Partnerships between the old and the new: Examining the strategic alliances between broadcast television networks and internet firms in the context of convergence

Abstract

This study applied a resource‐based view (RBV) strategy framework to analyze the major broadcast television networks’ alliances with Internet firms in the United States from 1998 to 2001 in the context of the convergence between the Internet and television. The findings show that the television networks primarily contributed property‐based resources, while the Internet firms largely contributed knowledge‐based resources to the alliances. The findings also indicate that the broadcast networks’ alliance structural preferences were influenced by the resources they contributed to and what they desired to access through the alliances. The networks used their property‐based resources as a basis to form Internet alliances, and in return they obtained access to Internet firms’ knowledge‐based resources that are essential in creating an Internet presence for the broadcasters.