Strategic Orientation as a Factor of Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode of Global News Networks on Different Markets (the Case Studies of CNN, RT and Al Jazeera)

The research paper analyzes strategic orientations and their impact on the choice of foreign market entry modes applied by three global news channels: CNN, RT and Al Jazeera. The choice of particular news channels is justified by several facts: these international channels are among the most fast-growing international news networks in the world. The author examines a hypothesis that even though global news networks target different foreign media markets, these channels have the same business strategic orientations to enter foreign markets. In order to check the hypothesis, the author has structured the study into three blocks. In the first chapter the author aims to make a theoretical and literature overview of different classifications of business strategic orientations, to examine different types of entry mode strategies which a firm may choose if it aims to enter foreign markets. In the second chapter the author makes an overview of strategic orientations and entry modes applied by CNN, RT and Al Jazeera. In the final chapter the author suggests a new way of how to structure a company’s strategic orientation and its impact on shaping its foreign market entry mode. It could be potentially beneficial not just for scholars, but also for entrepreneurs and business owners who plan to expand their businesses on international level, as it is applicable not just precisely for new entrants and existing companies in the media market, but also for companies from other industries. The author illustrates the analysis of strategic orientations of CNN, RT and Al Jazeera in the form of a pyramid which consists of four levels: an approach to the choice of international strategy, a type of international strategy, a type of business strategic orientation and foreign market entry mode. Upper levels of the pyramid are devoted to show a firm’s aspirations and preferred perceptions of how it would like to be considered by customers and other players in the market, including partners and competitors. Bottom levels aim to describe practical aspects: what kind of business strategic orientation a firm decides to follow according to its goals and aspirations and, therefore, what foreign market entry mode it will choose to pursue at the end. The comparative analysis of strategic orientations and foreign market entry modes applied by CNN, RT and Al Jazeera make the author conclude that the hypothesis is only partly proved. These global news networks do use some similar strategies to enter foreign markets like exporting their news content or launching a greenfield investment. However, some important differences are also discovered in channels’ international strategies, approaches to their choice of strategic orientations and, finally, in applied entry modes. The author’s preliminary assumption of such a difference is that strategic orientations and foreign market entry modes of TV news channels launched in 1990s may differ from strategies implemented by news networks which were established in 2000s, as CNN International was launched in 1990s and has bigger popularity that both RT and Al Jazeera which were launched in early 2000s. Another assumption may be the fact that both CNN and Al Jazeera have been launched as domestic channels and only then they started targeting international markets, unlike RT which was established as an international channel from the beginning.