Media Outlets Benefiting from Michael Jackson's Death

Yes, it's totally gruesome to think about how Michael Jackson's estate and others will benefit from the King of Pop's death, but it's inevitable. And in the days following Jackson's death, more and more news is coming out about just how many ventures may benefit. Yes, AEG has to grapple with refunding some $85 million of concert tickets, and insurer Lloyd's of London will have to deal with the claims. But perhaps most striking is the sad, ironic fact that the King of Pop's death is sure to bolster his assets to compensate for his debts in life.

As expected, Jackson's songs bounced to the top of the charts on Thursday and have remained there. But now there may be much more content to sell. On the eve of his death, Jackson's last rehearsal for his upcoming AEG concert series was recorded on camera, and will reportedly be released as his last album and as a DVD. This could help AEG earn back some of its investment in the upcoming London concerts as well as help Jackson's estate, which is laden with some $400 million to $500 million in debt. AEG hasn't gotten back to me on this news, but it's safe to assume that they would like to try to turn anything recorded from the rehearsals into a product to sell.

Jackson also reportedly recorded dozens of songs to be released after his death, which would surely sell tens of millions of copies. A source close to Jackson's music label -- Sony BMG -- wouldn't confirm any details, but acknowledged that the company wants to make videos and music available as quickly as possible. The fact that Google and other news sources delivered error messages after the barrage of Michael Jackson queries is a pretty good indication of interest. Media outlets have been barraged with demand for content about the musician. One-hour specials on the musician and Farrah Fawcett helped bolster TV networks' ratings; on Friday night NBC (GE) beat out ABC (DIS) and CBS with an average of 5.3 million total viewers by going with three hours of specials rather than mix in regular programming like the other networks.

Time Magazine (TWX) published a special commemorative issue on Michael Jackson, which hit newsstands yesterday. Priced at $5.99, it'll be in addition to the magazine's regular weekly issue. The last time the magazine published a special issue was right after September 11th, which sold more than 3.25 million copies. The edition after Princess Diana's death sold more than 1.1 million copies. Needless to say, the magazine industry is struggling with declining ad revenue, and this could provide a much-needed boost.

Despite the pullback in consumer spending, Americans seem eager to pull out their credit cards when it comes to MJ merchandise. Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY), and iTunes (AAPL) are all cashing in on merchandise sales related to Jackson. Last time I checked there were over 50,000 results to a search for Michael Jackson merchandise on eBay.

Comments

[Bobbi Fleckman:]

This is what passes for "journalism"?

"but it's safe to assume that they'll would like to try to turn anything recorded from the rehearsals into a product to sell."

Why is it "safe to assume"? And even if it is true, what is the problem? Is it in bad taste? It's not like they would be selling footage of his death.

"Last time I checked there were over 50,000 results to a search for Michael Jackson merchandise on eBay."

Really? Isn't that meaningless in this context unless we know what the amount was before his death? MJ was a very popular figure. 50,000 doesn't sound over the top to me.

Jun 30 03:19 AM

[tonny adamms:]

MJ was and is still King of the Pop after Elvis Presley;John Lennon and James Brown according to my own rating.And that makes him a Must-Buy Material in Life and Death!Very unfortunately,MJ was a victim of mounting stresses;overated fans high expectations;frustrations to make ends meet;and a lot of other equally related social imbalances.The World general public never gave Michael a chance to regroup and reformat!We the Michael Fans are all equally responsible for his untimely passing!Had we given him a chance,some room to breathe and let him reconstruct himself in the face of increasingly heavy and pressing demand for his entertainment,Michael the King would have been still with us here today!R.I.P Michael,you will always remain in our Hearts!As for the Press,please,dont press too hard!

Jun 30 10:29 AM

[Timeline St...:]

What I would like from this article is some quantitative estimate of how much revenue or profit this brings any of these media players.

My particular bias is Apple, so how about an estimate of how many downloads this event triggered on iTunes? It should be rather easy to quantitate.

Jun 30 12:11 PM