OK, this is my first ever blog. So pardon any particular etiquette that I am supposed to adhere to. Give me time and I'll be using all the buzz-words and be officially part of the blogging gang.
I'm a real media enthusiast - I've been working for over half my life in this astonishing sector of business - and yes I am only 33... But one person I admire more than anyone, perhaps controversially, is Rupert Murdoch. In fact, whenever I refer to him to anyone - either in the office or with friends - I still refer to him as Mr Murdoch. I know it's quite odd but I've read so many biographies on the chap that quite simply my awe for him is pretty high. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think he is the kindest, or most polite man round - far from it - however his dedication and ability to get around watertight red tape has been more than impressive. Plus, it's fair to say that many of his ventures are far from clean when it comes to controversy - Fox News, The Sun, and Star TV in Asia to name but three. However what amazes me is the power this man has amassed and how the power he wields and ability to shape opinion is greater than our own Prime Minister. Whilst many believe this to be a bad thing I personally would always prefer Mr Murdoch (see, I've done it again...) to have his agenda. Why? Well, whatever he does is done for the gain of his media empire and you can always see the agenda. Whereas anything the governments do in any of the territories he is based in may not find that their agendas are always in the best interests of their people. For example, Silvio Berlosconi - the Italian Prime Minister and owner of Mediaset - gave himself immunity by changing the rules when he was on trial for false accounting. The current state of the expenses controversy surrounding the British Members of Parliament shows how corrupt the political system is at present. So whilst I am not, and never will, claim that Mr Murdoch is cleaner than clean, we are always aware that any change in policy in his organization is done to benefit News Corporation. Well, usually. I say this as I simply have to mention the frequently forgotten issue of the amount of money that The Times newspaper loses year after year (it is only The Sunday Times that is profitable). Mr Murdoch keeps the paper running due to the pride of owning such a prestigious quality paper. He has lost over £50m on this title in the past year alone and can't see how this debt can be reduced with online news everywhere for free. My point here is that he continues to support an unprofitable title to curry favour with the establishment - something that he also did for over a decade at Sky News before it started to make a small profit.
I heard Mr Murdoch on BBC Radio 5 Live a year or so ago talking to Jeff Randall on the Money Programme. What I found interesting was how the focus moved to politics - in particular his support to the Labour party over the Conservatives. Since that programme was broadcast things have moved on dramatically. After being knee deep in recession News International's lead title, The Sun, came out to support David Cameron and the Conservatives - switching from over 12 years of support for the Labour Party. This came as little surprise to me as The Sun always backs 'a winner' and wants to be part of the team which shapes the victory. Remember the public support The Sun had for Tony Blair on it's front pages? To clarify things, The Sun will never win the election for the party. However they can be a significant influence and swing things in the favour of the incoming party. The fact that the Ashes was put back onto the 'listed events' and therefore unable to be seen exclusively on Sky Sports was seen as the Labour Party retaliating to the loss of support from Mr Murdoch and to hurt him where it hurts deepest - sports rights.
The influence that The Sun and the News of the World have is quite frightening to be blunt. The circulation, although significantly greater than the last election, is still enough to influence even the safest of seats. A recent example of the case of the Gordon Brown's handwriting case where it was claimed he misspelled the surname of the mother of a dead serviceman. This attack was the first public attack on the Prime Minister since The Sun announced it was to support the Conservatives. Many media commentators and myself all saw this as the first sword drawn in the lead-up to the likely March elections. But why? What is gained? Going back to the beginning of this article it comes back to the agenda of News International.
News International's biggest success of the past 17 years has been the successful launch of Sky Sports. It's fair to say that Murdoch bet the business on the success of Sky Sports - especially the FA Premier League which it enjoyed 15 years of exclusive live coverage on the channel. After the intervention from Brussels no one broadcaster could hold a monopoly to this prize sporting right - hence Setanta getting an all-to-brief foothold. Things have moved on a bit and ESPN have got a good set of rights under their belt for their new UK channel (which I must state my conflict of interests here as I Produced and Directed the channel launch campaign). However there are a significant number of rivals who are complaining on competition issues that BSkyB is abusing it's dominance. The biggest cries are coming from Virgin Media, Top Up TV, and BT Vision - again I must state my significant work at both Top Up TV and BT Vision - just in case you think I'm taking sides here. I'm not, don't worry.
One of the big talking points is that the rival platforms want to buy Sky Sports at a wholesale price so they can offer premium sports content on their own platforms. An Ofcom investigation is currently taking place and the belief in the industry is that Sky Sports will be made available to rival operators at a discount. Personally I think this won't happen - and if it does it won't be for a long time. Why? The support Mr Murdoch has given the David Cameron will surely come at a price and already he has claimed that Ofcom will have it's powers cut as it is too big and powerful. So who will benefit mostly of this new 'lighter touch' super-regulator? My money is stacked high on the Murdoch side. I will expect BSkyB's appeal against it being forced to sell their ITV plc shares to be successful. At present they are sitting on an extimated £650m loss on this investment - a deal done by James Murdoch to prevent Richard Branson's Virgin Media from buying it. Oh, and expect the Ashes to quietly come back off the listed events too before long as well...
So when you look at the broader picture you can see how the sprawling media landscape of Mr Murdoch is so intertwined that unless you know the full background it's so hard to actually see exactly what is the real motive. One thing is for sure though, there always is a motive behind it. Always.
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