Eight key developments in the global media industry: July 2006 – June 2007

In the Future of Media Report 2007 we included a quick overview of eight major developments in the global media industry in the year to July 2007, with prominent examples of each. Full details in the report. Developments continue apace – we’ll be keeping track…

Industry transactions

News Corp offers $5 billion for the Dow Jones, including the Wall Street Journal (finalized July 2007).

Sam Zell buys Tribune for $8.2 billion.

Clear Channel goes private in a $26.7 billion deal with a private equity consortium.

A sharp rise in private equity media acquisitions, including CVC buying 50% and then a further 25% of PBL Media.

XM and Sirius announce largest radio satellite merger in history (subject to FCC approval).

Major acquisitions by tech companies

Microsoft acquires aQuantive for $6 billion and TellMe Networks (est. $800 million).

Google buys Doubleclick for $3.1 billion and YouTube for $1.6 billion.

Layoffs and closures

There are 4,391 media layoffs in the US in first quarter of 2007 are, up 93% on the same period in 2006.

AOL Time Warner sacks 5000 staff.

San Francisco Chronicle announces plans to cut 25% of its newsroom staff.

User generated content

The majority of the 7 billion online videos streamed each month are user generated.

An unauthorised video of Saddam Hussein’s execution filmed on a mobile phone is broadcast around the world.

120,000 new blogs are created per day and Technorati tracks 70 million blogs.

New channels and distribution

France 24 and Al-Jazeera English launch global TV news channels.

Joost signs deal with Viacom to distribute TV shows online.

ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX provide full length shows online.

BBC iPlayer for streamed content approved for July release.

Advertising

Google pays News Corp a minimum of $900 million until 2010 to provides ads on MySpace and other Fox Interactive Media properties.

Revenue of US marketing-communications agencies rises 8.8% in 2006.

ITV offers viewers ‘mobile coupons’ linked to advertisements.

Intellectual property

A review of British copyright law concludes that copyright should not be extended from 50 to 95 years.

EMI drops digital rights management (DRM) on some of its online music sales.

Viacom sues Google for $1 billion for copyright infringement by YouTube.

Censorship

The US army bans MySpace and YouTube and restricts blogging.

Hugo Chavez does not renew the license of the popular Radio Caracas TV.

The Chinese version of MySpace, launched April 2007, filters “inappropriate content”.