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The New Century Network's Demise: A Lesson in Uncertainty on the Internet

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The New Century Network, a consortium of newspaper sites, was dissolved after less than three years of operation due to lack of agreement among partners on a new business plan. The network was intended to help small newspapers create their own Web sites and started a service called Newsworks, which organized articles from its 140 newspaper sites and offered an advertising sales service. Despite some success as an advertising sales broker, the network was unable to satisfy its partners, and the founding members began investing in and lending content to competing online services.

Key Takeaways:

  • The New Century Network was a consortium of nine newspaper companies, including The New York Times Company, Times Mirror Company, and Knight-Ridder Inc., that was dissolved due to lack of agreement on a new business plan.
  • The network was intended to help small newspapers create their own Web sites and started a service called Newsworks, which organized articles from its 140 newspaper sites and offered an advertising sales service.
  • Newspaper Web sites have proved durable and dominant, with Web users extending their allegiances to newspapers' online content.
  • The founding members of the New Century Network began investing money and lending content to competing online services, including Zip2, Citysearch, and Real Cities.
  • The New Century Network's demise highlights the uncertainty of the Internet and the challenges of establishing a successful online business.

Statistics:

  • The New Century Network had approximately 140 newspaper sites.
  • The network's advertising sales service was unable to satisfy its partners.
  • The founding members of the New Century Network began investing money in competing online services, including Zip2 and Citysearch.
  • Times Mirror has a stake in Citysearch, while several of the network's founding members are involved in Zip2.
  • Knight-Ridder is a parent company of Real Cities, a service used by the New Century Network.

Sources:

  • "The New Century Network", The New York Times (date missing)
  • "Newspapers' Web Sites Prove Durable", The New York Times (date missing)
  • "The New Century Network", The New York Times (date missing)
  • Times Mirror, Times Mirror Company website (date missing)
  • Knight-Ridder, Knight-Ridder Inc. website (date missing)
  • Times Mirror, Times Mirror Company website (date missing)
  • Zip2, Zip2 website (date missing)
  • Citysearch, Citysearch website (date missing)
  • Real Cities, Real Cities website (date missing)
  • Gannett Company, Gannett Company website (date missing)
  • The Hearst Corporation, The Hearst Corporation website (date missing)
  • Washington Post Company, Washington Post Company website (date missing)
  • Advance Publications Inc., Advance Publications Inc. website (date missing)
  • Cox Enterprises, Cox Enterprises website (date missing)

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