US media mayhem set to continue as economic downturn bites revenues

Could this be a defining week for global media? Quarterly reports are due from the likes of News Corp, Fox Corp, The New York Times, the Liberty Global-owned companies, and especially the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery.

Despite hopes for solid results, few analysts of the US media are expecting a buoyant set of reports, with the possible exception of News Corp’s Dow Jones group and Wall Street Journal.

After last week’s humbling of tech giants and revenue gobblers like Alphabet and Meta (née Facebook) and stricken minnows like Snapchat-owner Snap, this week will see bad news from the traditional media — from cable to newspapers and radio — in Australia, the UK and especially the US, where it is said only a handful of major papers are solvent: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, perhaps Murdoch’s New York Post, and the privately-owned LA Times.

This week will see if The New York Times’ six-year-long growth in news subscriptions comes to an end, following weaker digital ad revenues in the June period.

With Fox Corp and News Corp also reporting this week, the focus will be on reports that Rupert Murdoch wants to remarry the two companies. Both companies’ digital ad revenues are under pressure, while its “jewel” Fox News saw a 15% fall in viewers in September even as the US midterm election campaigning picked up.

And will News Corp be able to ride out weak house sales and weakening prices in both the US and Australia?

Meanwhile, much attention will be on the fate of CNN, which has already seen senior executives depart, including former CEO Jeff Zucker. The company’s new owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, is going to reveal US$4 billion or more of write-downs and losses on Thursday, and CNN CEO Chris Licht told staff last week that they can expect cuts pretty soon.