Media Empires & Philosophy

A one off perhaps?

The Business

When I studied for my MA in Mass Communication one of the figures under the microscope was Rupert Murdoch -and he was/is a very interesting figure. (not just because he kept a bust of Lenin when he was a student at Oxford university).

He's only recently got married to wife number 4 (Jerry Hall)  and denies that he's stepping back from the fray.

At 86 he was/is still a significant player but the announcement that Disney is to takeover much of his empire indicates a couple of things.

1) Traditional Media is under siege - from Amazon, Facebook and Netflix

2)  Murdoch is mortal and the second generation of the media magnate's loins do not have the same driving  ambition that he did.

So this really could be just an acknowledgement that TV/The Internet  is now where media empires live.

Further to this what we can see is that Cinema is under threat as never before - 'Box Sets' offer the home viewer something the 'Picture Palace' can't provide - we've also got the possibility of affordable massive slim screens - they can be 3D or UHD and the possibility of the screens being used to provide great works of art in the home is another 'game changer'.

Samsung - Replacing a visit to the Gallery?

Why are some figures Driven?

The other question (perhaps unfathomable) is why does an 86 year old man  with more money than can be imagined (unless you're one of the modern day Titans like Jeff Bezos) carry on wanting to make the next big deal.

What did Rupert's relationship with his father Keith really mean to his son and will his dynasty carry on into the 22nd Century?

And the next changes

Perhaps we'll not know the answer into what drives Rupert (or any of us) but more will become clear on the consolidation of media companies (and the net neutrality)  in 2018 ,.

Discovery (my last employer) is looking a bit of a dinosaur adrift without visible means of support as cable cutters liberate themselves (in the USA at least) , BT (another previous employer of mine) perhaps shouldn't have got into battling (Sky UK) and the once mighty  BBC is unlikely to be able to become a league one player while it remains a state broadcaster (and what will happen to ITV?)