Rupert Murdoch: Kindle the Business Change That Will Save Newspapers
Rupert Murdoch has been sounding pretty stupid for the last year or so, talking ad nauseum about how the Internet can be overcome and we can all be forced to pay for the content we consume.
Uh-oh. I think he might be right.
The lord of Newscorp is looking at Amazon’s Kindle book reader and thinking he finally has the business change model to get back the revenue that his print outlets have been losing, and even add new revenue for broadcast. Here’s how it will work: As we all start using “devices” (Kindle, advanced mobile phones, whatever), we also learn to add content to them. It’s true; I have more media streaming into my Droid then I ever read simply because “there’s an app for that”.
Well, what if the apps that show content required subscriptions? And what if the folks who create that content simply stop putting their content on-line in places where search engines like Google can find them? Bang. Newspapers get subscribed to again, and even previously-free TV outlets can create viewership revenue.
I was beginning to think that Mr. Murdoch was a dinosaur. I’ve changed my mind. And you’re about to change the way you use the internet. Get your strategy together, now.
By the way: the part of the interview where he talks about this topic starts at about 1:50 of the video.
Link to this pageTags: Amazon, business change, Kindle, newspapers, Rupert Murdoch
November 19th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff Yablon, Jeff Yablon. Jeff Yablon said: Rupert Murdoch is Smart, After All. Who Knew? http://answerguy.com/2009/11/18/rupert-murdoch-kindle-business-change-save-newspapers/ [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
[...] you manage business change you’re going to get in trouble. We’re seeing it in the way Rupert Murdoch’s might-or-might-not-be-happening negotiations with Microsoft and Bing are going; will deals [...]
December 9th, 2009 at 11:47 am
[...] remember Rupert Murdoch’s insistence that Google pay him for access to News Corp’s on-line conten…? Remember the rumor that Murdoch’s News Corp would do a deal with Microsoft Bing to have only [...]
March 25th, 2010 at 10:56 am
[...] News Corporation, run with an iron fist by Rupert Murdoch, has been the most successful in getting paid for their content. While many of their properties (Fox Television and The New York Post, to name two) are available free in one form or another, Murdoch’s crown jewel, The Wall Street Journal, has steadfastly remained a pay-to-read publication, even on line. And Mr. Murdoch has made more than a bit of noise about how he’s going to find ways to keep separating us from our money if we want to read his stuff. Back in November he said that Amazon’s Kindle would be his weapon. [...]
May 25th, 2010 at 7:47 am
[...] I admire Mr. Murdoch’s resolve, and his ability to make money where most others have failed, even if I believe he’s way off the mark in the way he goes about things. [...]