Walt Disney will discontinue operations of its troubled Web portal, becoming the latest big media company to fold its Internet efforts back into core TV businesses.
About 400 employees have been laid off with the Go.com closure, said Disney spokeswoman Susan Murdy.
Disney's decision follows similar moves by other big media companies. Creating hub Web sites to vault people to other content sites may be an ill-fated strategy, analysts say, adding that Web users, like TV viewers, go to brands they trust.
With the Go.com closure, Disney will incur charges in the second quarter of this fiscal year, which include a non-cash write-off of US$790 million for intangible assets and between US$25 million and US$50 million in costs related to severance, fixed-asset write-offs and other items.
The company said it will focus on the individual Web sites instead of growing the Go.com umbrella site. These sites include Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABC.com and ABCNews.com.
Go.com becomes the latest casualty of big media Web flops. In addition, several companies have recently announced plans to let their respective TV or magazine brands run their Web sites instead of maintaining separate Internet operating divisions.
The newly merged AOL Time Warner could be planning to take another stab at the umbrella idea. The company is moving to make Netscape a hub that features the company's content properties, including CNN and Time's publications.
