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Australia in a odd position in News Corp changes

The logic for splitting entertainment from publishing in News Corp. into two corporate entities does not apply to Australia given their decision to house entertainment and publishing in Australia in the publishing entity.

This is an odd decision (if we are to believe the state logic of the moves internationally) which needs explanation for it to make sense.

While News CEO Rupert Murdoch robustly defended newspapers in the statement made in the US overnight, his communication with News employees spoke to the commitment to publishing on digital platforms:

Today there are 30 million tablets in use in the U.S. and 75 million worldwide. In five years’ time, there will be at least 75 million tablets in the U.S. and 375 million in the world. Smartphones will get far smarter and grow rapidly over the next five years, from 120 million active phones to 225 million in the U.S., and from 835 million to 1.7 billion in the world. These technologies will permeate all parts of life — including education — and it is my firm belief that these two companies will be best positioned to compete in this rapidly evolving global economy and distribute our premium content on these platforms.

There is no doubt that with the splitting of News, the restructuring of News in Australia and the restructuring of fairfax in Australia that we are only seeing the be inning of changes to what has been a core category of our businesses. These are exciting times, change delivers to us opportunities. While I’ll watch the News and Fairfax changes, I am more excited by other changes in my newsagency businesses.

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Media disruption

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