Quokka bailing hard

by Wall Street Journal & Bloomberg on 14 Feb 2001 Quokka Sports, the online broadcaster founded by Australian yachting hero John
Bertrand, has sprung a leak.

Hoping to stem large losses, Quokka yesterday announced its second round of
staff cuts in three months.

Almost 60 per cent of its 359 staff will be retrenched, following on from a 20
per cent reduction in November after it bought rival Webcaster Total Sports. The latest cuts would reduce the cash-burn rate by 65 per cent to $US2 million ($3.7 million) per month, Quokka said.

Quokka, which last year lost $US150 million from revenue of $US47 million, will
also restructure the business.

In addition to broadcasting sporting events on the Web, Quokka will begin
producing Web content for third parties.

'The current financial challenges faced by all media companies in the Internet
marketplace today make it necessary for us to diversify our business model beyond sponsorship, content syndication and consumer revenues,' chief executive Mr Alvaro Saralegui said.