Rupert, love him or hate him, usually wakes up and smells the reality coffee before anyone in the traditional media business. Who else would have:

1. Bought MySpace as ealry as he did? (ok, so maybe he spent far too much money, but he stormed the social media bandwagon before any of the traditional folks even thought about it.)
2. Invested in mash-up technology for his sattelite network set top boxes? (though little has been heard about this since).

So the almighty Murdoch has now simply told it like it is, speaking to shareholders in Australia, with a plea to embrace long tail economies vs. big eyeball blockbusters:

Calling broadcast television a “highly challenged industry in America,” he said that big events such as the Super Bowl can still prosper, but ho-hum-rated series that fill prime time are at risk for generating declining interest among audiences and advertisers alike.

Murdoch offered up a business model that could help stem any negative tide–one that’s sure to pique the interest of “Hollywood” writers on strike: Make quality programs that will yield significant profits when sold later on DVDs.

 Check out the full story here.