WebProNews

Tag: Sun Valley

  • If It’s a Streaming War We’d Like To Be an Arms Dealer, Says IAC CEO

    If It’s a Streaming War We’d Like To Be an Arms Dealer, Says IAC CEO

    “If it’s a streaming war we’d like to be an arms dealer,” says IAC CEO Joey Levin. “We want to send the product and services to people who are making video. Video is relevant not just to people building streaming services, which there are now endless amounts of that and endless amounts of capital, but also every small business and every event. Everywhere people interact they’re expecting video now. It used to be text, then it was images, and now it’s video.”

    Joey Levin, CEO of IAC, discusses their position as the “arms dealer” in the streaming wars in an interview on CNBC at The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference:

    If It’s a Streaming War We’d Like To Be an Arms Dealer

    If it’s a streaming war we’d like to be an arms dealer. We want to send the product and services to people who are making video. Video is relevant not just to people building streaming services, which there are now endless amounts of that and endless amounts of capital, but also every small business and every event. Everywhere people interact they’re expecting video now. It used to be text, then it was images, and now it’s video. People need the tools to make that and our goal is to provide them.

    I’m thrilled (we pivoted away from being a platform for streaming) now that everyone’s jumping into that space. I think between the time we announced that we were going to get into the streaming wars and the time we backed out there was another several billion dollars within a few months that entered the category. We were not competing with weapons that size and thought we’d be better off being a service provider. 

    It’s Possible To Compete With Google But They Have To Play Fairly

    I don’t know what the right answer is (regarding breaking up big tech companies such as Google and Facebook) but I do know that we need an answer. Regulations are very hard to get right. I think frequently regulations in areas like that end up helping the incumbents. Those companies have already built huge data stores and they know what to do with those. It’ll just make it harder for the next people that come in to gather the data they need to compete. I don’t know how the regulations would work. I’d love to see that happen. I’d love to see regulations allow for more competition and protect competition, but it’s hard to see how that’s going to work. I don’t think GDPR did that really and I don’t know what would. They may need other solutions.

    I think it’s possible (to compete with Google) but they have to play fairly. They have a significant position in search and they have a significant position in other areas too and that’s where a lot of people start their behavior. If Google starts favoring its own products or continues favoring its own products that is not going to leave room for others. I think that’s not necessarily great for the country.

    In Deciding To Take a Company Public We Take a Long-Term Perspective

    We don’t think a lot about a particular market state when we’re taking a company publicly. We think about what’s right for the company at the time. Does the company need access to capital? Does the company need a currency? Could a company benefit in some way by being public and having a public currency? It’s kind of independent of what market we’re in at that moment (when we decide it’s the right) time to take a company public. Just because the market might be hot or valuations might be high doesn’t mean we need to hit that window because we take a much longer-term perspective.

    The (recent IPOs) are all different and they all have their own story. There are fantastic companies going public. I think it’ll be good for investors and they have opportunities to invest in them. It’s better that their public in a lot of cases than being private where a limited number of people can invest in them.

    We Now Match 100 Percent of Employee 401k Contributions

    I think there are different answers for different businesses (regarding potential regulations that could shut down the gig economy). We have businesses that have gig economy workers, 1099 workers, and we have businesses that are very big on W2 workers. The question is are the employees or the people doing the work getting the benefits that they want and getting the benefits that they need? Many of them prefer to be independent contractors and many of them prefer some of the benefits of independent contractors. Others like BlueCrew, which is all W2 workers, want benefits and need the things that come with being a W2 worker. Each business has its own needs on that.

    One of the other things that we’re doing at IAC right now that’s really important for our 8,000 employees is we just announced a big change to our 401k plan to address the income inequality gap, to get more people investing in the market, to get more people participating in the economy and in capitalism. We are now matching a hundred percent of people’s 401k contributions up to 10% of their salary which is I think relatively unheard of among our competitors and other companies. I’m hoping other people follow that.

    If It’s a Streaming War We’d Like To Be an Arms Dealer, Says IAC CEO Joey Levin
  • All of Broadcasting Is In Danger From Streaming, Says Barry Diller

    All of Broadcasting Is In Danger From Streaming, Says Barry Diller

    “It’s all of broadcasting that’s in danger because of what’s happened with streaming and with other services in that the only people who are willing to watch commercials are people that can’t afford to buy the goods being sold,” says media mogul Barry Diller. “That’s an existential long-term issue. It’s a fascinating time because it truly is a giant arms race. When you have a giant arms race it really is kind of last dollar in.”

    Barry Diller, Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and Expedia, discusses how streaming has upended broadcasting and Hollywood in an interview on CNBC at The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference:

    Don’t Know Who Is Going To Win The Streaming Wars

    I don’t know who is going to “win this” (the streaming wars). This is a weird transformation. Ten years ago you essentially have these six movie companies that had hegemony over the entire production-distribution business. Along comes two complete outsiders, Netflix and Amazon, that totally upended what was a kind of a stable business in terms of how it functioned all throughout the world. If you owned a movie company you kind of had a worldwide franchise. Now you have an arms race that never existed before. You have a complete blurring of television and movies which only happened in the last couple of years. 

