Hmmmmm…

You may not like him, his politics or his ethics, but you’ve got to admit Rupert Murdoch understands how to make money. A lot of money!

So this story from Bloomberg.com caught my eye: FOX SEEKING NETFLIX KILLER.

Who do you suppose Rupert Murdoch sees capable of doing that?

HBO.

Surprised?

I’m not. HBO consistently produces the best, the most popular, the most valuable proprietary content in the media world.

Murdoch values this content at $20 billion, valuabe enough to make it worth his while to buy all of Time Warner just to get this one special pearl.

Hey, isn’t total debt at Clear Channel — errr, iHeartMedia — somewhere close to $20 billion? Oh, sorry, it’s more than $20 billion? Seriously? More than $22 billion?

Ok, investors, you tell me: Which company are you more likely to invest in? Which company do you think has the best chance of being worth more in twenty years, iHeartClearChannel or HBO?

See, Bob may be able to pretend things are rosy under his watch, but just google “Clear Channel.” Same old company, Same old way of doing business: cheapest, easiest, shortest-term thinking.

You tell me: What’s changed within Clear Channel to produce increased value?

What brilliant new talents have they developed?

Surely there must be an amazing new format, a revolutionary way to link radio ads to client success, a brilliant new utilitarian device that showcases everything radio does best. Right?

This is the biggest of the big boys, the guys that are going to “save” our industry from Pandora and Spotify?

Uhhhh….maybe not.

BTW, don’t forget that the new season of The Newsroom is underway…on HBO, of course. You can watch it at your leisure on HBO GO.

What a great idea! Of course, it begins with the content people simply will not miss.

Let’s see, what does iHEARTMEDIOCRITY have that fits that description?

Let me know when you find it…