USA Today's David Lieberman has pulled together a fascinating feature, on expert predictions for 2007. The experts he polled were: Marla Backer (Research Associates), Mark Greenberg (AIM Capital Management), Richard Greenfield (Pali Research), Hal Vogel (Vogel Capital Management), and Tom Wolzien (Wolzien LLC).
Lieberman asked them 15 media-related questions in all, ranging from the likely future of The Wall Street Journal's circulation to the likely future for YouTube growth and Harry Potter book sales. But one question of the 15 jumped out at me: #7, concerning, “Which of these new ventures will be seen as the biggest success in 2007?” The choices were, “a) Allbritton's multimedia political news venture, The Politico; b) CBS Records; c) Condé Nast's business magazine Portfolio; d) Fox's business news cable channel; e) a YouTube-like video website created by the Big Four TV networks.”
Interstingly, four of the five chose d), the Fox business channel. Interesting! Now, of course, all that needs to happen is for it to happen! Sources tell TCG that the biz channel green light is no sure bet. In which case, the whole question could go down as one of the great psy-war operations of all time. It’s so good that it’s got even hardnosed financial experts not only convinced that it’s going to happen, but that it’s going to be a big success.
But let's face it: The expectations game on Fox is escalating. All eyes are on Roger Ailes.
