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News Corp CEO Knocks Google, Facebook, LinkedIn
At an award ceremony, this week, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson took time to charge Google with “piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy,” and had similarly harsh words for Facebook and LinkedIn.
“None of them actually create content, and they certainly have little intention of paying for it, but they do redistribute the content created by others,” Thomson said.
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The real problem News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson needs to understand is it is upto the user or viewer to pick want they want, when they want it and a legacy payTV bundled model that is centrally curated linear TV really does not deliver the expectations or the product people want. Secondarily the price point News Corp wants and how supply/demand impacts price expecation in an Audience Fragmented landscape are at opposite ends.
Leonard, in order for any TV network to invest in new content---series programming, mainly-----the idea has to appeal to enough people to justify the production costs and the huge risk that the producers---who ever they are---will screw up the casting and/er the execution and turn out a piece of crud. That's why the TV networks used to pre-test most of their program concepts, sending descriptions of the ideas to fairly large samples of typical viewers and gauging their response, not only overall, but by demos. In addition, the networks often asked people whether they would watch a proposed new series if it faced certain competitive programs---usually incumbents, hence well known shows. This refined their concept testing and also helped with scheduling.
I assume that studies of this type--- and probably more sophisticated versions ---are still done at the networks and the major cable players. The point being, that if it appears that 15% of the viewing public---or demographic subsets, thereoff--- is very receptive to a sci-fi or cops series idea, that's probably enough to warrant serious consideration. If, however, only 2% really dig a new adventure show idea about two nerdy stamp collectors living in the Solomon Islands, that suggests that investing millions of dollars in the latter show, just because a few people like its concept and may actuall watch it, isn't a really good idea.
Net, net, as far as I know, the TV Establishment dooesn't simply make arbitrary decisions about what content viewers---or segments of viewers---might like and impose these upon an increasingly frustrated public, which, in consequence, is flocking to Netflix by the tens of millions. Their decision making process is not as simple minded as that, though I must confess that I, too, am a critic. One way or another, those who decide what content to manufacture must consider program production costs ( risk ) and weigh this against likely audience mass, or they court disaster. Even if everybody knows exactly what content they want---- not always true-----everybody can't have only those shows waiting for them, when they desire to view them. Some shows, yes; many others---it just aint feasible.