BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : APRIL 3, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- PERSONALITIES Excite@home vs. the Competition As Bell leads Excite@Home in bolstering its content and signing up Net access customers, he faces fierce competition. Here's how the major players stack up: All financial figures are for the most recent fiscal year. YAHOO! CEO: Tim Koogle Market cap: $90.1 billion Revenues: $588.6 million Net income: $61.1 million Key advantage: Most popular site on the Net with 36.4 million visitors per month, powerful brand. Key problem: Vulnerable to companies like Excite@Home and AOL-- after its merger with Time Warner is complete--because Yahoo! doesn't sell its customers access to the Net. MICROSOFT CEO: Steve Ballmer Market cap: $517.2 billion Revenues: $19.7 billion Net income: $7.8 billion Key advantages: It's Microsoft. Including MSN, Hotmail, and Microsoft.com, company already has the third most-visited online sites after AOL and Yahoo! Distributing software over the Net could be hugely valuable. Key problem: Antitrust case may prevent it from moving aggressively to add content and broadband pipes. LYCOS CEO: Robert Davis Market cap: $7.8 billion Revenues: $135.5 million Net loss: $52.0 million Key advantages: Fourth most-visited online properties. Strong international presence, particularly in Europe, where it has partnered with German media giant Bertelsmann. Key problems: Like Yahoo, doesn't sell access. Worse, doesn't have Yahoo's brand clout. AMERICA ONLINE CEO: Stephen Case Market cap: $146.6 billion Revenues: $4.8 billion Net income: $762 million Key advantages: No. 1 in customers, with 21 million subscribers. Merger with Time Warner will give it top-flight content and broadband access to the Net over cable to 20 million U. S. homes. Key problems: Combining AOL and Time Warner could distract top management. Free service threatens subscriber revenues. EXCITE@HOME CEO: George Bell Market cap: $10.8 billion Revenues: $336.9 million Net loss: $1.5 billion Key advantages: Has exclusive rights to sell broadband Net access over cable networks that run by 59 million U.S. homes. Recently surpassed 1 million customers, two years behind goal. Plans to launch on Mar. 28 a site featuring snazzy video and music clips. Key problem: Cable exclusivity rights will begin to expire in 2002. Then rivals could jump in. DATA: Media Metrix, company reports, Business Week. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS George Bell: The Year of Living Painfully RESUME: George deBenneville Bell Jr. TABLE: Bell's Broadband Battle Plan TABLE: Excite@home vs. the Competition INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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