Sumner Redstone, media mogul who headed Viacom, has died
reuters.com
reuters.com
https://lgkmarketingcc.com/content-king-said-better/
The book seems to be J. W. Click, Russell N. Baird, Magazine Editing and Production. W. C. Brown Company, 1974, 274 pages
https://www.worldcat.org/title/magazine-editing-and-producti...
https://books.google.com/books?id=lMpHwLnvsvAC&q="content+is...
Earlier appearances in the 1960s refer to educational films:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/toward-improved-learning-a-co...
https://books.google.com/books?id=LiQgAQAAMAAJ&q="content+is...
Aguments over provenance notwithstanding, my view is that the aphorism is a convenient bit of stage distraction attractive to media monopolists themselves aware of the real truth: network control is emperor.
Central control of a network means deciding what that network is. Where it begins, where it ends, what goes in, what comes out, who can receive, who can send, what interactions are possible, speeds and latencies, what messages are heard, what are not, who pays, who gets paid.
It's not just the vig.
Also: factors wholly ignored by contemporary US (Borkian) antitrust doctrine.
They acquired ownership in the content networks and taxed them as well.
Read: Cable Cowboy - John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business
https://www.amazon.com/dp/047170637X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nx...
There’s a great book called Cable Cowboy by Mark Robichaux that talks about the Wild West days of early cable television.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/047170637X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nx...
The focus is on John Malone but all of the major players make an appearance including Redstone.
The interesting bit is how the guys who controlled the conduit manipulated their way into owning the content as well. They saw what happened to Ma Bell and used it to grow through creating regional monopolies like the Mafia.
- They each carved out their own territory and refused to compete with each other
- They collaborated to fight local government attempts to get better customer service for citizens or even string their own cable
- They famously extorted all of the content guys into giving up pieces of their businesses
Take a look at Liberty Media and how it acquired content assets directly influenced by John Malone’s power in cable.
It’s spooky, sinister yet amazing.
I vividly remember reading the paper on BART, mostly titillated at the level of detail, that was honestly like it was written by some sort of tabloid-paparazzi except in the Business section. Stuff like Shari Redstone saying something like "You know who your favourite is. It's Shari" while the senile Sumner Redstone nodded off, and how this other contender for leadership drove her to an event where they talked about how they'd oust this other guy.
Honestly, it was really something, and I wonder what whoever was involved was getting out of submarining all those things in the papers. Well, anyway, all it cemented in my head was that there were a lot of power struggles at what eventually became ViacomCBS. Maybe they'll make a movie about it.
¹ I subscribed to both at the time, so it's hard to say now which it was.
Maybe my timeline is a bit off though--my memory for pop culture stuff tends to get a bit jumbled after 10 or 15 years.
Interesting thoughts from Gideon Yago (of MTV News years back) on how Redstone's legacy should be union busting: https://twitter.com/gideonyago/status/1293567900096200710
https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2018/01/four-for-friday-i...
Reading about his family feud, leaving it to charity is probably a great idea ;)
Power and offshore accounts are cooler than articles and lists.