Rupert Murdoch, Longtailer

From the fantastic Forbes special issue on Networks, a piece by Rupert Murdoch that shows why he stands out as the one old school media tycoon best prepared to adapt to the new world (i.e. MySpace wasn't a fluke):

Media companies don't control the conversation anymore, at least not to the extent that we once did. The big hits of the past were often, if not exactly flukes, then at least the beneficiaries of limited options. Of course a film is going to be a success if it's the only movie available on a Saturday night. Similarly, when three networks divided up a nation of 200 million, life was a lot easier for television executives. And not so very long ago most of the daily newspapers that survived the age of consolidation could count themselves blessed with monopolies in their home cities.

All that has changed. Options abound. Fans of small niches can now find new content they could never before. Going elsewhere for news and entertainment is easier and cheaper than ever. And people's expectations of media have undergone a revolution. They are no longer content to be a passive audience; they insist on being participants, on creating their own material and finding others who will want to read, listen and watch.

Read the whole thing here. And get the print edition to read the rest of the excellent essays--it's one of the most thought-provoking special issues I've read in years (yes, I'm a bit envious).

Comments

[Mike Abundo]

If he's really serious about this, he should open MySpace up to third-party widgets. Even Tila Tequila knows that.

[baby]

How this is about the long tail?

[Preetham Venky]

I think increasingly, information will become more Peer to Peer. This would mean more unrestricted publishing of information by the people for the people - rings a bell does'nt it. Now, that's true democracy, atleast in the Virtual world :)

[Hugh Brown]

Oh, come on, Chris.

"... networking ... is ... impervious to constraints of distance, time or cost."

What a load of techno-utopian hype. Ever tried to network with someone who's asleep on the other side of the world? Or manage a project that involves coders and/or designers in a few time zones? Technology doesn't solve those issues.

"And people ... are no longer content to be a passive audience; they insist on being participants, on creating their own material and finding others who will want to read, listen and watch."

Anyone who's been involved in teaching New Media will know how far this is from true. Sure, a proportion of users are in this category, but it's a very small proportion of the population.

This is just Murdoch taking an opportunity to talk up his assets. Given a free plug by Forbes. He's right about the long-tail opportunities (which is what you're on about) but not even close on some of the other stuff. If Murdoch was serious about Longtailing he'd open up the News Ltd archives to Google and stick an advert on every page ...

For an alternate reality, see http://andrewkeen.typepad.com/the_great_seduction/ and don't believe Murdoch's hype ...

[Noah Brier]

All of the essays are on the Forbes site.

[Michael]

Easy for him to say from the position of head of the biggest media conglomerate in the world! The sheer scale of the MySpaces of this world is in itself a threat to the long tale. What happens to niche users who don't quite want to do things Murdoch's way? And does anyone believe he actually wrote that? He might have approved it but I doubt very much he scheduled out a couple of hours to knock out an article that an intern probably culled off sources such as, The Long Tail. He gets it - but not any eye to the cultural capital it could ultimately provide.

[Pályázat]

Network is ultimate power.

[John Brissenden]

By coincidence, I used to work for Murdoch (at Sky, his UK digital broadcasting arm) and now teach university students about media economics - your book is one of the core texts. Murdoch's been spouting this techno-utopian propaganda for about 20 years as part of his assault on what he portrays as cultural and policy elites. And he's done pretty well out of it. I'd rather take my networks stargazing from someone like Yochai Benkler, is all.

[peter]

The new media will finally change the people's life in autocratic countries.

[wow powerleveling]

Click photo to enlargeRupert Murdoch, Chairman of News Corp. arrives at a meeting... (David Karp/The Associated Press)«1»As Rupert Murdoch advances in his bid to buy The Wall Street Journal and its parent, Dow Jones & Co., a central issue is whether he would preserve the independence of its news operations - and keep his own views and commercial interests from coloring what appears in the paper's news pages.
Since his $5 billion offer became public last month,maple story powerleveling some members of the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones, have expressed skepticism about his promise to preserve the paper's independence. Another big shareholder, James Ottaway Jr., declared that Murdoch has long ''expressed his personal, political and business biases through his newspapers and television stations.''

[kabin]

thanks...
Kabin
Konteyner