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Ziff Davis MEDIA files Chapter 11

Ziff Davis Media logoI just read the news that Ziff Davis Media is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. I worked at Ziff Davis until July 2007, but on the Ziff Davis Enterprise side of the company, as opposed to the Ziff Davis Media side of the business, a distinction that I’m sure the enterprise folks will be working hard to make in the next few weeks.

Ziff Davis Enterprise - which was spun off from Ziff Davis proper at the end of July 07 when it was sold to Insight Venture Partners - is made up of the Web Buyer’ s Guide, eWeek and the eSeminars groups. Ziff Davis Media is comprised of the Consumer (PCMag.com, ExtremeTech) and Gaming (1Up) sides of the business.

It’s too bad that this day came, but I doubt that many people at the company (or in the industry) are surprised. Ziff Davis Media has had trouble with its debt for a few years now, and the selling of the Enterprise group was seen by many as the last chance for Willis Stein to salvage some money it invested when it bought the company for about $780 million in 1999. As the consumer and enterprise groups were splitting, those of us on the enterprise side of the company almost had the feeling of abandoning a sinking ship, that the Enterprise Group was taking the one opportunity it had to get off the boat before it went down for good.

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    • This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Publishing, Pure Incubation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    One Response to “Ziff Davis MEDIA files Chapter 11”

    1. Pieter Jansegers Says:
      March 27th, 2008 at 8:55 am

      It’s probably a silly question to you, but I’m wondering what an eSeminar is.

      I believe it could be just an website with video, slides, downloadable documents, a forum on a subject eventually with a built-in Question-and-Answer functionality and a realtime videochat possibilities (both organic amongst the online clients and organised by specialists at certain moment).

      How far off-beat is my view on eSeminars ?

      –
      Pieter,
      Thanks for your question about eseminars. You are right on target about what they are - presentations that usually include slides (powerpoint often), along with a video or audio narration. People register to take the online seminar, and they can participate with the moderator (and sometimes other attendees) through tools. Some providers of eSeminar services are On24 and BrightTalk, and Ziff Davis Enterprise’s eSeminars site is here: http://www.eseminarslive.com/. Thanks for your question! -Melissa

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