Media Companies Regain Appetite for Taking Risks in Tech Start-Ups

MEDIA COMPANIES REGAIN APPETITE FOR TAKING RISKS IN TECH START-UPS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Matt Richtel]
Media companies are often criticized for not taking enough risks in choosing television shows, authors, movies and musicians. But when it comes to technology start-ups, their appetite for risk appears to be on the rise. A growing number of media conglomerates have established divisions to take minority stakes in small Internet and technology companies. Other media companies that already have such venture capital arms are expanding. The development sets up something of a clash of cultures. Media companies are known for reacting swiftly to mass market tastes and have little patience for the unpopular or the slow developing. Venture capitalists typically wait more than five years to see if an investment is a hit — and almost always it is not. Yet media companies say there are significant reasons to develop expertise in early-stage investments. The media business, they say, increasingly revolves not just around developing content but keeping pace with delivery technology and new media.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/business/media/19venture.html?ref=toda...
(requires registration)

See also --
* In California, a Second Internet Gold Rush
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR200710...