News Corporation - the Ruppert Murdoch empire from The Times of London to Fox News in the US - President Peter Chernin challenged fellow executives to face the media industry’s biggest problems through a forward-thinking speech entitled "10 rules for Media Survival" at the Forrester Consumer Forum last week.
Chernin explained that networks and advertisers need to work together on new formats, and that companies need to turn to technology for new forms of distribution. In particular, Chernin addressed the most contentious issues currently facing the media and threatening future profits including: fragmentation, ad-skipping, and piracy. After addressing media's increasing difficulty to follow its traditional pursuit of passive audiences due to technological advancements, Chernin laid out his 10 rules for survival.
Chernin's rules are as follows:
- Rule 1: Realize that consumers? desires of control, choice, convenience, and simplicity have not been altered by the recent changes in technology.
- Rule 2: A wired home does not change anything. It merely allows consumers to move content from one device to another within their home.
- Rule 3: Media companies and advertisers have to redefine their relationship.
- Rule 4: Consumers don?t reject advertising, they reject complacency. Advertisers need to evolve the methods through which they reach consumers, especially their old habit of using 30 second commercials.
- Rule 5: Content is still king, but financing the kingdom is complicated.
- Rule 6: If content is king, then marketing is the crown prince. Broadcast or cable networks need to create tightly focused brands, like HBO, FX, or MTV.
- Rule 7: Get noticed. Even the brightest ideas need to be original, more audacious, and more gripping.
- Rule 8: The industry cannot ignore the fragmentation that is going on around the world.
- Rule 9: Nothing compares to the spontaneity and thrill of things that are live, including sports, news, and entertainment.
- Rule 10: If the industry does not solve the problem of piracy and can thus not protect content, all other rules are meaningless."
It's easy to understand that this "Bible's decalog" mainly applies to the broadcast industry, but some rules are relevant to forecasting the future of the newspaper industry.
