Publications

March 2020
Case

Aereo

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jacey Taft

Aereo aimed to disrupt television program distribution by providing consumers access to local broadcast TV programming using offsite antennas, cloud-based DVRs, and an Internet connection. With Aereo, consumers could “cut the cord” and avoid the high cost of a cable TV... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Failure; Lawsuits and Litigation; Internet and the Web; Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

April 1999
Case

Steve Perlman and WebTV (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang

The dynamics of a linked series of internal and external negotiations involved in launching, growing, and selling a high-tech, Internet start-up are explored. Steve Perlman unfurled an impressive new technology, recruited a top technical and management team, secured... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Process; Value Creation; Alliances; Technological Innovation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry

1979
Other Unpublished Work

Fox Studios: Operating a Small Business - HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox and Frank S. Leonard

Keywords: Media; Business Ventures; Operations; Decision Making; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Building Communities as Well as Companies

different story when it came to describing the personal goals and challenges that drive their individual enterprises. The marketplace today has recognized that without brown people you can't win.—Keith Clinkscales, Vanguarde Media After... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Cable TV: From Community Antennas to Wired Cities

cable franchises, media company managers could leverage their knowledge of local communities and their political processes. However, some companies avoided franchising: their executives worried that the need to influence city officials... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Burunda Prince at The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill, Eric Mankin and Emily Tedards

After a successful inaugural year, Burunda Prince, the Managing Director of Comcast’s startup business accelerator The Farm, was getting ready for an eventful 2019. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business... View Details

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

Publications 2006 Henry Holt (Macmillan) Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment By: Elberse, Anita Abstract—What's behind the phenomenal success of entertainment... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

and even remade as movies have come to dominate mainstream media content. At media giant Sony, Ken Munekata, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), and Atsushi Fukuda,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Winners and Losers at the Olympics

finally, there are more sources of information and entertainment than ever before. For millions of younger people, the Web is much more appealing than television. It's important to remember, however, that we can't judge NBC solely on the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Stephen A. Greyser; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details

February 2017
Teaching Note

The Tate's Digital Transformation

By: Jill Avery

John Stack was the visionary Head of Digital Transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate’s... View Details

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill and Eric Mankin

In 2017, Bill Connors, the President of Comcast’s Central Division, launched a startup accelerator in Comcast’s new Atlanta Regional headquarters. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television... View Details

29 Aug 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-Season College Football Bowls

Keywords: by Guillaume R. Fréchette, Alvin E. Roth & M. Utku Ünver; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

13 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 13

This is an abridgment of HBS No. 911-066. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/915016-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 515-039 NBCUniversal In September 2014, Stephen Burke, chief executive officer at media and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

turned their attention from local to more distant sources of news and entertainment. While the integration of media markets will raise the private welfare of many consumers, critics of a globalized information and View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

Bezos was still working on Wall Street. After decades of tax-free sales, ecommerce was just 11.4 percent of US retail sales in 2019, according to the Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, social media usage on the major platforms had been... View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

June 2018
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (C)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Analyzes Snap’s value and analyst recommendations following the events described in the (B) case. View Details

April 2007
Compilation

AOL/Time Warner: To Merge or Demerge?

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

This is a compilation of four analyst reports about the AOL/Time Warner merger of 2001. The first half cites three reports released in 2000, around the time the merger was announced, which give the logic and justifications for the merger. The second half is taken from... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Reports; Business Divisions; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry