Media groups have pursued corporate venturing enthusiastically as the sectors in which they operate have been transformed by technological change.
As we demonstrate in our forthcoming special report on the media industry, which is sponsored by US-based law firm Baker Botts and is out later this month, groups are using their investments in start-ups to keep tabs on how the production of content is changing, following the disruption to the media distribution chain caused by the emergence of US-based search engine Google and US-based social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and other new participants in the sector.
Many senior media executives interviewed for this report stressed media companies were rapidly responding to the way the sector’s distribution has been reshaped. Kenneth Bronfin, senior managing director of Hearst Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of media business Hearst Corporation, which we a profiling in this issue, said: “A significant part of our business is television. From a strategic perspective, many media companies have been, and remain, alarmed by the rapid changes under way on the distribution side of the business.
Yes, there are risks associated with these changes and the landscape will be altered. However, there are many opportunities as well – and the smart companies are rushing to find and leverage those opportunities.
“We believe there are many more ways to reach consumers now – to sell our products, directly or indirectly, be it pay-per-view, subscription video on demand or a dozen other models. Content is indeed king – we do believe that consumers will always value quality content.”
As our overview of the sector shows, there is a huge amount of activity as organisations are attempting to understand how these changes are reshaping their sectors. Read the full overview and our most influential rankings in the PDF of our magazine.
