Would the Real Media Moguls Please Stand Up?
It's interesting to note that as the media industry continues to consolidate the reporters buzzing around the annual gathering of the world's media elites are beginning to outnumber the so-called moguls, according to The New York Times. But even more interesting is to note that the most buzz-producing presentation at the annual off-site gathering was not from the media companies themselves but from H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart. As the media meisters basked in their Sun Valley resort's luxury, Scott laid out the miserly regimen that his executives endure in the name of profits - including his own sharing of Days Inn rooms on the road with other execs for more mundane business trips. Left unspoken was how Wal-Mart's cost-conscious marketing efforts with many mass media products is positioning Wal-Mart as an increasingly influential factor in setting market prices and demand. While major professional content providers may not want to bask in the limelight that media execs enjoy, Wal-Mart's message should be clear to all content execs: consolidate all you want to gather bargaining power, but eventually it's your markets' demand that is the real "king of all media."