No Thrill In Parks For Media Companies

[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Annys Shin]
CBS's decision last month to sell Paramount Parks is the latest example of how media-entertainment conglomerates are recognizing the limits of what synergy can deliver. The concept is not dead. Just go to Orlando or Anaheim, Calif., where Walt Disney Co. parks still stand as the model for how to use cartoon characters, movie plots and theme-park rides to reinforce one another: Disney announced yesterday that first-quarter profit at its parks rose 51 percent vs. the comparable period a year earlier. But outside the Magic Kingdom, regional theme parks are not considered the essential media-empire building block they were during the '90s.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/06/AR200602...
(requires registration)