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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2012 11:19:04 GMT
And muscle his way in he did! His policy was if there was anyone in his way, simply buy them up. Which was pretty much what happened with BSB (who would have proved to be a better broadcaster for the UK, I reckon; Murdoch's vision of broadcasting was more international and downmarket).
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Post by John Wall on Apr 10, 2012 11:37:31 GMT
According to the link I posted it looks like the merger between BSB and Sky was the financial saving of, probably, both broadcasters. Remember that these things are discretionary purchases. The News of the World sold about 2.7 million copies each week and had a readership of almost 6 million - about 10% of the population made a deliberate choice to read it each week. Millions of people pay to watch live football on Sky TV - that's their choice.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2012 11:54:30 GMT
According to the link I posted it looks like the merger between BSB and Sky was the financial saving of, probably, both broadcasters. Yes, although it seemed like another instance of the ABC / Rediffusion "merger", which was effectively a take-over by ABC's parent company, with little of Rediifusion in the mix on screen afterwards. I watched BSB a bit back then and it effectively died when it became BSkyB. As far as the old topic of viewer "choice" is concerned though, in order for the audience to be able to make one, there has to be a genuine alternative on offer in the first place. You need to have a system that believes in public service to do that; to inspire people to want better rather than settle for less. Murdoch simply believes in letting people have lowest common denominator TV (in the name of freedom of choice) and what we have these days is a system that merely offers duplication of low grade fodder, which is a "legacy" of the Murdoch blueprint. He has a lot to answer for.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 10, 2012 12:53:29 GMT
When people go into a newsagent they have a range of papers to choose from ranging from the FT, Times, Independent, Grauniad through the Mirror/Mail/Express to the Sun.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2012 13:07:14 GMT
They do (although arguably less real choice than in the past) but in TV there is not genuine choice any more, which is really bad news as it's arguably the most important and pervasive medium of the lot.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 10, 2012 13:47:39 GMT
The "power" of TV has reduced with the development of a multi channel environment and the subsequent fragmentation of the market. The press has fared similarly, whether the claim made in 1992 that "It's the Sun wot won it" could be repeated in 2012 is extremely doubtful. A lot of local papers are on the way out as advertising revenue goes online.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2012 15:11:55 GMT
The "power" of TV has reduced with the development of a multi channel environment and the subsequent fragmentation of the market. The press has fared similarly, whether the claim made in 1992 that "It's the Sun wot won it" could be repeated in 2012 is extremely doubtful. True. Though i'd not be sad if a few of the more tabloid rags went to the wall.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 10, 2012 15:43:06 GMT
The "power" of TV has reduced with the development of a multi channel environment and the subsequent fragmentation of the market. The press has fared similarly, whether the claim made in 1992 that "It's the Sun wot won it" could be repeated in 2012 is extremely doubtful. True. Though i'd not be sad if a few of the more tabloid rags went to the wall. The internet is taking more and more advertising revenue which means that traditional media are getting a smaller piece of the cake. To be fair to Murdoch (John washes out his mouth with soap) I understand that he subsidises The Times as it loses money. One of the London evening papers recently went free to boost circulation and, hopefully, generate more advertising revenue - I'm not sure whether that was successful. What is certain is that the influence of any part of the media will progressively reduce.
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Post by Robert Belford on Apr 10, 2012 17:57:20 GMT
There's no need to be fair to Murdoch. His newspapers and TV channels are tools that he can use to bully politicians into doing what he wants. Having that kind of power is more important than the money from a particular newspaper or channel.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2012 19:12:40 GMT
I certainly don't feel any need to be fair to Murdoch!
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Post by Richard Marple on Apr 10, 2012 19:46:30 GMT
It's nost just here, a few American sites mention how Fox News is very pro-Republican.
At times the phone hacking stories have put a smile on my face & made me think "you're having a taste of your of Medicine for once".
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Post by John Wall on Apr 10, 2012 20:18:31 GMT
Murdoch's influence is considerably less than it once was Part of that decline is, imho, self-inflicted because of the multi-channel TV world he helped create. The other reason is the Internet. But the downside of that proliferation of media platforms has been an inevitable reduction in quality - never mind the quality, feel the width.
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Post by Colin Anderton on Apr 11, 2012 9:02:16 GMT
When people go into a newsagent they have a range of papers to choose from ranging from the FT, Times, Independent, Grauniad through the Mirror/Mail/Express to the Sun.
I keep asking for the Grauniad, but no shop seems to stock it!
Colin.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 11, 2012 9:50:04 GMT
I keep asking for the Grauniad, but no shop seems to stock it! Try the Indescribably Boring, Daily Fail, Daily Excess, etc !
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Post by Tony Walshaw on Apr 12, 2012 8:31:31 GMT
"The public don't know what they want. It's up to me to decide it for them". Sir Alec Issigonis said this, referring to his designing of cars like the Morris 1000 and BMC Mini. But it is a quote that could also apply to Murdoch, and hints at the indifference of the populace.
The success of globalisation hinges on 'everyday folk' being oblivious to it. Those who go to work in ordinary jobs, pick the kids up, go to McDonalds or Dominos for tea, and watch Sky Sports. This is life to them, and they don't know who thought of it. Murdoch knows this and exploits it. The irony of it all is that most of his consumers are not very aware of who he is and what he owns. They also don't really know of his foot soldiers like Brooks, Coulson and Mohan either.
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