katzenberg replied: "This matter is mainly because David is worried that once "Nightline" is cut, it will become the fuse for the headquarters to compress the news department, in addition to "Nightline", the news department has several other low-rated news programs, if these programs are all eliminated, the number of employees and budget of the news department will be reduced by at least 30%, the news department has always been a complete system, so it is difficult for the management of the department to accept that the original stable state is suddenly broken." Regarding "Nightline," Robert's plan was to postpone the news show by an hour, after the late-night show. ”

"It's a terrible idea to postpone for an hour, it's better to just cut it out, if I were David, I guess I'd fall out with Robert." Eric shook his head and smiled, "Nightline" was originally broadcast at 11 o'clock in the evening, delayed by one hour. After putting it in the early hours of the morning, he completely entered the garbage period of the TV station, and after thinking about it for a while, Eric said: "You personally called David?" Westin talks about this matter, don't drag it out and escalate the conflict. Just say that I promised that there would not be any large-scale changes to the Department of Public Information at Headquarters, even if Nightline was canceled. There will also be no large-scale layoffs in the Department of Public Information. ”

Katzenberg asked, "What about the extra employees?" ”

Eric thought for a while and said, "Now there are two major professional news stations in the industry, Fox News and CNN, and professional news stations need to be scaled up to be profitable. The reason why Fox News has been able to rise rapidly is also dependent on the media resources of the entire News Corp. all over the world, which we don't have any advantage in, so. We're not going to be ABC News Channel. But. There are no professional news websites on the Internet, and I think we can start in this area, although the news department of ABC cannot support a 24-hour news channel, but it is more than enough to set up a professional news website. ”

Katzenberg wondered, "Eric, isn't Yahoo a news site?" ”

Eric shook his head and said, "Yahoo is positioned as a comprehensive information platform website, and the news section is only a small part of Yahoo's business, and Yahoo will produce some content." But most of the information comes from the entire Internet media, which is equivalent to an 'online supermarket' that distributes content from other websites. ”

Katzenberg nodded incomprehensibly. I made up my mind to go back and study the relevant information.

Eric added: "The Internet is likely to be the main media channel in the future, so, let David? Westin attaches great importance to this matter, and if you encounter any problems with website construction, you can contact Yahoo for help. Ted? When Turner founded CNN, many people felt that CNN had no profit prospects, and as a result, they gave up the cake that should have belonged to the major television networks to this latecomer. The situation is very similar to that of the past, and almost no one notices the potential of professional news sites on the Internet, and ABC may be able to reach the heights of CNN in real life by entering the market early. ”

Eric is clear about the later Internet environment, compared with search engines, e-commerce and other fields, news websites do not have much profit prospects, and more importantly, they can only be used as online public opinion tools, which is also what Eric values the most, but he will not say it clearly at this time, otherwise, the news department will definitely not make full efforts to develop business in this field.

The most important purpose of Eric's proposal is to provide an alternative development direction for the news department and resolve the internal conflicts caused by the business adjustment of "Nightline" and other business adjustments. But Katzenberg was a little excited because of Eric's suggestion, at this time the Internet wave has begun to rise, as the head of a media group, Katzenberg is also more and more exposed to relevant information, creating a news channel to compete with CNN in reality, Katzenberg knows that ABC is absolutely not this kind of strength, but if you can seize the opportunity, on the network to create a professional news website that is no less than the status of CNN in reality, it is also a very fulfilling thing.

"Eric, if that's the case, I'll take the time to personally take charge of the ABC News website, with this business, David's side shouldn't be in trouble anymore, and the adjustment of "Nightline" can go smoothly."

Feeling Katzenberg's ambition, Eric couldn't hit him, so he turned his mind around and said, "It's better to set up another subsidiary of Firefly to be responsible for the affairs of the news website, so as to facilitate operations such as listing and financing in the next few years." ”

Katzenberg wondered, "Eric, why do you want to go public, haven't you always been against going public?" ”

Going public, of course, is to make money.

Often, news sites have uncertain earnings prospects, and it's nearly impossible to raise money by going public alone.

But the next few years will be different, the Internet wave is rising, any Internet concept company will be sought after by investors, Eric does not expect ABC News to achieve much operating income, but if you don't take advantage of the opportunity of the Internet bubble to make a big profit in the financial market, it is too sorry for the prophetic advantage of its reborn.

This kind of thinking can't be said directly to Katzenberg, and Eric doesn't want to talk nonsense, just said: "Jeffrey, I can't explain it to you now, and you'll understand in a few years." ”

It's not the first time that Katzenberg has encountered Eric's arguments, and it often turns out that Eric is right, so he no longer questioned it, but continued to ask Eric what specific ideas he had for the establishment of a news website.

They talked until the sun sank into the sea beyond the glass curtain wall, and Katzenberg and Kelly said goodbye together.

Eric looked at the time, and there was a "Saving Private Ryan" Oscar public relations reception in the evening, so he went upstairs to change into a suit, and also hurriedly left Malibu and rushed to Beverly Hills. (To be continued.) )