TOKYO (02/07/2000) - Sony Corp. has strongly denied a Japanese newspaper report that says it intends to take a stake in one of the three major U.S. television networks.
"Any reports to the effect that we are currently looking at investing in one major network or channel is untrue," said Sony spokesman Gerald Cavanagh today in Tokyo.
In its Saturday morning edition, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) published an interview from its New York bureau with Sony's president, Nobuyuki Idei, in which it said Sony intends to take a stake in a major U.S. network to help further its e-commerce strategy. Idei was quoted as saying digital technology "will turn U.S. networks, which can marshal a vast audience, into giant platforms for e-commerce."
The newspaper speculated that CBS Corp. is the most likely of the three U.S. networks in which Sony could take a stake and further quoted Idei as saying Sony would want to be able to exert influence in any network it acquired.
"There is absolutely no truth to the speculation on the part of the Nikkei that Sony is considering an investment in CBS," said Sony Corporation of America in a statement. "This report is based on a purely hypothetical conversation initiated by the Nikkei and denied by Sony at the time."
But Cavanagh said the company cannot rule out such a move in the future. "In terms of long-term company strategy, a stake in a US TV network is one of a number of possibilities."
Sony Corp., in Tokyo, can be found online at http://www.sony.co.jp/.