Diller, Barry 1942–

International Directory of Business Biographies, (2005) by William Atkins

Under Diller's guidance, Fox developed the successful scheduling strategy of debuting new programs in August, when the other networks traditionally programmed reruns. Diller also created an atmosphere of conflict and confrontation, business manipulations, and power struggles. George Mair, a person who regularly interacted with Diller and who later wrote a biography of Diller, summed him up with this comment: "Barry's very willful, very success-oriented. I think that in pursuit of his goals he was very wasteful on a human scale. He cared not for the body count that he created in his wake" (Mair, p. 189).

USING THE COMPUTER TO ENVISION NEW PROGRAMS

Diller left Fox in April 1992. After working constantly since the age of nineteen, he decided to buy an Apple PowerBook laptop computer and learn how to use it. He was amazed by how it stimulated his imagination and caused him to think in a new way about network and cable television programming, interactivity, and information services. Diller set off across the United States on what he called his "odyssey," to talk with the big names in computer technology, such as Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve Jobs of Apple. During this time, Diller and his friend Diane Von Furstenberg traveled to West Chester, Pennsylvania, to visit the headquarters of the QVC Shopping Network. Diller was impressed with the mostly automated and effective sales operations of the company.

Through his company Arrow Investments, Diller bought into a partnership with QVC in 1993, to use it as a springboard for future investments. According to Mair, where critics saw an "electronic flea market selling jewelry and beanbag chairs," Diller saw a "money machine, and a place from which he could control his own destiny" (p. 231). Diller proceeded to buy other broadcasting properties and serve as their chief executive. After failing to succeed in merging QVC with CBS in 1994, Diller brokered a successful deal with Comcast and then left QVC about $100 million richer.

SILVER KING AND INTERACTIVITY

Then, in 1995, Diller purchased Silver King Communications, acquired Savoy Pictures Entertainment, and gained controlling interest over the media company USA Interactive, which owned the Home Shopping Network (HSN) and Ticketmaster Online. He transformed the company into the interactive commerce company InterActiveCorp. Diller expanded the company to include not only home shopping but also a variety of successful companies that dealt with interactive business on the Internet, such as Expedia, Hotels.com, Match.com, and Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch. He also oversaw more traditional enterprises, such as USA Networks (which included such television properties as the USA Network, the Sci-Fi Channel, and HSN), and numerous local television stations. Diller also bought controlling interest in the Internet portal Lycos as a way to turn the site into an outlet for the direct marketing of his own ventures. The travel sites Expedia.com and Hotels.com were models for Diller's strategy for revolutionizing the online travel-agency business. Because of their dominant positions, they were able to demand wholesale prices, which they resold for a 25–30 percent markup, rather than the traditional 10 percent commission.