Those are Sumner Redstone's pained words, complaining about Rupert Murdoch (pictured left), who bested him in the rivalry to gain control of Myspace.com.
We pause from the latest in cable news to think about the future of cable news, which will include, of course, a larger web component. So here's a snippet from Bryan Burrough's fascinating profile of Redstone in the December issue of Vanity Fair, in which Burrough describes Murdoch's snatching of Myspace.com out from under Tom Freston and the rest of Redstone's gang at Viacom:
"His anger only grew after Murdoch, upon completing the MySpace deal, won back the purchase price and more by selling the right to advertise on MySpace to Google for a stunning $900 million. In Redstone's mind, it was bad enough that Freston had let the world's hottest Internet property get away, but losing it to Murdoch was just too much. 'No! Not him!' Redstone bellows, wagging a finger in my face. 'I don't want to lose to him. Just like he wouldn't want to lose to me. It was a humiliating experience.'"
It's no shame to lose to Murdoch, of course, since he is one of the giants of 20th--and 21st--century business. However, it was a huge victory for The News Corporation, and a reminder that Murdoch & Co. are going to be serious players in the new media, as well as the news media. And of course, Fox News will be right there on the cutting edge!
