Disney to abandon Go.com

Walt Disney is planning to cut jobs and abandon its Go.com portal site as part of a overhaul of its loss-making Internet operations, the Financial Times reports in its Monday morning Asian edition.

The newspaper quoted Michael Eisner, group chairman and CEO, as saying, "The advertising community has abandoned the Internet. If a portal becomes only a search [engine] and directory, then a portal may not be what we want."

Robert Iger, group president, also questioned whether a portal site is a long-term sustainable business model, the newspaper said.

The Go.com portal brings together content from a number of Disney group Web sites, including television network ABC and ABC News, sports cable network ESPN, Disney's own Web site for kids, Family.com and Movies.com and adds in additional features such as free e-mail and stock quotes.

Should Disney do as the newspaper reports, it will be only the latest in a growing number of retreats from the Internet by major media organizations. In recent weeks online jobs have been lost at The New York Times, AOL Time Warner's CNN and News' Fox News.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.