Archives

Date

AOL to Lay Off 700 Next Month, Mostly From Virginia Headquarters

Authored by dmw on November 2, 2004 - 9:29am.
Dulles, Va. -- Needing to trim expenses in response to mounting subscriber losses, America Online may be on the verge of cutting more than 700 of the roughly 5,000 jobs at its Dulles, Virginia headquarters, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The cuts will likely take place in December, according to the article. AOL is searching for a way to turn around its financial fortunes after losing about 3.3 million U.S. subscribers since 2002. In the past two years, many subscribers have fled AOL in search of either faster broadband connections or cheaper dial-up prices. The Post said that AOL is attempting to meet its internal goal of producing about $1 billion in cash annually for parent company Time Warner. AOL, which claims a total of 23.4 million subscribers, employs a total of around 20,000 people, of which 13,000 are based in the U.S.
tags: AOL | Virginia | Lay Off | Headquarters |

Yahoo Hires Former ABC TV Exec to Head Media & Entertainment Division

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2004 - 9:27am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it has appointed former ABC Entertainment Television chairman Lloyd Braum as head of its media and entertainment division. Braun marks the second Hollywood executive to be hired by Yahoo, which appointed former Warner Bros. chairman Terry Semel as its CEO in 2001. While at ABC, and before that at Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, Braun developed shows including "The Sopranos," "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives. Braun will oversee Yahoo's movies, TV, entertainment, music, games, finance, news and weather, sports, health and kids businesses. He will be charged with negotiating with Hollywood to release exclusive content on Yahoo, as well as developing original new content within the company.
tags: Yahoo | Entertainment | ABC TV | Head Media |

Bush, Kerry Campaign Sites See Dramatic Traffic Increases

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2004 - 9:25am.
Reston, Va. -- With anticipation for the presidential election at a fever pitch, traffic to the campaign web sites of both President Bush and Senator John Kerry saw dramatic traffic increases on Monday, according to overnight figures from Virginia-based comScore, a provider of Internet audience measurement services. JohnKerry.com and GeorgeWBush.com each drew more than 300,000 U.S. visitors during the day, an increase of more than 100% compared with each of the sites' average visitation levels. Overall, the campaign sites have been as closely matched as the candidates have been in the pre-election polls. After leading in the July and August ratings, JohnKerry.com lost the lead to GeorgeWBush.com in September. Weekly rankings have shown Senator Kerry's site in the lead for the past three weeks.
tags: Traffic | Website | Bush | Kerry | Dramatic |

Game Publishers Sued Over 3D Graphics Display Patent

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2004 - 9:24am.
Dallas -- A Texas-based law firm has filed patent infringement lawsuits against 12 video game publishers, including Activision, Atari, Electronic Arts, Take Two Interactive, THQ and Vivendi Universal Games, alleging the companies are infringing on 3D graphics display techniques contained in a 1988 patent. The lawsuit, filed by the law firm of McKool Smith, concerns U.S. Patent No. 4,734,690, which describes a method of storing 3D representations of objects that are then rendered onto a 2D screen while allowing 3D navigation of the objects. McKool Smith did not say what damages are being sought in the suits, which if held up in court would likely mean a license fee being paid to the patent holder for a large percentage of video games on the market.
tags: Games | Patent | 3D Graphics | Sued |

Online Holiday Sales to Reach $21.6 Billion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2004 - 9:23am.
New York -- JupiterResearch, a New York-based research advisory firm specializing in business and technology market research, released a forecast on Monday stating that online retail holiday sales for November and December will reach $21.6 billion, a 19% increase compared to the same period in 2003. In addition, the firm forecasts a 2% increase in spending per buyer compared to last year, based on consumer surveys. "Over half of online holiday shoppers say they will use the web to get gift ideas or to seek better prices," said JupiterResearch retail analyst Patti Freeman Evans.
tags: Internet | Sales | Holiday Sales |