Feature: Media Owners Cast Off ISPs To Focus On Content

A few years ago the ISP was the centrepiece of web strategy amongst media owners. Launching a service provider was an easy way to entice consumers of old media onto the web while ensuring maximum exposure for branded online offerings.

News International launched Currantbun.com, an ISP branded through its most popular daily, the Sun, in the same month as the Mirror Group unveiled ic24 and the Express group introduced Express Online. It wasn’t long before radio and television companies were also getting in on the act: Granada launched G-Wizz, billed as the first entertainment service provider, in December 1999; GWR Group became the first UK radio operator to become an ISP when it launched Classic Freenet; and Sky joined in with the launch of Skynow.com.

In recent months however, spiralling costs or a change in web strategy has meant that major media owners have had to shut the doors on their ISPs. Last week Granada closed down G-Wizz, and Trinity Mirror has announced that it is to put ic24 up for sale. BSkyB’s Skynow.com is “not being actively marketed at the moment” while BBC Worldwide’s beeb.net appears to be one of the few old media ISPs making a success of it, with around 145,000 subscribers.

Granada said it now intends to focus on programme-related websites and is about to make its hit show Millionaire interactive in a joint deal with Carlton. It is likely that this strategy will succeed where G-Wizz failed, by bringing fans of its shows together in an recognisable online environment.

Part of the problem with G-Wizz was the lack of connection between this brand and Granada’s familiar content; broadcasters are now realising that highly-branded content is the key to their success on the web and are leaving internet service provision to those who do it best. GWR has handed control of Classic Freenet, its Classic FM ISP, to Breathe.com and it too has now moved its focus onto programming, with a streamed online radio channel.

Part of Trinity Mirror’s decision to sell off ic24 was a shift towards its core business areas: its newspapers and technology arm. But it could be up for sale for a long time when even ISPs with no old media to worry about are struggling in the current climate: Breathe.com is rumoured to be on the verge of closure while Yahoo! recently issued its second profits warning in as many months.