1. What kind of corporate-level strategies did News Corp pursue to build its multi business models?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages associated with these strategies?
This case details the media empire that Rupert Murdoch built. He started with a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia. Initially he followed a horizontal integration strategy, acquiring newspapers throughout Australia, moving to England, and then ultimately to the U.S. Subsequently, he realized the value of owning both content providers and channel providers and began acquiring media companies, moving to a vertical integration strategy. He created Fox Broadcasting and Fox Movie studios. He also increased his presence in satellite broadcasting. While he has created a huge media empire, it has not always been profitable, at times having trouble servicing its debt. Recently, however, the company has been performing strongly with new Internet acquisitions that create more value from his media assets.