That’s a question Alley Insider asks.  Hmm… at $15B in value, CBS (CBS) is a bargain, I presume. Moreover, in a few years, Time Warner (TWX) will be surpassed by News Corp. (NWS) as the most global and diversified media company. Acquiring CBS would strengthen Time Warner in TV, make it #1 in radio, give it a strong foothold in Outdoor and of course, make it even stronger online (AOL + CNET + CBS Interactive + Last.fm = pretty interesting).

But… what traditional media needs is:

• Better efficiency at the content creation and distribution space, not hooking up with more costly processes and expensive approaches to the media space.
• A hook with younger generations.  New media are not going to put anyone - especially CBS and Time Warner - out of business, but they will offer them a gateway online to which younger generations migrate at the expense of the Web.

That’s why, for example, CBS is now wisely using the Wallstrip crew to promote 60 Minutes.  Who’s kidding who?  60 Minutes serves more viewers in 30 seconds than Wallstrip reaches in 30 days… but the audience is wildly different.  At the risk of sounding the death knoll, I am not sure if the younger generation knows what 60 Minutes is, let alone ever watches it.

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Ashkan Karbasfrooshan

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