• by Joe Marchese , July 10, 2007

...I'd be rich. Okay, enough daydreaming, moving on to thoughts that are less fun (for me). Try finding a media or advertising article these days that doesn't in some way end up at Murdoch's doorstep. It's like media's version of "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon," except it's only one degree for Rupert. Take your pick of hot subjects: Newspaper's digital shift. The eroding value of the 30-second spot. The sky-rocketing popularity of social networks. The resurgence of traditional and digital media M&A activity. And of course, all of these culminating in a singular issue: the social media sea change.

Rupert Murdoch's vast media empire is connected so directly to all of these issues that the media industry is forced to hang on, and react to, his every word, much like the financial industry reacts to the tone in the Fed Chief's voice. We have all sat back and thought "if I were he, I'd do X," with the benefit of knowing that if "X" works out, we will look like geniuses -- but if route "X" is never taken, we can always claim they missed the boat. It is in this time-honored tradition of back-seat/no-risk/no-responsibility driving that I say the following: If I were Murdoch, I would swing open the doors and attempt to foster the openness necessary to make my media properties the moon to the social media sea change's tide.

We can start with the easy one. I would open the doors to MySpace, a la Facebook. Even if I was only looking to sell/trade the MySpace property, the potential benefit to valuation generated by an open platform FAR outweighs the modest valuation benefit of increasing revenues 10%, 20% or even 50% year-over-year. Why? Because MySpace is an eco-system -- and an eco-system that has thousands of revenue-generating companies dependent upon it is significantly more valuable than one without. I have made the seemingly straightforward argument here before: It's simply not possible for Fox Interactive Media to hire and retain the type of talent internally that would work to build value for MySpace from the outside. And suppose someone does solve the monetization issue for social networks by simultaneously building value for social network members and brands. Even if that method is not controlled by News Corp., what do you think demonstrating the possibility of monetization does for MySpace's valuation?

If I were Murdoch and I got my hands on The Wall Street Journal, I would tear down its subscription wall. News isn't broadcast or controlled going forward, it breaks and is discussed. Breaking news will continue to become more difficult as the "citizen journalism" trend continues, but the Journal has some of the best minds in the business world trapped behind subscription walls in a digital world of linking and dialogue. I would understand that monetization is still an issue, and there is a fear of cannibalizing print sales, but if I didn't start working to make The Wall Street Journal THE brand in digital media and the center of business news online, I risk losing talent and share to other more progressive digital publications. Perhaps laying out a plan how I would open up the Journal and support it, as the industry worked out digital monetization pains, would even help me acquire the property....

Finally, entertainment media. As Murdoch, I would make it a directive to original content divisions to look for ways to free content for social/digital media distribution. I'd already be working with NBC, a leader in this area with NBC Rewind, on a video platform. "American Idol" is one of the best models of product placement and a great potential experiment for extending broadcast media into social media with increased crossovers between MySpace and "American Idol" personalities. Alternative monetization methods would need to be the priority, while annuity from traditional monetization methods supports development of alternative methods (this is vastly different than simply protecting traditional monetization methods).

If I were Murdoch, I would make it a prerogative to set in motion a sequence of events to prepare my digital and traditional media empire for the openness necessary to survive once all media is social media. I would be bold with the opportunity presented by owning the most influential social media property created in the history of the Internet. But then again, if I were Rupert Murdoch, I'd be rich...and I certainly wouldn't be listening to me ;-)