Murdoch plans his assault on the Internet
News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch has been gathering his forces for the next step of his assault on the Internet. The Guardian's David Teather and Jane Martinson note that up to 45 of Murdoch's chief executives met this weekend near Carmel, California "for two days of private discussions on what he [Murdoch] has described as the company's highest priority: how to grapple with the threat and opportunity of the internet to the media empire he has spent a lifetime building."Until this year, Murdoch's News Corp has been largely missing from cyberspace, in spite of owning an array of global media assets, from BSkyB, the Times of London and the Sun to the New York Post, Twentieth Century Fox and Fox Broadcasting. Yet from almost a standing start, Murdoch has built a significant web presence in less than a year. News Corp has formed an internet unit, Fox Interactive Media, that oversees its web activities. And with big-budget purchses of Intermix Media (including MySpace.com, a popular social networking site), IGN Entertainment (a gaming and lifestyle portal for young men), and Scout.com (which will be integrated into News Corp's Fox Sports enterprises), NewsCorp has made a splash on the Internet. Murdoch now also apparently wishes to buy Blinkx, a search engine.
The Guardian article reports that these recent purchases now "gives News Corp 70 million unique users and 12bn monthly page views. That catapults it into the fourth-largest internet firm in the world by page impressions, behind Yahoo, Time Warner and MSN, according to the investment bank Merrill Lynch." That's a pretty scary statistic, considering that News Corp hasn't been on most people's Internet radar screens up till now.
Apparently the agenda at the Carmel meeting was dominated by "how to turn News Corp's web properties into a hub for entertainment-related content. One News Corp insider called the strategy an attempt to create an 'entertainment Google' -- a one-stop shop for all those looking for computer games, movies, music or chat online."
posted by hdougie at 9/11/2005 10:35:00 PM
8 Comments:
It's really no surprise that Murdoch in a year is almost at the top of the web market. Any time you hear about him he is taking something over or making his name known in a new area. I do however think it is interesting that he is going to focus on entertainment on the web; although it makes sense...he does own FOX network and they are not known for their hard hitting shows. And while it is not surprising how fast he has risen to the top it is scary that it happened. But in general I guess I don't really pay attention to who owns the search engine I am using.
Jess Thorne
The absence of News Corp being a larger part of the internet could just be that the company wanted to get things set up how they wanted them. The company buys up sites to become part of the internet world and becomes number four right away, will that number go up or down? Who knows News Corp could soon be the number one internet firm. Hopefully the premise of the one stop shop for entertainment will turn out to be innovative and not just another option.
Josh Gravelle
Murdoch is obviously a very smart, business savy man. However, the more I read about these sorts of things, the more angry I get at the direction mass communication has taken. It is starting to feel as though any form of mass media is owned by a handful of people. It feels anti-American in some ways because it is an industry that not just anyone can break into from a business perspective. You have to already own a few large media outlets and even then there is no guarantee that you won't be bought out by someone with a dozen large media outlets. Especially being a media communication major this is frustrating. Does this mean that if I don't want to be a journalist of some sort, working for a major corporation at the bottom of the food chain, or struggling because I insist on having my own small business that I will just be another starving 20-something with a communication degree and nothing to do with it? I do realize that I sound very melodramatic right now, but sometimes that is the way frustration comes out. I just wish that all of these media outlets were easier to break into and be involved with on a business level. It appears to have become another place where large sums of money and existing assets in the business keep you where you are and make it harder for the little guy to get in on the action. Although, to play devil's advocate with myself, Murdoch was once the "little guy." I guess only time will tell where the media and who controls it is heading.
~Heather LaValley
I feel traditional and modern media should work hand in hand, together making allowing for the present to work off of the past and what is yet to come. Rupert Murdoch's idea of assaulting the internet, seems a bit too far fetched to me. He has been involved in the media for some time now (FOX and Murdoch's News Corp). the approach that he is taking may be slightly in the wrong direction.
~Matt Hoffman
Heather, I tend to disagree with your viewpoint on the lack of accessibility to the online industry for the "little guy". You pointed out that Murdoch himself came from virtually nothing, and look where he is today. But it doesn't stop there. If you take a look at many common internet authorities, their owners often have started at the bottom. In fact, I would argue that the web allows for quicker and easier ascent to riches than traditional business. Just look at companies such as Google, Ebay, and Amazon, just to name a few. These now large scale corporations were completely non-existent or off the radar as early as a decade ago. Food for thought. Also I personally have no problem with Murdoch's so called "assault" on the internet. So what if he chooses to approach it from an entertainment angle? That is what he is good at, and it is where his background lies. Nothing wrong with a little variety online anyways.
~Travis Cass
Yes, there are certainly a handful of individuals who have achieved the American dream of starting from "rags" and earning themselves "riches". It is simply impossible for the majority of the "little guy" population to achieve this level of comfort in the job market. I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but the chances of any single individual ever becoming comparable to Murdoch are extremely slim. Sure, there are future Bill Gates and Murdochs out there who will come up with ideas that are unheard of today and blow any competition out of their way but many of our generation will get a job and remain the typical Average Joe. I believe that the amount of effort you put into your job is what you get out of it. Those who are at the top of their field did what it took to get them there.
-Karyn Monahan
Surprise Surprise, Rupert Murdoch owns more and more mainstream media – how long until he just takes over the world? More seriously though, why did it take him so long to delve deeper into “this thing we call Internet” – it kind of makes me think of how my Grandma refers to my laptop as “that funny little thing you have in your bag.” Though I’m not a Murdoch fan – the idea that mainstream media is owned and controlled by a few big-wigs freaks me out – I’m not as extreme as some acquaintances of mine – they dropped their MySpace accounts like hot potatoes as soon as Murdoch acquired the site.
Colleen Bennett
Comn 160
I think it is pretty amazing that Murdoch could stand to gain so much internet ground after being completely uninvolved. I think that this is where regulations need to come in. Not that moves like this should be completely banned, just regulated. We don't want monopolies to start arising before we can do anything about it. I am not sure what rules there are about owning internet sites, or if there are any rules, but if Murdoch is able to make such huge waves in the web, then perhaps we should look into a change.
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