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Netscape.com to become portal for Time Warner content
TIME Warner is taking steps to dramatically refocus its flagging Netscape subsidiary, handing responsibility for Web browser development to another division and preparing to relaunch Netscape.com as a venue for its top editorial content, according to sources familiar with the plans. Breaking from Netscape's technology roots, AOL Time Warner this week moved the browser development group out from under the Netscape division and into the AOL Technology wing, sources inside the company told CNET News.com. In a separate move, sources said AOL Time Warner is close to announcing a series of deals aimed at transforming Netscape.com into a content hub, offering an online hub for entertainment and editorial content, such as Time magazine. Netscape.com "will be a hub for Time Warner content. It's been touted around internally," said a source in Netscape who requested anonymity. Netscape executives are also considering renaming the Web site once it inherits AOL Time Warner's content, but they have not decided on a newname, according to one source close to the company. Just a few months ago, Netscape dropped "Netcenter" from its name; now it simply calls the Web site "Netscape." The reorganisation comes as AOL Time Warner is looking at all of its business units in the wake of the merger and plans widespread layoffs, particularly in its Time Warner online and entertainment divisions, according to sources.About 2,000 of the company's 85,000 employees received pink slips Tuesday, including 100 staffers in the New Line Cinema film studio, according to one source. AOL Time Warner and Netscape declined to comment on the developments. Company executives are expected to update analysts Jan. 31 on predicted benefits from the merger, which are anticipated to produce $1 billion in new earnings in 2001, excluding certain charges. With the downturn in Internet advertising, much of that is expected to come from cost-cutting measures and layoffs rather than growth. The Netscape shakeup sheds substantial light on the future of the Web pioneer. The company has largely remained in America Online's shadow since being acquired by the online giant in 1999, watching as Microsoft's Internet Explorer has chipped away its market lead in Web browsers. One manifestation of Netscape's identity crisis was its recent incarnation as a site catering to small businesses. In September, the division launched Netbusiness, a Web site forentrepreneurs that offered online yellow page listings, a network of "virtual name tags," job search databases, and human resources tips, to name a few. The browser reorganization is the second major shakeup for the troubled division since AOL completed its merger with Time Warner. Last week, AOL Time Warner announced it would replace Netscape President Jim Martin with AOL veteran Jim Bankoff. Bankoff, however, inherits a far narrower bailiwick than his predecessor commanded. Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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