Rupert Murdoch - Agenda Setters 2009

Name: Rupert Murdoch

Title: News Corp CEO

Position: 5    Last year: Not ranked

Why? Challenging the 'free' content model

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Rupert Murdoch is one of the most powerful men in the media - when the News Corp butterfly flaps its wings, a tornado bursts over the media landscape somewhere.

As head of News Corp he has been vocal about the need for the industry to start making money from its online channels, rather than just giving content away which has been the norm for a number of years, and earlier this year revealed plans to start charging for a number of his newspaper websites, a move many of his rivals are watching with keen interest. "The current days of the internet will soon be over," he was quoted as saying at the time.

In the words of one panellist, Murdoch is "seriously challenging the 'free' stampede and fighting the case for traditional business of news generation". There's no doubt about it - it's going to be a difficult slog reshaping the digital landscape but if anyone has the weight and influence to do it, it's Murdoch.

Needless to say, News Corp's strategy in this area will be closely watched by others in the industry and will set the tone for the future.

The digital question is also hanging over Murdoch in the form of the future of its 2005 acquisition, MySpace. Like many web fads before it, MySpace has seen its growth slow over the years as they move on to the next big thing - in this case, Facebook and Twitter. All eyes are on News Corp to see if it can succeed where so many others have failed.

But while News Corp's brands may be significant individually, Murdoch's continued presence on the Agenda Setters list is once again down to his sheer political weight and the breadth of his empire, covering so many areas of technology from news to networking and broadcasting.