The business world seems to be revealing clearly where the cracks in the media landscape are between old and new.
News Corp. Spinoff Forces Publishing Arm to Prove Growth - Bloomberg: "While the new News Corp. will be a fraction the size of the old combined company, it still will be the largest newspaper company in the U.S. Gannett Co. (GCI), publisher of USA Today and more than 80 other daily papers, has a market value of $5.6 billion while the New York Times Co. is worth $1.64 billion."
Digging into this a little, it's interesting to examine the components of the new businesses:
21st Century Fox now holds the TV and entertainment assets, the jewel in the crown of which seems to be the US Cable network which continues to drive well in its news and sports core. Movies and TV are strong, but rest on product hit successes which is not always guaranteed. In Europe, Sky in the UK has a commanding position, and there are plans to grow Germany and Italy, yet competition from local players and the impact of governments trying to influence 'fair' markets may limit or slow the rate of growth.
New News Corp rests on newspaper assets across US, UK and Australia which all have weak spots, some worse than others. What is interesting are the less obvious businesses that perhaps hold the key for longer term growth in the internet & big data age. These are Dow Jones, Digital Real Estate Services (the platform in Australia) and Amplify, betting on the digital transformation of the education sector. Harper Collins seems to be showing that book publishing can make it through the digital revolution, while the Australian TV assets should maintain good cash flow.
I am not sure if these businesses will help the newspaper businesses in the group, or if that is even the intention. But there are businesses here which could make New News Corp survive even if the well known newspaper brands suffer further.
There are other live case studies to watch:
Tribune takes a cue from News Corp. in planned newspaper spinoff - latimes.com: "Tribune Co.'s plan to spin off its newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, into a stand-alone publishing company follows in the footsteps of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. -- and other media companies."
So, I am not sure that these strategies yet answer anything about the future of 'journalism' (often preceded with 'investigative/longform/serious') that many seem afraid is an endangered species in the world of the internet.
But in the world of 'TV' there are signs that high quality content will always find a way to get funded and be watched, as House of Cards from Netflix is showing.
It’s Not TV, It’s the Emmys; Online Video Comes of Age, But Not Everything Has Changed | TIME.com
News Corp. Spinoff Forces Publishing Arm to Prove Growth - Bloomberg: "While the new News Corp. will be a fraction the size of the old combined company, it still will be the largest newspaper company in the U.S. Gannett Co. (GCI), publisher of USA Today and more than 80 other daily papers, has a market value of $5.6 billion while the New York Times Co. is worth $1.64 billion."
Digging into this a little, it's interesting to examine the components of the new businesses:
21st Century Fox now holds the TV and entertainment assets, the jewel in the crown of which seems to be the US Cable network which continues to drive well in its news and sports core. Movies and TV are strong, but rest on product hit successes which is not always guaranteed. In Europe, Sky in the UK has a commanding position, and there are plans to grow Germany and Italy, yet competition from local players and the impact of governments trying to influence 'fair' markets may limit or slow the rate of growth.
New News Corp rests on newspaper assets across US, UK and Australia which all have weak spots, some worse than others. What is interesting are the less obvious businesses that perhaps hold the key for longer term growth in the internet & big data age. These are Dow Jones, Digital Real Estate Services (the platform in Australia) and Amplify, betting on the digital transformation of the education sector. Harper Collins seems to be showing that book publishing can make it through the digital revolution, while the Australian TV assets should maintain good cash flow.
I am not sure if these businesses will help the newspaper businesses in the group, or if that is even the intention. But there are businesses here which could make New News Corp survive even if the well known newspaper brands suffer further.
There are other live case studies to watch:
Tribune takes a cue from News Corp. in planned newspaper spinoff - latimes.com: "Tribune Co.'s plan to spin off its newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, into a stand-alone publishing company follows in the footsteps of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. -- and other media companies."
So, I am not sure that these strategies yet answer anything about the future of 'journalism' (often preceded with 'investigative/longform/serious') that many seem afraid is an endangered species in the world of the internet.
But in the world of 'TV' there are signs that high quality content will always find a way to get funded and be watched, as House of Cards from Netflix is showing.
It’s Not TV, It’s the Emmys; Online Video Comes of Age, But Not Everything Has Changed | TIME.com
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