Big media admits need to get aggressive

By Michele Gershberg and Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Big U.S. media executives give themselves low marks on reaching consumers in new ways, but will experiment furiously in 2007 to find out what works.

From developing new business models with old partners to challenging the status quo outright, top media and entertainment executives told the Reuters Media Summit in New York this week that they plan to do a better job finding out how people want to get news and entertainment.

"I wouldn't give it a high grade yet," Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N) Chief Executive Richard Parsons said when asked how big media scored with new distribution technologies.

"They say big media companies are too big, too clunky," Parsons said. "It's like when I was a kid -- all the little guys were always the best athletes ... But once the big guys got control over their bodies, they killed the little guys."

At risk for traditional media companies is a $960 billion global market for entertainment and advertising, and the threat of losing their grip on new generations of viewers growing up with the Internet, where movies, music and news are just a few clicks away.

"Any media company that doesn't have a solid plan to at least experiment in these areas could be left behind," said David Sanderson, head of Bain & Co.'s global media practice.

At the same time, companies "need to be vigilant about what's working and what's not and be willing to turn off the spigot when the well is running dry," he said.

For months, discussions about the future of media have been dominated by talk about YouTube, the popular online video-sharing site that was formed less than two years ago and bought by Google Inc. (GOOG.O) last month for $1.65 billion.

YouTube is the latest example of a new way of delivering entertainment that is shaking up industry players, following News Corp.'s NWSa.N social networking site MySpace and the entry of Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL.O) iPod music player.

"These are the days when we should be testing out every single idea we can come up with," said Anne Sweeney, Co-Chair of Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS.N) Disney Media Networks.

Warner Bros. plans to make some movies available over the Internet that can be transferred to DVDs next year through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N), Parsons said.

Disney sees the ability to offer television shows on wireless devices as a critical new area of growth, according to Sweeney.

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Critics said traditional media has failed over the years to adapt to the changes brought by the Internet, relying instead on protecting existing business practices at their own peril.

"They don't do it really well," said IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IACI.O) CEO Barry Diller. "They just try and extend colonialism, media colonialism, into whatever they can."