Big Beast Born to Make Newspaper Barons Lose Sleep
It’s official. A big beast is being born. It will overshadow every other bruiser in the British media. Contrary to common perceptions, it’s not the BBC.
Right now the DCMS is midwife at the birth. Any day, it will pop out and Rupert Murdoch will be allowed to increase his 39% stake in BSkyB to 100%. That will create a screaming monster by anyone’s standards. Post natal depression could be wide spread.
Sky’s revenues are predicted to rise from nearly £6 billion to more than £8 billion in the next five years – more than twice the size of the Beeb. That £8 billion would be higher than the combined revenues of all the other main broadcasters – BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – put together. Sky’s profits could rise from £850 million to £1.7 billion by 2015. Jacuzzis of cash for Mr Murdoch.
The man who coined that “Jacuzzi” phrase was the BBC DG, Mark Thompson. He complained at the last Edinburgh TV Festival that, “It’s time that Sky pulled its weight… its investment in original British content is just not enough,” Memo to Mark T – beware what you wish for.
A few weeks ago, Sky announced that instead of spending £380 million on British content they would soon spend £600 million. Jacuzzis of cash for content creators.
What does it all mean? My prediction is that a Goliath, all powerful Sky will also be good for the BBC. The BBC will now be able to play the plurality card for itself. The licence fee will become an alternative to Murdoch domination. What’s more the Beeb will increasingly seem like a good deal. (My Sky costs are nearly £100 a month compared to £180 a year for the telly tax.)
Sky has been a great innovator. So, in that respect, it could be good news for the consumer, as new services emerge.
The people who will really lose sleep over this are the other newspaper barons. Murdoch will use the financial clout of Sky to help drive investment in digital content and rights. This content will be shared with his newspapers’ digital offerings, making them sustainable businesses.
Bundled subscriptions are a nap. So, I might buy Sky TV, access to the Times website and a weekly deliver of The Sunday Times, all in the one Murdoch mega-deal. More Jacuzzis of cash. These bundles could blow other newspaper companies out of the water.
Jeremy Hunt is about to approve a deal which the man first charged with considering this viewed with disdain.
Oh, it could all have been so different if Vince Cable hadn’t been tempted to show off to those two pretty, young ladies from the Daily Telegraph.