News Corp’s struggles show that the “grumpy old man demographic” is in decline, according to Crikey’s Christopher Warren.
The publishing company, which owns The Times and Sun newspapers in the UK, missed earnings expectations for the latest quarter.
It has said it will cut 1,250 jobs, around 5 per cent of its workforce, after inflation cut into profits at the media giant.
Commenting on the results, Warren said the market will read a stutter in subscriptions through the business metaphor of the S-curve, where reader subscriptions start slowly, grow rapidly, then slow to maturity as the curve flattens as they saturate the market.
“News Corp hurried its rise along the curve by increasing its Fox-like appeal to the grumpy old man demographic. The trouble is these subscription numbers make it look like that market is not only saturated but declining — literally, dying,” he said.
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