    You have these two new entrants which have forced not only consolidation on the old players but forced them to now make investments in their wildest dreams they’ve never had to make before. So you have Disney which has mobilized itself like a true, God-knows, super force wanting to compete in streaming because of these two big players, Amazon and Netflix. You have AT&T reorganizing itself, buying Time Warner. They’re going to compete. 

    Hollywood Was a Cottage Industry and Now It’s an Arms Race

    How many people are going to be at this table five or ten years from now? I think it’s impossible to say. Hollywood is irrelevant. It is irrelevant to the following extent. Before, anything those majors did was kind of an absolute. You couldn’t dislodge them, you couldn’t do anything. So along comes two outside players and everybody is completely dislodged and discombobulated because they can’t get access directly to the audience. 

    The fact that they’re competing and the fact that you’ve got two big funded players─although they do have a lot of debt─Disney and AT&T, who are going to enter this in a very vigorous way, but that has nothing to do with what we used to call or think of “Hollywood.” This was a cottage industry and now it’s an arms race.

    All of Broadcasting Is In Danger From Streaming

    I’ve said this to my parral, no one is going to compete with Netflix in gross subscribers. I believe they have won the game. There is nothing that I can see that is going to dislodge them. Amazon is in a completely different business in that it’s selling Prime which gives you all sorts of services, just among them is video and television. Disney has the best chance just because of its very very popular content and the money, the distribution, and the Disney name that it’s putting behind it. Disney has the best chance to get millions of new subscribers. Will they ever get to Netflix (subscriber levels). I don’t think so. I don’t think it matters much. 

    I never thought and don’t believe that it takes size really (to compete) because if you’re making content there are so many buyers. You don’t need to have any size, you just need to have some talent and some energy and you can do well. Can you build a big empire? Unlikely. I don’t think that the smaller players are necessarily in danger. It’s all of broadcasting that’s in danger because of what’s happened with streaming and with other services in that the only people who are willing to watch commercials are people that can’t afford to buy the goods being sold. That’s an existential long-term issue. It’s a fascinating time because it truly is a giant arms race. When you have a giant arms race it really is kind of last dollar in.

    I Think That Regulation Is Mandatory (of Big Tech)

    I have absolutely always thought and always believed in sensible regulation (in regards to Google, Facebook, and others). When you get to be of a certain size and when you influence markets there should be regulation that’s tailored to some of the things that are outgrowths of you having a certain kind of market size where you can dictate things that may not be in, let’s call it fair playing field, best interest of all players, etc. I think that regulation is mandatory. I think that it will happen. 

    I don’t think that these companies should be “broken up” unless it is proven that regulation doesn’t work. I’ve lived in environments where I grew up in broadcasting, broadcasting was a very regulated world. You actually got your license from the government and they could take it away from you. That’s sword over your head made you act. If you didn’t want to act decently, it sure of spurred you along the way. So I’m a believer in good regulation. I’m hopeful.

    All of Broadcasting Is In Danger From Streaming, Says Barry Diller

  • Idaho Blaze Threatens Sun Valley and Surrounding Landscape

    A fire screaming through the Idaho. Officials say hundreds of people have fled the inferno leaving the landscape virtually deserted displacing residents of more than 2,000 homes. For nearly two weeks,19 aircrafts along with more than 1,000 firefighters have fought to keep the flames at bay.They thought they had it well under control until yesterday, when winds started to kick things up.

    A lighting strike sparked a fire near Sun Valley, Idaho on August 7, a resort area with a population of more than 1,000 people. Officials say they managed to somewhat subdue it after it caused approximately 101,000 acres of damage in the Sawtooth National Forest, according to a report. Authorities called for an evacuation of 200 homes around Hailey, another area about 13 miles away from Sun Valley. August 18, ready to lift the notice, they said “gusty winds threatened to breathe new life into the blaze.”

    Sun Valley is a ski resort that uses pressurized water cannons to make snow. Resort workers and local authorities aimed the cannons yesterday at a mountain in the path of the fire in an effort to slow down the blaze.

    Officials said fire crews are somewhat concerned about their prospects for managing the now named “Beaver Creek” fire fully as it has scorched at least eight structures already.They said the pattern of burning seems “erratic” and “extreme engulfing whole trees” at a time.” Beth Lund, a supervisor with the U.S. Forest Service said that although the first has displaced thousands, everyone still remains confident as the area’s humidity will help get matters under control.

    “I think we are getting to the point where we can start making progress rather than just be on the defensive,” she said. “But when Mother Nature feels she has the upper hand, she keeps it for a while.”