YouTube

Link

Emma Lux

Source: YouTube, YouTube logo [1]

HISTORY

YouTube is a video streaming company that was launched in May of 2005 [2]. The company is a website that allows people all around the world to watch and share videos. They have sports videos, music videos, gaming videos, live streaming, and so much more [3]. YouTube has been utilized by individuals and by large companies as a platform to distribute content. YouTube currently has more than 1 billion users and 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Until recently, YouTube made a majority of its money through advertising before and during the videos on the site. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars [4]. Under the deal, YouTube was able to remain an independently operated entity and a separate brand. The original founders of YouTube were Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim who were all early employees of PayPal [2]. The current CEO of YouTube is Susan Wojcicki, but Chad Hurley, one of the original founders, still serves as an advisor [5]. YouTube has opened up channels of communication and allowed for an easier way to distribute media more directly to the public.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Source: Susan Wojcicki Twitter, Susan Wojcicki – CEO, YouTube [6]

Source: Robert Kyncl Twitter, Robert Kyncl – Chief Business Officer, YouTube [7]

Source: Politic365, Chad Hurley – Founder and Advisor, YouTube [8]

FINANCIALS

Source: Behance, Google Logo 2015 [11]

As a company, YouTube’s financials have been protected by their parent company, Google. There has been wide speculation about whether YouTube actually makes a profit. In 2014 an anonymous Wall Street Journal source reported YouTube’s revenue for the year at roughly $4 billion and profit at break even [9]. YouTube was a large investment for Google. It has been estimated that it won’t be long before YouTube makes up to 10% of Google’s total revenues [10]. During Google’s Q2 2015 conference call, the new CFO, Ruth Porat, was evasive regarding questions to clarify YouTube’s financials. Porat did not share YouTube’s financials because she felt it could put the company at a competitive disadvantage. Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, believes that Google is now in the stages of refining and preparing YouTube’s financial performance so when they do finally reveal those numbers, Wall Street will be pleasantly surprised [9].

YOUTUBE RED

Source: The Wrap, YouTube Red Logo [13]

On October 28th, 2015 YouTube launched its long-discussed paid subscription service, YouTube Red. The service will cost $9.99 a month and have ad-free versions of YouTube videos. There has been speculation about a service like this coming for a long time because of the financial issues that YouTube is faced with. YouTube has all the factors for success, but reportedly only breaks even with their revenue. This new service will allow subscribers of YouTube Red to save YouTube videos for offline play, listen to videos in the background while browsing other mobile apps and watch all YouTube videos without ads. YouTube stars like PewDiePie, Lilly Singh and the Fine Brothers will be creating videos that are exclusive to this new program. Music is also a large component of YouTube Red.

Source: Connect Socialyte, Collage of YouTube’s Top Creators [14]

The service will be providing access to Google Play Music and a new app called YouTube Music, which offers a personalized playlist based on a starting song or artist, this style is very similar to Pandora. YouTube Red is charging prices very similar to potential competitors like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu [12]. YouTube also announced that they would be shutting down their Music Key beta, just a year after launching. Music Key was YouTube’s first attempt at a subscription service and offered users full album streams and offline listening for $7.99 a month. The service also included access to Google Play Music. Music Key was not successful, and never made its way out of beta. YouTube Red is the company’s second attempt to overcome the issues that were evident in Music Key’s model and break through any streaming service barriers [15].

Source: TechCrunch, ESPN Pulling Videos From YouTube due to Red [16]

YouTube Red contains a large amount of promise to fix YouTube’s financial woes, but there has been controversy over how YouTube has gotten creators to agree to be a part of the service. YouTube has stated that 99% of creators have signed on with the Red deal but has also been accused of giving creators no choice, either getting on board with the service or having their videos removed from the site. ESPN has had the most public battle with YouTube over the service. With rights issues surrounding their content, ESPN had to pull almost all of their videos from YouTube. Eleven of ESPN’s thirteen YouTube Channels were impacted and had their content pulled from the site [16].

YOUTUBE’S MOMENTUM & FUTURE

Even with the issues facing YouTube and the fallout coming from YouTube Red, the company’s future seems bright. YouTube now reaches more 18-49 year olds than any

Source: BN1 Magazine, Vevo Logo 2015 [18]

single U.S. cable network and the average YouTube mobile session is 40 minutes. The number of hours people spend watching videos is also up 60%, which the fastest growth YouTube has experienced in 2 years [17]. Ever since YouTube officially became “mainstream” in 2009 with Congress and The Vatican launching their respective YouTube channels, the momentum in pop culture has only increased. YouTube launched Vevo, a music video channel, then announced that movies could be rented from YouTube starting in January 2010. As YouTube gained notoriety projects were launched on the site such as the It Gets Better project and Kony 2012. YouTube has pushed the importance of

