Murdoch: I'm charging for Fox TV


"We will be seeking retransmission dollars from our distributors," he told the company's annual shareholder meeting in New York on Friday. "We're determined to take a leadership position in creating an economic template for the future."

Under present US rules, broadcast networks such as Fox have not typically been paid to be carried on cable and satellite pay-TV platforms. But, as advertising revenue continues to decline, broadcasters have been pushing for change.

The move follows Murdoch's repeated calls over the past few months for content providers to charge online distributors and his insistence that media companies cannot continue to produce quality content for free.

But the head of the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), Mark Scott, said the day before that Murdoch's desire to charge for content was symbolic of an empire in decline.

I urge you also to read Jeff Jarvis's take on the value of online content. It's superb.

Sources: The Times/The Australian/ABCJarvis

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