Subject: Re: CityScape news; AT&T Home Town Network killed From: Milwnews@aol.com Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 14:02:06 -0400

In a message dated 96-09-24 09:58:30 EDT, steve@planetarynews.com (Steve
Outing) writes:

<< Microsoft has said it will back off on classified advertising, in
deference 
 to newspaper publishers, who would be impacted pretty severely should MS 
 begin seeking classified ads on its own for the giant CityScape online city 
 guide venture. Since MS wants newspapers as partners, it would seem, it was 
 probably forced into this strategy. >>

Or, in places where they do not work with newspapers, to not stir up another
tempest and further competition!   Maybe I misread the announcement but the
"partnership" with newspapers angle did seem a bit subdued.
 
 >Other big news is contained in a sidebar: AT&T has scrapped its Home Town 
 Network, which looked to be yet another big-bucks competitor for CityScape, 
 CitySearch, Digital City, et al. Guess they figured out that the content 
 business is not true to their core; plus the playing field in the city guide

 business was looking pretty crowded.>

Steve, I really wonder if it was more the second (crowded field) than the
first (content not AT&T's business).  Certainly they continue to develop
strong content sites particularly for business community.  It could also be
an "image thing" as they work to re-establish themselves as local phone
service providers.....

> The regional telcos still seem to have 
 aspirations. In my part of the world, USWest is plugging away on a project 
 called CityFocus. I wonder how long it will take the telcos to come to the 
 same conclusion as AT&T, as significant media partners turn down their 
 overtures and faster-moving companies speed ahead of them? Doing an online 
 yellow pages is one thing, creating a CityScape/Digital City-like service 
 is another that the telcos probably aren't equipped for. Comments?>

I think you could add a few more telcos to that list -- certainly a regional
telco may feel itself better positioned, or somewhat threatened by the other
moves, in terms of developing a city directory/magazine service.  But this is
a service area where an entrepreneur can move with a speed that some of the
big alliances, including MS, AOL and telecos, seem to take a ton of time
with.
 
>>In any event, newspaper publishers should be cheered by these developments.
>>

I haven't seen any dancing in hallways :-)  I think actually the announced
launch is probably going to worry some urban online newspapers a lot and I
think several may try to counter with "city magazine" services before
Microsoft is out of the box.

Dominique Paul Noth
Milwnews@aol.com
Dom's Domain: Media Sites and Strategies
http://www.arcfile.com/dom

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