Groupon rejects Google's $5.3 billion offer

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Groupon rejects Google's $5.3 billion offer Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:26 PM PST According to multiple sources, Groupon has rejected Google's massive offer to acquire the company. The search giant had offered $5.3 billion, with another $700 million in performance-based incentives. It appears Groupon's board of directors were divided on the decision to sell, with some new directors believing the company will be worth even more in a couple of years. Other sources say the daily deal site will instead launch an initial public offering in 2011. Groupon has 35 million users in 300 cities. Permalink | Comments

Global iPlayer will be subscription-based, iPad-only Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:11 PM PST The BBC has said this week that their global iPlayer will be iPad-only, as well as subscription-based. Since its release in the UK last year, the video-on-demand streaming service has been the most popular in the nation, giving license-fee payers a chance to watch shows like Doctor Who and Top Gear when they miss it on TV. Says BBC.com managing director Luke Bradley-Jones: "There's a general acknowledgement in the world of VoD that there needs to be a hybrid business model – a combination of subscriptions, download to own and pay per view. I can see the value of that view and I believe it's the way that the global iPlayer will go in the medium term. However I can announce here that we're going to be adopting a pure paid subscription model for the global iPlayer for launch – in part to get audiences used to using the service, but more importantly so we can generate additional value from the service in terms of the user data that it gives us." The company says having shows on iTunes brought in £10 million in revenue in 2009 so the iPad-only subscription model makes sense for the media giant. BBC has put a 12-month deadline on the project. Permalink | Comments

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