Sports

Sports.

sports as a way for TNMCs to

expand overseas

News Corporation

1. Background

print media

1952

Transnational media company

Late 1990s

Fox Television United States BSkyB

UKFoxtel AustraliaJSkyB JapanZee TV IndiaVoxGermanyStar TV Asia Sky New Zealand

world domination

Fox Television United States BSkyB

UKFoxtel AustraliaJSkyB JapanZee TV IndiaVoxGermanyStar TV Asia Sky New Zealand

Cable tvstrange

unfamilarconvert

Primary revenueadvertisingnot enough subscribers

2. Using sports as an entry point in new markets

Sportsbattering ram

“sports programming commands unparalleled viewer loyalty in all markets” (Murdoch, 1996)

Sports: powerful, fast new market.

Superior to other forms of

entertainment

Everyone agrees!

live sports is a form of programming

familiar and

important to audiences

(Barker, 1997)

has the broad appeal to

attract the large numbers of subscribers that

News Corporation need (Roche, 2000)

Olympic Games FIFA World Cup

(Bellamy, 1998)

18-34 year old male

<3 advertisers

$-)

sports good entry point in

new markets

3. Environmental scanning and local tastes

Sportsconsistent

main strategy

local tastesenvironmental scanning

UKsoccercricketrugbygolf

USAamerican football

baseballNASCAR

Australia & New Zealand

rugby

News Corporation worked to secure the broadcast

rights to the sporting entities that most

resonate with local audiences (Andrews,

2003)

4. Expansion strategy

invested heavily in sports property

Major League Baseball LA DodgersNBA

New York KnicksEnglish Premier LeagueManchester Utd

(#fail)

Australia. RugbyAustralian Super League+Australian Rugby League=National Rugby League

Partnerships

National Rugby League Kerry PackerNASCAR ABC, CBSESPN Star Sports Disney

5. Future trends

Reliance on big sporting eventsultimately scarcespend large amounts of capital for

broadcast rights in bidding wars“borrow-and-buy philosophy” (Gershon, 1997, p. 197)

not sustainable