Media Ownership's New Dawn
Not only will we have to hear the words "synergy" and "strategic fit" even more, we'll probably being seeing more cross-selling, multipurposing, and unbeknownst-to-the-viewer-reader-listener-type-marketing with the FCC's decision to relax media ownership of multiple properties in different markets and of different mediums- as the Times says, Big Media Gets the Chance to Get Even Bigger. Stephen Labaton's overview in the Times explains: "It will permit a company to own up to three television stations, eight radio stations, a daily newspaper and a cable operator in the largest cities. It will also permit the television networks to buy more stations."
The Washington Post breaks down the implications well also:
New York Times Co., which owns 19 newspapers, eight TV stations and two radio stations, declined to comment on potential acquisitions or divestitures. But Catherine J. Mathis, vice president of corporate communications, said, "There may be opportunities to expand our holdings through tax-efficient swaps." For example, the Times could swap a TV station it owns for one in a market where it already operates a newspaper.
This also means dire things for the creative community, especially the writers (it's always the writers!), who will be lobbying or protesting in some way (think newspaper ad). Gothamist favorite, Tom Fontana, tells the New York Times that his original independent production company for Homicide "went out of business because that's what independents do now. So the show was bought up by NBC Studio. Now my studio and my network are in the same building, having lunch with each other. I no longer have a strong independent watching my back."
