Media's New Masters

MEDIA'S NEW MASTERS
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Fine]
[Commentary] It's now a matter of when, not if, private-equity players will begin owning a large chunk of the consumer media world. Thus, regardless of who ends up controlling Tribune Co. and Clear Channel Communications -- to cite just two recent headlines -- it's worth considering, without rant or cant, what this will mean to media companies and properties. 1) Old dogs learn new math: "There is equity. There is debt. There is cash flow. There is interest. There is growth. There is value. That's the world." A shift to a "hard" accountability won't be easy. A soft-edged ecosystem allowed generations of lower-tier employees to make decent middle-class salaries--in some cases, much better than middle-class salaries. That world has been shrinking. It will shrink faster. 2) Expect a quicker sprint to digital. 3) The old-style conglomerate, be it Knight Ridder or Time Warner, consists of properties bolted together more or less haphazardly. Their run of dominating media will end. In their place will come tightly focused companies.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_46/b4009039.htm