News Corporation's Digital Dilemma

Introduction Contd...

Murdoch was slow to move again, after 2000, when the Internet was beginning to pose a threat to television and newspapers by capturing advertising revenues and the younger audience, Murdoch waited till the end of 2004 thinking this was yet another bubble.

However, with more and more advertisers, audience and competitors going to the Internet, it was emerging as a strong media channel and Murdoch decided to focus on it in a big way. In February 2005, Murdoch held a meeting with his executives to discuss the company's Internet strategy. 

Well it hasn't.....it won't.....and it's a fast-developing reality we should grasp as a huge opportunity to improve our journalism and expand our reach." The Internet world threw up many challenges to a company like News Corp. The primary challenge was that the Internet had itself become a medium and a means of distribution of media content, and this would affect News Corp's newspaper business.

Another challenge was deciding on the best possible product portfolio in the wake of rapid digitization. The growth of the Internet would also pose a serious threat to the company's film and television businesses in the form of digital piracy and loss of advertising revenues.