Irina and her team headed to Las Vegas to establish the new Las Vegas TV station. With ABC now fully staffed, setting up a local station wasn’t difficult.
Hardy had one more thing to accomplish in Los Angeles.
His deal with MGM also involved the Los Angeles Times. Now that Hardy owned 11% of the Los Angeles Times shares, he had become one of the newspaper’s major shareholders.
He reviewed the company shareholder report Andy brought, which showed that the Los Angeles Times was owned by the Mirror Company, with shareholders including the Bank of America and the Morgan family.
The Los Angeles Times was headquartered in Los Angeles. Hardy had Andy help him make an appointment, and yesterday he was notified that the company would hold a shareholders and management meeting to welcome the new major shareholder.
Today, Hardy arrived at the Los Angeles Times headquarters, met with the management and several shareholder representatives. Although Hardy’s power couldn’t compare to the big conglomerates like Morgan and Bank of America, on the West Coast, especially in Los Angeles, no one dared to underestimate him.
After exchanging pleasantries with the shareholders and management, the president introduced Hardy to the current state of the Los Angeles Times.
The editorial department had over 350 employees, with resident reporters in more than 20 countries and regions. Every day, they received thousands of pieces of information, needing to select the most newsworthy items for publication. Additionally, the Los Angeles Times was one of the three major newspapers with the most advertisements, and its revenue had always been good.
The Los Angeles Times was one of the three major newspapers in the United States, and its strength was undeniable.
Hardy expressed his idea, hoping ABC could have deep cooperation with the Los Angeles Times, especially in the news sector. He wanted the Los Angeles Times to provide ABC with more information and news, mainly timely updates.
For news, timeliness was crucial. Often, being able to broadcast a few minutes earlier than others could result in vastly different audience reactions.
The president immediately expressed his willingness to cooperate with ABC. Of course, providing news wouldn’t be free, and the Los Angeles Times would also gain additional revenue.
The meeting was very pleasant for both parties.
Leaving the Los Angeles Times, Hardy and Andy got in the car. Hardy thought for a moment and said, "Andy, we need to have our own newspaper, a global one."
"Isn’t cooperating with the Los Angeles Times enough?" Andy asked, surprised.
Hardy shook his head, "Cooperating with the Los Angeles Times just gives us an additional channel for collecting information. We need a place where we can voice our opinions."
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"Television is just one aspect. ABC now only covers the U.S., and TV stations only reach households with TVs, which is very limited."
Although the communications industry was developing rapidly, with television becoming mainstream, newspapers were still the largest information channel and could be distributed in multiple countries, unlike ABC, which was only in the U.S.
Newspapers wouldn’t decline until the 1990s, when they were replaced by the gradually popularized new media. But now, in 1947, newspapers were still the largest media means for decades to come.
"Boss, how do you want to do this?" Andy asked.
On the way, Hardy had already come up with a preliminary plan. He said, "We have money, so the simplest way is to acquire it."
"There are 48 states in the U.S. If we acquire a small newspaper in each state and connect them, we can create a large newspaper. In Europe, there are more than 40 countries, so we can acquire one or two newspapers in each country."
"There are over 40 countries in Asia. We can acquire a newspaper in some of the countries that support capitalist, like Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Saudi Arabia."
"And in South America and Africa, we can acquire some newspapers to expand our news sources."
Andy looked at Hardy in amazement, "Boss, this would cost a lot of money, at least millions, and a lot of funds would be needed upfront to support this newspaper."
To Andy, establishing such a newspaper seemed not worth the effort. If they needed news, they already had a partnership with the Los Angeles Times. If they wanted to voice opinions, they could advertise, submit articles, and use ABC in the US. Even going a step further having newspaper in Europe was already more than enough, There was no need to invest so much effort and money in other areas that are still struggling from wars.
Hardy smiled, "Andy, why do we make money?"
Andy was somewhat stunned by the question.
To enjoy a better life, but that didn’t require much money. Even a millionaire’s life is already very good.
To realize one’s value, sometimes money is just a number.
To make society more progressive and the world a better place—those were words used by politicians, not suitable for businessmen.
"I don’t understand. Boss, why do you make so much money?" Andy asked.
"Hahaha, for fun, to do whatever I want. When I have my own global newspaper, I can criticize whoever I want, expose whoever I want," Hardy laughed.
Well, that fit the boss’s personality.
Hardy had just sold 20% of ABC broadcasting shares, and he had a large amount of cash. Moreover, all his industries were making money. Taking out $20 million was easy for him.
Besides, acquiring newspapers couldn’t be done in a short time. This investment would likely take years.
"No problem, boss. What do you need me to do?" Andy asked.
"Find me a good president. The future of the newspaper will depend on this person. If the person isn’t suitable, it’ll waste my time," Hardy said.
"I understand, boss. I’ll find a suitable candidate. By the way, what do you plan to name this newspaper?" Andy asked.
Hardy thought for a moment.
Andy acted quickly, selecting a few candidates for Hardy. After reviewing their resumes, Hardy found one particularly suitable.