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The Twentieth Century Fox
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11694 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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2 / 1994 |
2,337 Words |
| Author
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Jonathan Marks
Jonathan Marks is editor of Media Network, a weekly
communications show broadcast on Thursdays by Radio
Netherlands, Holland's public external radio service. |
In many professional broadcast circles, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is regarded as the purveyor of "pulp." His satellite television operations out of London, for instance, concentrate primarily on mass-market entertainment. An examination of his movements shows that he is well on his way to creating a global broadcast empire that is destined to put other operations like the Voice of America (VOA), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and even Cable News Network (CNN) International firmly in the shade.
Murdoch is well advanced with his plans to put some of the largest government-sponsored competition out of business. Unlike many of his rivals, the Australian-born media mogul is an excellent long-term player. His News Corporation controls a global media empire that is unparalleled. He is investing in the technology of today and tomorrow, ranging from cable projects across Latin America to the interactive electronic newspaper Delphi.
The radio and television landscape varies throughout the world. Whereas most U.S. cities have cable systems offering dozens of channels, the majority of citizens in Europe, Africa, and Asia went through the 1980s with a choice of four or five TV channels at most, the majority of them being government controlled to some degree.
But the collapse of communism in eastern Europe has opened up a large market for Western-style television over the last five years. Commercial companies filled the void with programs beamed in by satellite. Prices of consumer satellite dishes and receivers have plummeted to a few hundred dollars, thanks to mass production in the Far East.
Now, a similar approach is opening up an even more interesting market in Asia. Cable systems are in their infancy in many parts of that continent, and their expansion is not happening fast enough. Besides, there are vast rural areas for which cable TV will never be economic. Commercial broadcasters know that access to viewers through most national government-controlled networks is difficult, if not impossible. So the solution is television delivered by satellite. Only those operations with deep pockets will be around to reap the rewards.
Murdoch's conviction matches that of Arthur C. Clarke, who set out the concept of satellite television more than 50 years ago. They both argue that entertainment, publishing, computers, consumer electronics, and communications are merging. But Murdoch's efforts to stimulate this nearly brought him to the brink
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