Warner Bros., EBay Team Up
Warner Bros. Online said Monday that it signed a three-year deal with Internet auctioneer EBay to feature the service on its entertainment sites.
Billed as the fastest-growing movie studio site on the Internet, the Time Warner (TWX) unit is teaming up with San Jose, Calif.-based EBay (EBAY), a person-to-person online trading community.
Shares of Time Warner rose 3/8 to 69 3/16 on Monday. EBay fell 6 1/4 to 148 1/4 on news that Amazon.com (AMZN) plans to enter the online auction arena.
Fans who log onto the Web sites of Warner Bros.' programs will have direct access to EBay to find items related to favorite programs up for auction, the company said.
The alliance includes EBay placement on the Warner Bros. personal home page community, AcmeCity, where fans build their own sites using content from Warner Bros. properties.
"EBay's unique audience appeal makes (it) the perfect partner for a company such as Warner Bros," Jim Moloshok, President of Warner Bros. Online said in a statement. "When you combine the content of Warner Bros., the commerce of EBay, and the community aspects of both companies, you have the magic formula for Internet success."
EBay banners, buttons and text links will appear across the full Warner Bros. Online network including areas for The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Friends, ER, DC Comics, Babylon 5, Looney Tunes and others.
The deal comes days after Time Warner Chief Executive Gerry Levin said he was bullish on the Internet.
It also comes on the heels of EBay's $75 million marketing deal with America Online (AOL), which was announced last week.
Elsewhere in cyberspace, online bookseller Amazon.com said Sunday it is adding an online auction service.
The expansion will place Amazon.com (AMZN) on the same shelf with other successful Internet auction services such as EBay Inc. (EBAY) and Onsale Inc. (ONSL)
Amazon's announcement contained no details but a report in The Wall Street Journal's Interactive Edition earlier Sunday quoted Amazon's chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, in a draft letter to customers, as saying the new auction service will let people "buy and sell virtually anything at Amazon.com -- rare books and signed first editions, rare music, vintage toys, antiques, sports memorabilia and collectibles of all kinds."
Amazon.com began selling books online in 1995 and, in 1998, added music and video titles and began its "Shop the Web" service which allows customers to order merchandise from other companies.