If you’ve followed with interest this forum’s discussion about the future of media, you might enjoy reading a short piece in the latest Newsweek that features the observations of British advertising “tycoon” Sir Martin Sorrell:
What about the $315 million AOL–Huffington Post merger, I say: is it a sustainable model for the future? “What do I know?” he says. “But having said that: no.” He thinks the price—10 times 2010 revenue—is too high for an aggregator of other people’s content.
How about Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily, the iPad-only newspaper that charges a subscription fee? “I’m a fan of Rupert’s,” he answers diplomatically. “I think getting people to pay for content is very important. The tablet, The Daily, is the right way to go.” But does The Daily work for him in terms of content and quality? “Maybe in time.”
Then there’s The New York Times’s new paywall, introduced last week. “I certainly hope” it will work, he says. That doesn’t sound terribly optimistic. “I’m realistic!” he says. Sorrell just doesn’t need the Times as much as he used to, he says. “There are plenty of other newspapers around the world, and even in America, which have sites … which are equally good—or can be less good and still be effective,” he says. “We are bombarded with messages all the time. More means less.”
