CNN boss: Facebook is bigger competitor than FOX
Published March 12, 2010
The president of CNN, Josh Klein, said in a recent interview with Business Week's Josh Tyrangiel that he was "more worried about the 500 million or so people on Facebook versus the 2 million on Fox."
According to the UK's Guardian newspaper, Klein went on to say that "a huge reason we've doubled our profit over the last four years is because we've collaborated with affiliates all over the world," and said that his network still outstripped FOX News viewership by roughly 10 percent.
However, it was Klein's focus on Facebook and other social media networks that should stand out the most to creative marketing professionals. Social media blog Mashable's Jennifer Van Grove asserts that "the intriguing statements come just weeks after Hitwise released data showing that Facebook's new role is becoming that of a news site. As a news portal and discovery engine, Facebook has the power to make or break a story, a power that clearly threatens the rank and file of the old media elite."
Van Grove and other social media pundits are quick to trumpet the medium's growing relevance - and creative marketing possibilities.