Source: It Gets Better Project, It Gets Better Project Logo [19]

original content and been revolutionary in the likes of live-streaming. YouTube was the first company to show a live-stream of the 2012 Olympics. YouTube has pushed the boundaries and the strides can only point to a successful future [2]. YouTube has big plans to stay ahead of everyone else in the field, and to turn their large audience numbers into real, tangible profit i.e. YouTube Red. One of YouTube’s other big projects for the future is to provide YouTube access to anyone, anywhere. No matter what kind of connection, they want YouTube and its content to be streamed everywhere. YouTube has worked very hard to improve their tech. To continue improving it, YouTube has built new codecs, participated in developing new versions of HTML, and

Source: Buzzfeed, YouTube Rainbow Logo Celebrating Marriage Equality [20]

worked narrowly and closely with internet providers to make sure people are getting the best picture possible. These upgrades will never stop for YouTube, because this is what it takes to stay ahead and that has always been one of their biggest priorities. One of YouTube’s other resolutions as it moves to the future is a greater focus on “creators” rather than the one hit viral wonders that helped give YouTube its notoriety. These creators have built large fan bases and are in large part to thank for the increased viewership and subscriptions which is what is making YouTube so successful. These creators are also crucial to make sure that YouTube Red is successful, exclusive content on the service from these creators will only draw more fans to pay for the service [21].

SOURCES

[1] YouTube Logo. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[2] Dickey, Megan. (February 15th, 2013). The 22 Key Turning Points In The History Of YouTube. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[3] YouTube Channels. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[4] La Monica, Paul. (October 9th 2006). Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion. CNN Money. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[5] Kioskea. (October 29th 2010). Hurley stepping down as YouTube chief executive. CCM. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[6] Susan Wojcicki. Twitter. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[7] Robert Kyncl. Twitter. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[8] Barnette, E.R. (2015). Chad Hurley. Politic365. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[9] Oreskovic, Alexei. (July 16th 2015). How much money does YouTube make? Don’t ask the new CFO. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[10] Brugger, Tim. (September 9th 2014). Alright Google, Inc, What’s YouTube Really Worth? The Motley Fool. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[11] Google Logo. Google. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[12] Luckerson, Victor. (October 21st 2015). You Can Now Pay to Watch YouTube Without Ads. Time. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[13] YouTube Red Logo. The Wrap. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[14] YouTube Creator Collage. Connect Socialyte. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[15] Connolly, Amanda. (October 24th 2015). YouTube’s Music Key beta will end next month, leaving non-US users in the lurch. The Next Web. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[16] Perez, Sarah. (October 23rd 2015). YouTube Red Deal Forces ESPN To Pull Its Videos From YouTube. TechCrunch. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[17] YouTube Statistics. YouTube. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[18] Vevo Logo. BN1 Magazine. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[19] It Gets Better Project Logo. It Gets Better. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[20] YouTube Rainbow Logo. BuzzFeed. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[21] Pierce, David. (May 12th 2015). YouTube’s Plans for 10 More Years of Video Domination. Wired. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

NewsCorp/Fox

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Adam Kloos Jr

by Adam Kloos

News Corporation

Fox Broadcasting Station

[1][2]

Contact Information [3]:

1211 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY, 10036 United States

(212)-852-7000

http://www.newscorp.com

Key Executives [6]:

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO

[7]

Rupert Murdoch is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation. He is very active within the company and continues to expand into new media outlets.

Jose Maria Anzar, President

[9]

Jose Maria Aznar is the president of News Corporation and former Prime Minister of Spain.

HRTS Kicks Off With "A Conversation With.. Chase Carey"

Chase Carey, President and COO

[10]

Chase Carey is the President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation.

Natalie Bancroft, Director

[11]

Natalie Bancroft is the Director of Newscorp. She is part of the Bancroft family that used to own the Dow Jones Media [5].

Gaude Lydia Paez, Vice President of Corporate Communications

[12]

Gaude Lydia Paez is the Vice President of Corporate Communications at FOX Broadcasting Company.

Overview:

News Corporation is a corporation made up of a large number of various media businesses. News Corporation has assets in film, magazine, newspapers, direct satellite television, news, cable broadcasting, cable programming, television programming and broadcast, as well as sports teams and social media [4]. The media conglomerate was created and is currently under control of Rupert Murdoch, who according to Forbes is the 26th most powerful person in the world and the 91st richest[5]. News Corporation currently operates on 5 continents that include North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia [8]. Their main competitors include CBS, NBC/Comcast, and Disney. The FOX Broadcasting Company was launched in 1986 as a fourth broadcast station that has been largely successful in competing with the Big Three. It owns 27 different stations in the US and many more internationally. Throughout the early 2000s until 2012 FOX was the number one watched station by young adults, 18-49 [13].

