Samsung Executives Meet Murdoch Over Digital Content
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Senior executives of Samsung Electronics met with media mogul Rupert Murdoch at the company's plant in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, to discuss collaboration on delivering media content over Samsung's consumer electronics products, industry sources said.
Samsung officials were hesitant about the meeting between the Australia-born News Corp chairman and Lee Jae-yong, son of former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, and Choi Gee-sung, head of Samsung's digital media division. However, it is believed that they talked about providing news and entertainment programs on Samsung's Internet-enabled televisions.
Murdoch's media empire includes 780 companies in 52 countries around the world, including Fox television and the Wall Street Journal. Murdoch is expected to leave Korea today to attend a media summit in Beijing.
Murdoch's brief visit to Korea, his first in 11 years, came at an interesting time as the government has been pushing to deregulate the country's media market and allow a broader range of companies to operate newspapers and television networks.
The easing of the cross-ownership bans on newspapers and television stations has many companies in the print media looking to expand their presence to cable television as a ``comprehensive programmer'' of news and entertainment.
These companies have been hoping that collaborations with global media firms, such as News Corp., will help them with their massive investments and deliver a more polished product.
Murdoch had attempted to advance into the Korean media market in the past, when he looked into acquiring a share in satellite television operator, Sky Life, in 2003, only to withdraw after seeing fierce resistance from local broadcasting companies.
However, Murdoch had no plans to meet with officials from the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country's regulator for broadcasting and communications, or representatives of media outlets on this visit, Samsung officials said.
Samsung, which has been looking to add more digital content to its consumer electronics products, has recently been talking with Blockbuster, a U.S. movie and video game rental chain, over a video-on-demand (VOD) partnership, and there is a chance that the company could be seeking a similar collaboration with News Corp.
Another possibility is providing News Corp. content over Samsung mobile phones, allowing the company to compete better in the smart phone wars against iPhones and Blackberries, industry sources said.