Mark Cuban tells media people they could learn a little something from drug dealers

By Steve McClellan

An Advertising Week session on Wednesday focusing on the future of media, produced by Mediapost and moderated by Wired editor Chris Anderson, quickly evolved (or devolved) into a battle of the quipsters. Digital impresario Mark Cuban (shown here) got things rolling as he made his case that media companies that give away their content for free will be losers in the long run. Offer a sample to hook consumers, and then upgrade them to subscriber status, he argued, adding that it's technique that "drug dealers have been using for years."
  Asked later in the session why he thought live sporting events and venues would remain viable as a new generation of home-entertainment devices offer better-quality viewing experiences—without the hassle and expense of attending in person—Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, replied that sports venues offer an outlet to "scream and yell and jump up and down. You can't do that anywhere else." Without missing a beat, Rob Norman, CEO at WPP's GroupM Interaction responded, "Obviously you've never been to one of our budget meetings."

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Published on September 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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