AMC Networks’ James Dolan: Media Can’t Consolidate Until It Figures Out How to Monetize Content

thewrap.com:

fourth quarter earnings call Friday. “I don’t see anybody who has the answer to this yet. Without that answer, I don’t get the rationale for pursuing a consolidation strategy.”He warned that the industry’s “current mechanisms for monetizing content are not working.”Dolan didn’t pull punches as he described an industry “disrupted by cord cutting” and “changing viewership habits,” along with “a challenged ad market and rising content costs.

Now, he said, “We’re seeing this now with most media companies beginning to course correct to better monetize content and improve the economics of their business.

We believe large distributors and programmers will lead the way, AMC will follow.”When asked whether he preferred to see AMC Networks as a standalone entity or combined with another strategic partner, Dolan emphasized that the company’s first concern would always be creating value for its shareholders.“What form that comes in could be stay the course, it could be M&A, a strategic transaction.

We’re very much open to all those ideas,” he explained. “But right now we have the company that we have” and AMC would manage it as a standalone business, he added.The Wall Street Journal reported that AMC Networks has been approached by multiple companies about potentially being acquired in the past several years.