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Hot Topic - Media Mergers and Acquisitions

Those Dancing Days Are Fading - October 15, 2022
The funereal drumbeats have echoed through media houses for some time. Now the somber trumpets have joined in. Economics are sour, profit margins worst. After housing and food, consumers are cutting back on everything. Advertisers have moved to TikTok. Investors’ mood is Wagnerian.

Competition Authority Fears Bigness More Than Foreign Competitors - September 19, 2022
The world of mergers and acquisitions is bigger than ever. Investors, shareholders and individuals are still fat with cash from years of easily available low or no interest financing bolstered by recurring revenues. Acquisition remains the preferred means of corporate expansion. It’s relatively cheap and easy. But bigness is not necessarily beautiful in certain quarters.

News, Just Another Cog In The Wheel - September 12, 2022
Mergers and acquisition do not, typically, bring on big changes or, especially, disruption. Shareholders want no part of that. They may not need more money but losing some is just not allowed. This is post-modern big business. Lifestyle preservation trumps everything. But mergers and acquisitions are necessary for financial refreshment, changing old money for new. Irresistible.

More Than Economics Drive The Quest For Scale - September 8, 2022
In many enterprises executives relish the dream of bigness. The big reward from bigness is, naturally, big money. This includes big bonuses for the executives and probably a few lawyers and accountants. Bigness also allows seeing off pesky competitors. What’s not to like?

TV Market On Edge Over Hostile Takeover - August 25, 2022
Big mergers and acquisitions are always fodder for considerable media attention. These transactions affect workers, suppliers, bankers, lawyers and regulators, not necessarily in that order. Sometimes these are happy; change can be good, buyouts better. Sometimes they can be entertaining, like anything involving Elon Musk. Media acquisitions of a certain scale attract great attention, too; particularly those involving news channels and politically exposed individuals. Hostile takeovers always add loudness.

New Executive Team Focused On Streaming And Costs - April 27, 2022
When mergers and acquisitions close expectations and trepidations expressed through the weeks and months beforehand are either met or shrugged off. From investors and shareholders to customers and employees there is that moment when all eyes are on the new boss and team. Usually tensions felt when a deal first comes together have been erased. Nobody likes surprises.

Streaming Isn't Everything, It's The Only Thing - April 11, 2022
Size matters. Scale matters. Bigness means everything to media and finance watchers. Appearance matters, too; particularly the appearance of bigness. Top rated and top earning are always headline grabbers, now meaning TikTok. This facilitates quick movement to the next top headline. Nuance is not allowed.


ftm Knowledge

Media in Spain - Diverse and Challenged – new

Media in Spain is steeped in tradition. yet challenged by diversity. Publishers hold great influence, broadcasters competing. New media has been slow to rise and business models for all are under stress. Rich in language and culture, Spain's media is reaching into the future and finding more than expected. 123 pages, PDF. January 2018

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The Campaign Is On - Elections and Media

Elections campaigns are big media events. Candidates and issues are presented, analyzed and criticized in broadcast and print. Media is now more of a participant in elections than ever. This ftm Knowledge file reports on news coverage, advertising, endorsements and their effect on democracy at work. 84 pages. PDF (September 2017)

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Fake News, Hate Speech and Propaganda

The institutional threat of fake news, hate speech and propaganda is testing the mettle of those who toil in news media. Those three related evils are not new, by any means, but taken together have put the truth and those reporting it on the back foot. Words matter. This ftm Knowledge file explores that light. 48 pages, PDF (March 2017)

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