Eugene Martin Christiansen Article Archive

Eugene Martin Christiansen has contributed nine articles published on the iGaming News site.

Editorial: Dotcom Bubble or i-Gaming Bull Market? (27 June 2005)
On June 2nd PartyGaming plc, the world’s biggest online poker company, said it would offer up to 23% of its shares in an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange. The issue was tentatively priced on June 15th at 111 pence to 127 pence; the mid point of this range would value the company at £4.76 billion. Earlier estimates were higher. In early June CNN News put the deal’s size at about $1.8 billion, valuing PartyGaming at $7.8 billion; some analysts said PartyGaming would be worth $8 billion to $10 billion, or £4.4 billion to £5.5 billion.

The Labels' New Suit Targets Internet Service Providers (22 August 2002)
On Aug. 16, 2002, 13 music labels, including giants Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and RCA Records, filed suit in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York to compel four giant Internet service providers, AT&T Broadband, Cable and Wireless, Sprint Corporation and UUNet Technologies, to block American access to Listen4ever.com, an English-language, Chinese-based Web site that offers copyrighted songs free of charge (The New York Times, August 17, 2002).

Turning Internet Gambling Back to the States (27 May 2002)
On May 15, 2002 the American Gaming Association (AGA) announced it would support a modified version of the Goodlatte bill (the "Combating Illegal Gambling Reform and Modernization Act", Robert Goodlatte, R-Virginia, sponsor), the current version of the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act that has been circulating in Congress since 1997.

A Content Analysis of U.S. Interactive Platforms (23 April 2002)
Enough time has gone by since the Internet's advent for Americans to form some interactive habits. Like crystals precipitating out of a cloudy solution, the way Americans interact with the outside world through different platforms is settling into perceptible patterns. What are they?

Weakly Interactive (8 April 2002)
Forrester Research recently estimated that about 15 percent of the 105 million U.S. television households will have some kind of interactive television service by year end--almost double the percentage last year (The New York Times, April 4, 2002). Forrester's estimate is small comfort to shareholders of Gemstar-TV Guide International, which traded above $90 in the first quarter of 2000 and saw its stock collapse this week, closing at $9.01 on April 2, 2002, down 37 percent on the day. According to The Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2002), analysts downgraded Gemstar because its interactive television program guide "wasn't developing as previously expected"; concerns arising from an SEC filing in which the company disclosed that it hadn't actually received $108 million in revenue from licensing its program guide to Scientific-Atlanta it had booked over the past 29 months and a $210.2 million net loss for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2001 didn't help. For Gemstar and the universe of companies large and small with stakes in domestic interactive television, however, Forrester's somewhat surprising projection is good news.

The Consumer Price of Gambling Online (19 February 2002)
Unsystematic sampling suggests that the consumer price of gambling in online casinos is significantly lower than the prices Nevada casinos generally charge.

For Jupiters, Online Gambling Starts to Scale (15 February 2002)
Jupiters Ltd., the Australian casino company, reported results for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2001 Tuesday, and they make interesting reading.

Racetracks, Bettors, the Internet and Television (12 February 2002)
California account wagering is finally here, and the advent of this long-awaited home betting market is a good reason to take a look at where, exactly, U.S. horse racing is in the larger scheme of things.

Interactive Television: Will 2002 Be the Year? (23 January 2002)
As part of its year-end business coverage The New York Times (Dec. 31, 2001) asked the question: Will 2002 be the year interactive television (ITV) happens in the United States? Don't hold your breath.