History:

The history of News Corporation stretches back to 1952, when Rupert Murdoch inherited ‘The Adelaide News,’ a newspaper company his father owned. After returning from school to run the company, Murdoch greatly improved its profits. From there he acquired a number of other newspapers throughout Australia and New Zealand before eventually moving to the British market in the mid-60s. In 1973 he turned his attention to the US where he began buying up American newspaper publishers. In 1980 he announced the creation of News Corporation as a global holding company [4].

In 1985, News Corporation acquired 50% of TCF Holdings which was the parent company of 20th Century Fox. In 1986, 20th Century Fox launched FOX, an alternative to the already existing broadcast stations ABC, CBS, and NBC [14]. In the early 90s, FOX signed a contract with the NFL, giving them the rights to broadcast NFL games on Sundays. Today FOX continues to be the preferred station of youner adults with popular shows such as The Simpsons, American Idol, Glee, Family Guy, Bones, and The X Factor [15].

What They Are Doing Presently?

In 2011, News Corporation was caught in a huge phone-hacking scandal that involved the family of a murdered British school girl by News of the World. There were also accusations of phone-hackings of the London subway bombing victims, families of deceased British soldiers, and an FBI investigation of possible phone-hackings of 9/11 victims. As a result of this, Rupert Murdoch shut down publication of the magazine, News of the World in England and 12 people were arrested. This scandal also caused the company to withdraw a $12 billion bid for shares of British Sky Broadcasting [16]. The arrests and investigation continued into late 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIZNXZVNk74

Apart from the scandal, News Corporation announced in 2012 that they plan to split into two publicly traded holding companies. One division would take care of all film and television assets including 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox Broadcasting Company, and Fox News. The other would have control over the company’s publishing division that includes The Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Post. Rupert Murdoch would remain chairman of both companies while Chase Carey would remain Chief Operating Officer of the entertainment and media company [17].

What Are Their Plans For The Future?:

Disney and News Corp. are currently in negotiations over the video streaming service Hulu. Jason Kilar, the current CEO of Hulu is planning to leave his postion, and the interim CEO for now is senior vice-president Andy Forssell. Once News Corp. and Disney finalize their negotiations, a permanent CEO will be named to take over Hulu. There has been recent talk of both Disney and News Corp. planning to buy out each others stake in the company. Both companies admitted that Hulu was losing money due to the high costs of liscensing television shows and computer servers [18].

Fox Broadcasting Company is looking forward to “Fox Now,” a collection of apps for mobile devices. These apps allow audiences to view their favorite FOX shows and allow viewers to be more interactive with the content. “T-Commerce” is part of the “Fox Now” app that enables viewers to shop online while watching the show New Girl. The items from the show such as clothing and other paraphenelia would be available to audiences in real time [13].

Programming:

American Idol, 2002-present

[19]

American Idol has been a long running success on the Fox network. It first aired in 2002 and had been the number one watched show for eight consecutive seasons through 2011. The show is very interactive with the audience because the millions of viewers get to decide which contestants get to move on to the next round each week, before eventually choosing the winner [20].

The SImpsons, 1989-present

[21]

The Simpsons is the longest running prime-time animated comedy series in the history of television. Created by Matt Groening in 1989, it is currently in its 24th season. The show focuses on the lives of a dysfunctional lower class family in Springfield. The show is typically family friendly [22].

Family Guy, 1999-present

[23]

Family Guy was created by Seth McFarlanein 1999. Family Guy has remained a hit on Fox since that time and gained an undeniable cult following. Also focusing on the lives of a dysfuncitonal working class family, this show contains content for more mature audiences with it’s slapstick and often raunchy humor. The show is currently in its 11th season [22].

Financials:

By the end of 2012, News Corporation had assets that equaled out to $63 billion and saw a revenue of $34 billion, the highest it had ever been. This was up from 2011 by about $500 million. The increase in revenue can be attributed to its deals with Netflix and Amazon.com for its sitcoms and films [6]. Currently a share of News Corporation is $30.68 [24]. This is improved from exactly one year ago when a share was going for $23.18. Stockholders have been pleased with the strong growth over the past few years, especially the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Works Cited

1. http://www.logok.org

2. http://www.zenithotimedia.blogspot.com

3. http://www.hoover.com

4. http://www.corporatewatch.org

5. http://www.forbes.com

6. http://www.newscorp.com

7. http://www.guardian.co.uk

8. http://www.nndb.com

9. http://www.en.mediamass.net

10. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

11. http://www.nymag.com