MEDIA EXECS REJECT THE REBUNDLING SERVICES

A half-dozen top media agency executives put the ongoing debate of a creative-media agency rebundling in no uncertain terms: "no way".

“The conversation about rebundling doesn’t make much sense to me,” said Mr. Klues, whose group includes Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia. “You’re not going to see us become the media department of a full-service agency.”

Publishing and media companies don't want to advertising to become a commodity; big surprise.

Fragmentation of publishing outlets is what empowers agencies to be the hub of ad provisioning. Connecting the dots between an advertiser and many publishers would eliminate the agencies job as a middle-man.

Although the report doesn't call out who is uniting media, the culprits are clear: Google, Yahoo, MSN, and perhaps eBay.

Google; the online search engine is certainly poised to be the network which unifies the media world. Google has made acquisitions and buyouts in traditional advertising media: TV, Radio, Magazine, and Newspaper. Google's intentions are clear: offer businesses advertising real estate in any publishing outlet.

eBay is also a formidable contender with its proposed eBiz Media Auction Service. In contrast to Google monopolistic tactic of buying out and reselling ad space, eBay would likely offer a more transparent marketplace where publishers would list specific ad units they're willing to auction. Publishers would feel more comfortable knowing that they are still in control of the price and sale, however it would still be brokered through eBay.

(portions taken from AdAge: AAR47E)

MEDIA MOGULS SPEAK THEIR ACQUISITION FANTASIES OUT LOUD

Excerpts taken from AdAge (AAR47F )

Comcast, Hearst, AOL, ABC, and Google execs recently made acquisition wishes:

Comcast COO Stephen Burke wants more content, and specifically called out Disney as a desired target.

Yawn...

Hearst Magazines president Cathleen Black wants to own all of ESPN, instead of their lousy position of just 20%.

Okay, so you really don't have any idea where else to grow.

Michael Kelly, president of AOL Media Networks, says AOL is expected to sell pieces of their business, not buy more.

Good thinking after the whole Time Warner debacle. If AOL even suggested a large acquisition, their stock would probably tumble.

Mike Shaw, ABC Television, admits they need a search engine strategy and regrets the fold of Go.com.

Me too, me too! Can I get an operating system to go with that?

Google's own VP-Advertising Sales Tim Armstrong wants to buy either a grocery store or a car dealership: “Just to see how they work.”

Sounds ridiculous, but what do you expect from the Sales VP regarding M&A? Even if Armstrong had a good M&A thought; I'm sure he withheld it after Google CFO Reyes made a comment which sparked a 13% gap down in Googles stock price.
On the otherhand, I'm sure we'll be seeing "Ads served by Google" in grocery store aisles, digital displays, the back of cashier receipts, and in the dashboards of our navigation systems... so perhaps Armstrong is poised to close the loop by actually owning these ad distribution outlets.