By John MaroonIt appears that cable news giant CNN may be preparing to take on AP and become a subscription based wire news service. They recently ended their subscription with AP and there is speculation abound.
There are many wire services out there, AFP being the largest, but most of them are industry specific (Bloomberg Business Wire). Other wire services have yet to grab a huge market share nationally or are tied to specific news-gathering agencies (Knight Ridder/Tribune and LA Times-Washington Post).
Having an additional international wire service in the market can only be a good thing. Competition is healthy and it would give businesses that use these services more options, while preventing a news gathering agency from dictating the news.
Along the same lines, there has been talk that the sports network Versus is getting poised to challenge ESPN in the all-sports network arena. While this seems like a monumental task, remember that the merger between Comcast (who owns Versus) and NBC would give Versus the power to be promoted through a network much the way ABC promotes ESPN broadcasts. Again, this would be healthy for the industry. Currently, like it or not, ESPN dictates what is news in the world of sports and having another loud voice to provide balance is all good.
John Maroon is the President of Maroon PR. He can be contacted at john@maroonpr.com.
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