From where I sit at my breakfast nook in La Canada, California, 3,000 miles from IAC’s headquarters in New York, Barry Diller seems to be getting tired of it all.
Yesterday, when I listened to IAC’s earnings call, I got the sense that Mr. Diller could care less about what he’s doing these days. His answers were short and he seemed generally distracted and uninterested.
When IAC was formed a few years ago, it was all very exciting. A promising collection of digital assets that would destroy old media. Mr. Diller was on the cutting-edge of this brave new media world, leaving his dinosaur studio pals in the dust with their “movies” and “television shows”.
But it hasn’t quite worked out that way.
Mr. Diller has been a true visionary throughout his career and now it’s sort of sad to see him relegated to Q&A about the slowing growth at Match.com; the boring future potential of local search; and Ben Silverman’s new company.
All this while old media is staging a huge comeback and grabbing all the headlines: “‘Avatar’ breaks worldwide box office record.” “Super Bowl XLIV is the most-watched television event ever.”
All this makes me think: Is Barry Diller tired of it? Is this really the future he imagined in 1991 after driving across the country with his Apple Powerbook? Dating websites and CollegeHumor?
Who knows? Maybe he really enjoys talking business with Ricky Van Veen.
In my opinion, it’s time for Mr. Diller to jump in the car with an Apple iPad and drive across the country again.
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
Jill Kennedy is a former media analyst for a major Wall Street investment bank that has now gone out of business (in disgrace).
Medea was a real bitch from classical mythology - as most famously dramatized by Euripides.
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Fred Thomas Fred says:
February 10, 2010 at 11:24 am (UTC -7 )
No way, Jill. Local search isn’t boring. How else am I going to find a dry cleaners near my house!?
Hollywood Producer says:
February 10, 2010 at 2:47 pm (UTC -7 )
I don’t know what was behind the Ask.com purchase. maybe at the time it was going to be a solid #3 search engine. But now, the search wars seem to be over. Google wins. I don’t know anyone who uses Ask.
Molly Glover says:
February 10, 2010 at 4:54 pm (UTC -7 )
It’s like Michael Eisner leaving Disney to produce Prom Queen for the internet.
Boddy Reel says:
February 14, 2012 at 5:58 pm (UTC -7 )
Sounds great . I’ve been waiting for a solution on how to get television. Oh right, I guess I couldu just turn on the television. Or watch on my ipad. or my iphone. What’s the point of Aereo?
Mob Wives – The Future Of Media Is Here! » OnMedea says:
April 6, 2011 at 4:41 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] Shut up, Ben. Do it! And give me Barry Diller’s number, I need to pay the light [...]
Ben Silverman To Produce Next Generational… Person » OnMedea says:
April 13, 2011 at 3:57 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to ask Barry Diller to be the Godfather, I don’t think he likes kids too [...]
Ben Silverman’s DumbDumb Deal » OnMedea says:
April 13, 2011 at 5:41 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] knows the answer to this and laughs at how DumbDumb some people must be. I would imagine Barry Diller also knows the answer. Unfortunately, he’s the ultimate DumbDumb in this equation for [...]
Ben Silverman – Fortune’s 40 Under 40?! » OnMedea says:
April 25, 2011 at 10:43 am (UTC -7 )
[...] (and this is about the biggest fucking ‘if’ I’ve ever written) Barry Diller and Ben Silverman put together a company that changes the media landscape and makes the world a [...]
Fishing With Barry Diller » Chairman's Blog says:
April 27, 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC -7 )
[...] weekend, I went fishing with Barry Diller up at Pyramid Lake (it’s a man-made lake about 60 miles up from Los Angeles off the I-5 [...]
Vanity Fair Can Suck It » Chairman's Blog says:
May 3, 2011 at 9:35 am (UTC -7 )
[...] is simply unconscionable that Lady Gaga, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ryan Kavanaugh (!!!!), Bob Iger and Barry Diller are on this list – yet I have been left off. Don’t get me wrong, I could care less [...]
Book Club Meeting On Rupert Murdoch’s Boat » Chairman's Blog says:
May 3, 2011 at 1:23 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] attendance was Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller, Jeff Zucker, Ben Silverman (replacing Harvey Weinstein – who officially lost his mogul [...]
Burning Mogul – Sun Valley 2010 – Day 3 » Chairman's Blog says:
May 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] Barry Diller – in tight, small burlap sack shorts, a pair of metallic wings on his bare arms that were on [...]
All The Facebook’s Men » OnMedea says:
May 12, 2011 at 1:55 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] BROWN: Then it’s Barry Diller’s ass, isn’t it? And we’ll all have to go work for a [...]
Sun Valley Shore – Herb Allen’s Sun Valley Conference 2011 – Day 2.5 » Chairman's Blog says:
July 7, 2011 at 10:08 am (UTC -7 )
[...] makes me feel good when I see a mogul (oh, let’s say, Barry Diller) who really could care less how he looks. He’s got power and doesn’t need all those [...]
Hollywood Is Out Of Visionaries » Chairman's Blog says:
September 28, 2011 at 5:01 pm (UTC -7 )
[...] Barry Diller started a broadcast network out of scotch tape and bubble gum wrappers and today he owns a dating service and has to listen the inane “world changing” business ideas of Ben Silverman. [...]