Don’t believe the hype.
The AT&T purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion is a fantasy.
A fantasy of old white men who don’t understand the Millennial world and think delivery systems solve their future problems.
So, outside of Game of Thrones, how many Millennials use a paid subscription to access the show?
Or how many share a friend or parent’s HBO subscription?
Is it that Millennials will want to see the 60-year old HBO star Bill Maher on new delivery systems or that somehow CNN’s Clinton News Network would appeal to a socialist generation that wants everyone to get a fair shake, something they won’t get on CNN.
The last innovation at CNN was created by Ted Turner when he invented 24-hour cable news and think about it, that’s true.
Watching AT&T spend their shareholders’ money can be very instructive to radio, an industry that stopped innovating over 20 years ago.
Remember?
Consolidation was going to give listeners more choices.
WRONG.
Consolidation was going to make radio a more attractive advertising vehicle.
WRONG.
I’m sounding like Donald Trump with that “wrong” comment, but you get the idea.
Consolidation, which is now officially underway in the television, media and phone business, has already proven what it can do to radio and records.
Choose “READ MORE” (below) for …
- Look at the AT&T/Time Warner merger – any way this thing works?
- If so, shouldn’t radio be watching very closely?
- How Amazon is killing what’s left of the record business.
- What is likely to happen to HBO now.
- How about CNN under AT&T.
- Why independent radio broadcasters have all the advantages over their consolidators and don’t even know it – what they should be doing.
- How do you raise rates when your industry consolidates and is dominated by huge companies like iHeart – here you go.
- The secret to attracting 18-34 Millennials and it is not coming up with new delivery systems like AT&T thinks it can do in TV.
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