Mr. Murdoch doesn't get involved in any transaction unless there's a big jackpot on the other end and the sky's the limit on this one. Murdoch's News Corp. is in talks to swap the social networking web site MySpace for a 25% stake in Yahoo. He paid a paltry $580 million for MySpace in 2005...
There's the standard "no comment" from both sides but you can bet something is brewing between the two. Yahoo has been losing out to Google Inc., whose shares have increased six-fold since 2004 while Yahoo's share price has dipped, with profit down 11% in the first quarter and the second quarter not looking much better. No wonder the speculation that Yahoo might consider a walk down the aisle with eBay or MySpace. If this marriage does happen Murdoch will be well advised to hold on to Yahoo sales maven, Wenda Harris Millard who is being wooed by Madison Avenue for her mojo with agencies and advertisers...
One other observation on the electronic media which should be noted. Ebay pulls its ads from Google Web sites with little or no impact. What's going on? Although traffic from Google's search engine to eBay's auction site declined, the drop off wasn't dramatic. eBay averaged 9.9% of its visitors from Google in the first week of their ad boycott, compared with 10.7% the previous week. One theory is that much of the traffic going to eBay from Google comes from free searches rather than clicking on the paid search ads according to Bill Tancer of Hitwise which tracks such things for a living...
Things are heating up on the electronic front and so is the weather, at least officially as Summer arrives at 2:06 p.m. EDT. 'Happy Summer' for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere and to Lynn Phillips Brough and husband Lindsay, 'Happy Winter' in Wellington, New Zealand...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1788] NH makes it official: The U.S. Constitution goes into effect as New Hampshire becomes the 9th state to ratify it...
- 1893] Debuted on this date: The 1st Ferris Wheel premieres at the Chicago Columbian Exposition...1981] "Raiders of the Lost Ark" starring Harrison Ford opens...1985] The surprise summer hit of the season is "Cocoon" starring husband and wife team, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy and let's not forget Don Ameche...
- 1932] Quote...unquote: A sports quote for the ages is born when Joe Jacobs, Max Schmeling's manager says: "We was robbed" in response to the decision stripping the heavyweight title away from his fighter and giving it to Jack Sharkey. In Brooklyn, the spelling changes to "We Wuz Robbed", used many times in headlines about the Dodgers...
- 1939] Diamond Dust: Lou Gehrig's doctors reveal that the Yankee slugger has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as he announces his retirement from baseball. The fatal disease will become known as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease'...1964] Future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and U.S. Senator from Kentucky, Jim Bunning, pitches a perfect game against the Mets at Shea Stadium on Father's Day. Phillie catcher Gus Triandos becomes the 1st catcher to catch no-hitters in both leagues, having done it previously in the 50s when he caught Hoyt Wilhelm's no-hitter (great trivia question)...1989] White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk passes Yogi Berra as the American League catcher with the most home runs when he hits #307 against...the Yankees (Mike Piazza owns the major league record for most home runs by a catcher)...
- 1940] Wedding Bells: Richard Milhous Nixon and Thelma Catherine Ryan (but you can call her 'Pat') walk down the aisle...
- 1963] There he went: 20-year old Florida A&M freshman Bob Hayes earns the title of "World's Fastest Human" by shattering the 100-yard dash record in 9.10 seconds flat at the AAU championships in St. Louis. "Bullet Bob" will star as a receiver for the Dallas Cowboys...
- 1977] Lots of Mazel: Menachem Begin becomes Israel's 6th prime minister...
- 1982] His mind is INSANE!!!: John Hinckley Jr. is found innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and 3 others...
- 1991] Going to Hall: Islanders Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy are inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame...
- 2001] "Happy Trails": Actor Carroll O'Connor dies of a heart attack brought about by diabetes at 76...2001] Legendary Blues man John Lee Hooker, believed to be 83, dies from natural causes at his home in Los Altos (CA)...
Music Memories:
- 1948] LP Demonstration: Dr. Peter Goldmark of Columbia Records demonstrates the new 33 1/3 rpm LP record as Columbia announces mass production and plans to phase out 78s...
- 1969] Released on this date: "In the Year 2525" - Zager & Evans...1975] "How Sweet It Is" - James Taylor (here's a live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UXZI-abJgU )...
- 1975] #1 on this date: "Love Will Keep Us Together" - the Captain & Tennille (the Capt. and Schlemiel do it live on this video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEWU25aN67U )...
- 1975] Live from Wembley: Elton John, the Eagles and the Beach Boys pack the stadium with 72,000 fans...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
If you live in New York or just visiting, the summer solstice at 2:06 p.m. will usher in a festival of hundreds of free concerts in parks and streets throughout the 5 boroughs and with relatively low humidity, the day promises to be perfect and near 80. Up until 10 tonight, Metropolitan Opera singers, high school rock bands, choirs, salsa bands, punk rockers, string quartets and more will be performing and all shows are free but it's not only here. France had to be famous for something other than being the only country that loves Jerry Lewis and in 1982 they started this summer festival business. In addition to the country we love to hate, there will be festivals in Rome, Barcelona, Toronto, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Sydney, Berlin, Amsterdam and Budapest. Here comes summer. Bring it on...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Prince William (25), Michael (Steven Keaton of "Family Ties") Gross (60) and Meredith (Elyse Keaton) Baxter (60), Brenda Holloway (61) (one of my favorite Motown singers of all-time and I love this song that wasn't but should have been a #1 hit, "When I'm Gone": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAIX1imfNEo&mode=related&search= ), Ray Davies of the Kinks (63), Mariette Hartley (67), Bernie ("Love Boat") Kopell (74) and Jane Russell (86)...
Timeline Countdown: Summer starts today and 13 days until July 4th...
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