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Cape Town - The big question in the media and entertainment industry remains how media companies can make money from the internet.
A panel discussion on this topic was held at the recent Fortune, Time and CNN global forum in Cape Town.
The creation of options for consumers is one possibility proposed by Univision president and CEO Joe Uva.
Consumers could, for instance, choose to receive content free but with advertising, or to pay – as subscribers – for content with limited advertising in which they would be interested.
Uva considers that consumers will in future will be prepared to pay even more for entertainment.
Antonie Roux, CEO of global internet operations at Naspers [JSE:NPN], said the group's internet companies in developing countries have withstood the impact of the recession well.
He ascribes this to, inter alia, the greater penetration of cellphone usage which has made consumers more accustomed and prepared to pay for services in micro-segments. He reckons an important growth trend will be in devices that can store increasing amounts of data.
Telecommunications industry monopolies in many developing countries – including South Africa – remain one of the biggest problems, said Roux.
CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton reckons governments that create environments in which new markets can develop will certainly fare better going forward.
Tom Freston, former MTV CEO and currently at the helm of the investment group Firefly3, says whether big money can really be made from social media products remains an open question.
This generally would involve the use of advertisements, which implies interruptions in the middle of people’s conversations.
Such media are powerful social vehicles, but not really cash cows, in his view.
To Walton, this means that the scarcity and exclusivity of information will become more valuable, as well as the role of those doing the advance screening and organising of information for consumers.
For this reason, CNN has enlarged its legal division to ensure that its copyright is not violated.
- Sake24.com
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Sake24 and Fin24.com are owned by Naspers.
