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Steven M. Bornstein
Chairman, Walt Disney Internet Group |
As the Internet media business of The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Internet Group manages some of the Web's most popular sites. Several, including Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, MrShowbiz.com, Movies.com, Family.com and GO.com, are leaders in their respective categories. Collectively, these sites, along with the remaining portfolio of Disney Web sites, represent the sixth-largest Web property overall, according to industry measurer Jupiter Media Metrix.
Fiscal 2000 was a transitional year, beginning with the acquisition of Infoseek Corp. Walt Disney Internet Group achieved significant operating efficiencies, eliminated non-core assets and built a strong platform for growth and long-term profitability.
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The business is
now enhancing and growing its market-leading Web properties and achieving broad distribution for all of its Internet brands and services with the goal of achieving market leadership, realizing substantial operating margins and leveraging the significant assets of The Walt Disney Company.
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Web sites
Walt Disney Internet Group redesigned and enhanced many of its vertical properties to increase their value to users and marketing partners, improve their business models and more completely integrate them with Disney's offline assets.
ABC.com is the number-one network television Web site, with significant year-over-year growth driven in part by the huge popularity of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Enhanced TV game. The site extends the ABC-TV experience by integrating primetime and daytime programming into its content. ABC.com also produces Oscar.com in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
ABCNEWS.com is a pacesetter in breaking news stories online, presenting information in an innovative fashion and enabling users to customize news on a local basis. It has also significantly increased its coverage of business and financial issues with the launch of Moneyscope.
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Stephen H. Wadsworth
President, Walt Disney Internet Group |
Disney.com, the number-one family entertainment Web site, has seen strong growth in traffic with a virtual theme park home page design that allows users to navigate the site faster and more easily. Its popular content spans the breadth of The Walt Disney Company. Families also can access premium content such as multi-player games, Internet communication tools with built-in parental controls, and discounts on merchandise by joining Disney's subscription service, Disney's Blast.
| DisneyStore.com, the online buying resource for Disney, also sports a new look and feel, offering users easier ways to navigate the site with a more prominent search box and themed merchandise. The site is highly integrated with the Disney Store in terms of design and products.
During the last year, the Walt Disney Internet Group continued to expand DisneyVacations.com, which offers vacation packages and options to Disney destinations, including Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line.
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Walt Disney Internet Group manages and publishes 19 local language Disney sites outside the U.S. Flagship sites include www.disney.co.uk (U.K.), www.disney.co.jp (Japan), www.disney.com.au (Australia), and www.disneylatino.com (Latin America). Each site provides a focus for country-specific Disney initiatives and acts as a local language resource for non-U.S. Disney fans.
ESPN.com, the worldwide leader in online sports, delivers comprehensive sports information and has pioneered a wide variety of features using breakthrough technology. ESPN.com recently introduced "Page 2," a page with "attitude" that features articles by celebrity writers not generally associated with sports writing. Late last year, ESPN also introduced the ESPN.com Mall, offering online sports enthusiasts the opportunity to purchase merchandise from premier sports retailers, including Nike and FanBuzz. Soccernet.com, considered to be the world's leading soccer site, was fully acquired by Walt Disney Internet Group last year.
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Entertainment sites include Mr. Showbiz, which attracts the largest audience of any entertainment Web site. Its successful spinoff, Wall of Sound, is dedicated to the latest news in the music world. Movies.com, launched in 2000, offers information on major films in production, screens trailers and photo galleries, and provides a movie-locator directory.
Family.com is known as the premier online parenting resource. Its combination of top-quality editorial content and interactive elements such as chats and bulletin boards make it a leading destination for information on family activities, education, meal planning, parenting advice, travel tips and much more.
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- Disney's Blast, the most popular subscription kids site on the Web, offers access to multi-player games and discounts on merchandise.
- Created just for kids, Zeether, which is interactive with Disney Channel, offers games, interactive storybooks, activities and multimedia D-mail, all on Disney.com.
- Fans of the hit show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire can participate via their computers thanks to Enhanced TV technology.
- Disney.com is the Disney vacation destination where travel packages can be ordered online for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line.
- Family.com gives parents access to reliable, easy-to-use information on education, travel tips, meal planning and more.
- At ABCNEWS.com, users can create customized sites to receive local news, sports and weather information.
- Disney fans outside the U.S. can get information in their local language through country-specific Web sites available in 19 languages.
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