Matters Financial

14 April 2003


Al-Jazeera Can't Turn Ratings into Cash
Al-Jazeera was made by the September 11 attacks, through the Afghan war and the new Iraqi War just as the First Gulf War made CNN. Unlike Ted Turner's brainchild, though, Al-Jazeera is going to find that ratings won't make it money. The reason, sadly, is because Al-Jazeera provides what the monied folks in its market don't want on the air. Click here to read more.

Concorde Finally Grounded
The world's only supersonic passenger aircraft, the Franco-British Concorde, will go out of service sometime this year. While demand for a final ride may make it feasible to keep the beast aloft a little while longer, 2003 will be the last year for some time that London and New York are three hours apart. Economics triumph over glory again. Click here to read more.

CD Sales Drop Confounds Music Industry
The compact disc was supposed to save the record industry. Consumers were going to have to buy CD versions of all the music they had ever purchased, but they would have the incentive of knowing that their collection would never scratch, skip or hiss while playing. Naturally, the precipitate drop in sales in the last year is making record moguls panic, and just as naturally, they don't understand the problem. Click here for our view.