
News Corp. (NWS) held the company's annual general meeting and Rupert Murdoch, Chairman-CEO of the company, encountered a spirited group of shareholders. They asked him questions concerning the $99 million that had been spent on lawyers, his political involvement and indecent shows being broadcast before 10 PM.
Concerning change in the industry and News Corp. itself he said:
"News Corp is in the midst of profound change affecting the whole media industry, it's about building the next generation of revenue
sources. We invest early ... There are a lot of changes going on, forced by new competition that old business models can't handle."
Most of Hollywood and the entertainment industry need to take Murdoch's insights to heart. To this day the majority are still trying to work things out the old way, but just doing it with an online presence; that's never going to be enough.
The companies that are getting it are the ones you don't hear talking much about the piracy problem, or suing everybody they can get their hands on. Companies like The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and News Corp. are already way ahead of others that still simply stand by, for the most part, and watch everything go by them while they try to figure out how the old model will work in this new online environment.
They need to learn that they need to put new wine in new wine skins, not new wine in the old wineskins.
Murdoch has taken the steps needed and is already making $500 million in ad revenue across their web properties. Disney is making millions from movie downloads in their deal with Apple (AAPL). How hard can this be to understand from the others?







Comment Preview