Predictions For Another Event-Filled Year in Media
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The Los Angeles Times is predicting another volatile year for the media industry, with more consolidation, big names discovering new markets and trying to figure out some way to monetize the Internet in 2010.
The past year has seen big movement and consolidation among media companies. From Comcast Corp.'s (NASDAQ: CMCSA) pending acquisition of NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) purchase of Marvel Entertainment Inc., 2009 will mark a shift to the value of content over distribution.
All this content being bought up by companies may prove useless if they cannot figure out a way to earn off of them. Media companies are going to have to find a way to earn off of the content that it widely up on the Internet for free.
The sector that is suffering the greatest impact from this wonderland of free content online is the news industry. The past year saw the presses stop at nearly 150 newspapers across the country, including big names like Denver's Rocky Mountain News, the Christian Science Monitor and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The LA Times predicts that the coming year will likely be even more brutal for news companies noting that when the time comes for 2011 prediction the reader will likely view in the content on a computer or smartphone.
The article also foresees more consolidation among big media companies as competition tries to keep up in a new-media world, but after years of buying up what is out there, companies might find the pickings a little slim.
Expect companies to finally go after Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Inc. with conviction, with Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) and Summit Entertainment other potential candidates to be bought.
It might also be time for big media companies to take a look at the video game industry. Disney is seen as a possible buyer for Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), while Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) may be looked at by a variety of potential suitors including Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) in 2010.
Free television sites, like Hulu.com and Fancast.com may have to begin charging for content in 2010. Trying to get consumers to pay for something that they have to this point received for free may be an impossible sell, especially due to the abundance of other sources (legal or not) for users to explore this content.
The media world is changing, the license to print money for newspapers, movie studio and television companies is fading, and if the big corporations do not find new ways to do business they will disappear.
The past year has seen big movement and consolidation among media companies. From Comcast Corp.'s (NASDAQ: CMCSA) pending acquisition of NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) purchase of Marvel Entertainment Inc., 2009 will mark a shift to the value of content over distribution.
All this content being bought up by companies may prove useless if they cannot figure out a way to earn off of them. Media companies are going to have to find a way to earn off of the content that it widely up on the Internet for free.
The sector that is suffering the greatest impact from this wonderland of free content online is the news industry. The past year saw the presses stop at nearly 150 newspapers across the country, including big names like Denver's Rocky Mountain News, the Christian Science Monitor and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The LA Times predicts that the coming year will likely be even more brutal for news companies noting that when the time comes for 2011 prediction the reader will likely view in the content on a computer or smartphone.
The article also foresees more consolidation among big media companies as competition tries to keep up in a new-media world, but after years of buying up what is out there, companies might find the pickings a little slim.
Expect companies to finally go after Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Inc. with conviction, with Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) and Summit Entertainment other potential candidates to be bought.
It might also be time for big media companies to take a look at the video game industry. Disney is seen as a possible buyer for Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), while Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) may be looked at by a variety of potential suitors including Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) in 2010.
Free television sites, like Hulu.com and Fancast.com may have to begin charging for content in 2010. Trying to get consumers to pay for something that they have to this point received for free may be an impossible sell, especially due to the abundance of other sources (legal or not) for users to explore this content.
The media world is changing, the license to print money for newspapers, movie studio and television companies is fading, and if the big corporations do not find new ways to do business they will disappear.
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