Cleaving a giant media conglomerate
Murdoch’s Change of Heart
By DAVID CARR, NYT
Last week, News Corporation’s board voted to quarantine the newspapers that Rupert Murdoch has so lovingly nurtured, separating them into a new company. Cleaving the giant media conglomerate in two will free the lucrative entertainment division to find a share price more befitting its stellar run.
Mr. Murdoch had long resisted such a move, so it’s fair to wonder why one of the most stubborn operators on the planet had such a significant change of heart. The specter of Mr. Murdoch being steered to a new place by those around him is not something we have seen in his long reign at News Corporation. He seemed to acknowledge as much when he told analysts, “It’s a very big move and a very big decision for me to move forward with this.”
Mr. Murdoch may have taken the leap, but he was pushed by a decline in the fortunes of print that was more rapid than anyone had anticipated. He was worn down by his most senior executives, a board that was suddenly listening to them as well as him, and his own instinct for self-preservation.
Even at 81, Mr. Murdoch remains firmly in command of the company he built into a behemoth, so you can’t exactly say they took away his keys to the family cars. But his long-running romance with print will no longer be indulged just because he’s the boss.
(More here.)
By DAVID CARR, NYT
Last week, News Corporation’s board voted to quarantine the newspapers that Rupert Murdoch has so lovingly nurtured, separating them into a new company. Cleaving the giant media conglomerate in two will free the lucrative entertainment division to find a share price more befitting its stellar run.
Mr. Murdoch had long resisted such a move, so it’s fair to wonder why one of the most stubborn operators on the planet had such a significant change of heart. The specter of Mr. Murdoch being steered to a new place by those around him is not something we have seen in his long reign at News Corporation. He seemed to acknowledge as much when he told analysts, “It’s a very big move and a very big decision for me to move forward with this.”
Mr. Murdoch may have taken the leap, but he was pushed by a decline in the fortunes of print that was more rapid than anyone had anticipated. He was worn down by his most senior executives, a board that was suddenly listening to them as well as him, and his own instinct for self-preservation.
Even at 81, Mr. Murdoch remains firmly in command of the company he built into a behemoth, so you can’t exactly say they took away his keys to the family cars. But his long-running romance with print will no longer be indulged just because he’s the boss.
(More here.)
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