BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JULY 3, 2000 ISSUE
COVER STORY Messier's Master Plan Grand Vision... CRITICAL MASS Combining Vivendi's Canal+ pay-TV operations with Universal's film & music units produces a global Top Five media company. A GLOBAL NET PLAY Vivendi's Vizzavi portal is the start of an Internet strategy to deliver music, games, information, and spin-offs from programming to European clients via PCs, cell phones, and digital television. CROSS-FERTILIZATION Vivendi Universal now can exchange programming and distribution among its own companies and with partners globally. ...Or Grand Illusion? HUGE FINANCIAL RISK Vivendi Universal now has $25 billion in debt. Investors fear Vivendi way overpaid for Seagram. Canal+, Vivendi's best media asset, is losing hundreds of millions annually on expansion costs. THE VAPORWARE PROBLEM Vizzavi is in its infancy, untested, and it will cost billions to build a next-generation wireless Internet network. European telecoms and U.S. media giants are well-advanced in their portal plans. THE CASH-COW ISSUE The two most consistently profitable assets are utilities and liquor. But the liquor brands will be sold, and the utility company will be partly spun off. Vivendi may well miss that cash later on. DATA: Business Week, COMPANY REPORTS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Vivendi: Going Hollywood COVER IMAGE: Vivendi: Going Hollywood PHOTO: Vivendi Chairman Jean-Marie Messier TABLE: Messier's Master Plan TABLE: Jean-Marie's Universe TABLE: Messier's Metamorphosis Has Barry Diller Found a Soul Mate? ONLINE ORIGINAL: How Vivendi Could Become USA Networks' Rich Uncle INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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