Michael Grade was very keen to forget the Friends Reunited debacle after selling at a £150m loss today. "We have sold the business, it's history, we have moved on," he snapped during a conference call with journalists, after one too many request to reflect on the investment. Of course, the world once looked very different. Back in September 2007, one media executive was unimpressed by the growing popularity of Facebook, comparing its prospects unfavourably with those of Friends Reunited in an interview with Media Week. "Friends Reunited is a different model to Facebook," the executive enthused to Media Week. "It is very much in the sweet spot of where the web is going. The likes of Facebook are very successful, but they're trendy. They're cool today, but somebody will be cooler tomorrow. They'll be dead in the water. Friends Reunited will always be there." And the author of this glowing tribute? One Michael Grade, executive chairman of ITV.
