Liberty Media’s Malone Dismisses Viability of Free Network Content Online

TOKYO, June 23: In an
interview with the Financial Times,
Liberty Media’s chairman, John Malone, called into question the economic
viability of networks putting their content online for free viewing.

“I think the idea that
they’re going to put television shows and movies on the Internet, bypass their
traditional distribution and have no way of collecting [revenues], is absurd,”
Malone is quoted as saying in the FT while on a trip to Japan, where Liberty Media owns a stake in J:COM.

He also questioned NBC’s
decision to make a range of Olympics content available online for free this
August. “Very expensive events—expensive to buy and expensive to
produce—are not going to have adequate underwriting through advertising,”
he said.

Malone continued: “You’ve
got to be very careful what you promise to the public on the Internet,” noting
that the free online model may make it harder for premium and pay-per-view
services to get paid for their content.

—By Mansha Daswani