NEW YORK -- Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday announced it will form a new company
with Wenner Media, owners of disney | Odeo: Search, Discover and Share Digital Media from ::
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Rolling Stone and Men's Journal,
to tap into the content of US Weekly for its various entertainment
Web sites such as Mr. ShowBiz and SoapNet.
As part of the deal, Disney will acquire a 50-percent interest in
US. Terms weren't disclosed.
The new entity, named US Weekly LLC, will remain in New York. The deal
was announced by Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner and Jan Wenner,
chairman of US at a press conference in Disney's ABC midtown studios.
The move comes just a day after Disney detailed a second
round of cutbacks in its Disney Internet Group division, which is
currently being folded into its traditional media operations. In addition, a
slowdown in ad spending has forced many online and offline magazines either
to scale back or shutter entirely.
But Eisner defended Disney's magazine and Web publishing operations,
joking that he was informed by Tina Brown that ad revenues were fine at pop
culture publication Talk Magazine.
"I think there is a big opportunity in this space as a lot of people move
away (from it)," Eisner said. "We have content and technology and now we
have to find a way to drive it home."
Wenner added that ad revenues for US were better thanks to the
magazine's March 2000 relaunch when the publication shifted from monthly to
weekly schedule.
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Disney to Buy into US Weekly