Publications

March 2008 (Revised November 2012)
Teaching Note

GE's Imagination Breakthroughs: The Evo Project (TN)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Teaching Note for [907048]. View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Creativity; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

July 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

ABRY Fund V

By: Nabil N. El-Hage, Richard S. Ruback and Leslie Pierson

In January 2006, Andrew Banks and Royce Yudkoff were considering raising a 5th fund for their media-focused private equity firm, ABRY Partners. ABRY had a strong track record that the co-founders attributed to their group's deep knowledge of the media industry and... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Asset Management; Private Equity; Judgments; Competitive Strategy; Media; Corporate Finance; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

October 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

America Online, Inc.: Disclosure Strategy

By: Amy P. Hutton and David Lane

Since going public, AOL had disclosed on a quarterly basis supplemental metrics meant to give analysts and investors a way of tracking growth in its subscriber base and the value created through its marketing efforts. These metrics gave management's conversations with... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Internet and the Web; Corporate Disclosure; Media; Digital Marketing; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Find at Harvard

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

would intrude ever more deeply and more precisely into consumer lives than broadcast media had been able to. Instead, the transformation is unfolding on a model of consumer empowerment, in which consumers use digital media to communicate... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Ebony Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Jackson

For nearly 75 years, the Johnson Publishing Company has been the most successful African American magazine publisher. Its flagship Ebony magazine was an iconic coffee table fixture for decades in black households of all classes, making founder John H. Johnson... View Details

01 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 1

are also more likely to find their corporate failings broadcast in the news. Companies hoping to minimize the risk of media attention to accidents need to be careful not to place their organizations at the very top or the very bottom of... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

12 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 12

two-week online contest broadcast to participants outside academia and biomedical disciplines. Participants in our contest produced over 600 submissions containing 89 novel computational approaches to the problem. Thirty submissions... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

scholars, and others. Purchase this case: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/ b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=308092 Clear Channel 2006 Harvard Business School Case 208-083 The Board of Directors of Clear Channel Communications, a radio View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Rayport focuses his teaching and research on launching and scaling technology ventures, with emphasis on digital media, e-commerce, and multi-channel retail. View Details

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

NFL, sported an acclaimed broadcast unit, and had affiliates in virtually all important U.S. markets. Yet acquisition of these NFL rights directly enabled the expansion of Fox, then a minor broadcaster, into the media behemoth of today.... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

illustrate the process and power of market design through three examples: the design of medical residency matching programs, a scrip system to allocate food donations to food banks, and the recent “Incentive Auction” that reallocated wireless spectrum from television... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

It’s one thing to look at the entertainment business from an executive’s point of view. It’s quite another to see it through the eyes of a professional basketball player, supermodel, or actress. That mix of perspectives is exactly what has folks in the media and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting

September 2020
Case

Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network

By: Anita Elberse and Julia McNicholas

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have shot to fame as stars of the hit television show Fixer Upper, are preparing to launch their own television network. It is April 2019, a year since the home-renovation show Fixer Upper’s fifth season on cable channel HGTV ended, and more... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Television; Superstars; Innovation; Creative Industries; Talent; General Management; Celebrities; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Joint Ventures; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2007
Compilation

AOL/Time Warner: To Merge or Demerge?

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

This is a compilation of four analyst reports about the AOL/Time Warner merger of 2001. The first half cites three reports released in 2000, around the time the merger was announced, which give the logic and justifications for the merger. The second half is taken from... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Reports; Business Divisions; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Bertelsmann AG

By: Bharat N. Anand, Michael G. Rukstad and Christoph Kostring

On July 28, 2002, Bertelsmann announced the firing of its CEO, Thomas Middelhoff, in a move that surprised industry observers, analysts, and many employees. Bertelsmann, a privately held company headquartered in Germany, was one of the largest global media... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Integration; Resignation and Termination; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Business Units; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

June 2002
Teaching Note

Valuing the AOL Time Warner Merger, TN

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Maddy Kadish

Teaching Note for (9-802-098). View Details

Keywords: Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

let's just not allow our customers to do it," he says. That might mean lobbying for legislation, suing in court, or making customers sign contracts that prevent decoupling. After Aereo allowed viewers to stream TV programs over the Internet by picking up View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

20 Feb 2006
HBS Case

Oprah: A Case Study Comes Alive

The best and brightest executives in the world are common visitors to the MBA classrooms at Harvard Business School, giving students a personal opportunity to talk to the likes of Ann Fudge, Lou Gerstner, Meg Whitman, and Jack Welch. Still, when Professor Nancy Koehn... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting

May 2025 (Revised July 2025)
Case

The Video-Streaming Wars in 2025: Can Anyone Catch Netflix?

By: Anita Elberse and Javiera Larenas

On January 21, 2025, Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive officer of video-streaming service Netflix, presented the company’s quarterly earnings. He had every reason to be upbeat: Netflix added 19 million new subscribers in the final quarter of 2024, ended the year with a... View Details

Keywords: Media; Television; Management; Strategy; Disruption; Technology; Competition; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry