apparently NBC, CBS, Disney, and Fox are all tied at the same number!

I always arrive late to the office, but I make up for it by leaving early

2006 marks the first year that everyone (and I do mean everyone) had to do some experiment with online video. This being the capitalist Mecca that it is, we might ask how well major media companies are doing with these experiments.

It's an amazing coincidence, but media companies are offering up their estimates and they all seem to be triangulating on the same number - half a billion dollars!

From AdAge:

"NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright ... expected digital ad revenue for 2006 would be between $400 million and $500 million (no breakdown as to what contributes to that revenue)...

"News Corp., Viacom and Walt Disney Co. also like the sound of half a billion. News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin told analysts this month that Fox Interactive Media ... would do $500 million in revenue for the year.

"At Viacom, new President-CEO Philippe Dauman confidently predicted digital-ad sales would increase at high double-digit growth rates [saying they] could reach $500 million in annual digital sales. ...

"Disney went one better when CFO Thomas Staggs, said: "We believe that our internet and download revenues could total approximately $700 million in fiscal 2007." ... When asked how 2006 stacked up, a company spokesman said the figure was, well, you guessed it: $500 million."

I love this one: when asked why $500 million is so popular among media companies, a Disney Co. spokesman said: "We have a rigorous finance department that is highly skilled at what they do."

So let's do a little homework (OK, I'll do it). For all of 2006, Internet advertising will be around $16 billion. Google alone takes $3.9 billion, Yahoo gets $2.8 billion, eBay nabs 1.4 billion, AOL takes in $1.2 billion and MSN claims $1.1 billion. That accounts for $10.4 billion.

With less than $6 billion left for everyone else, I suppose its possible that everyone is going to take in a half billion each.