The new media / interactive media world has matured to the point where it is now having a significant impact on the established media-world ecosystems. Indeed, long-established ecosystems are threatened, and long-established players must change how they do business - if they are to do business at all in the coming years.
New ecosystems are developing, with redefined roles for the distributors (mobile carriers, cable and satellite distributors), the networks and record labels (traditionally, the content aggregators), the content producers, advertisers... and the consumer. Content aggregation, once a task performed solely by the gatekeepers and the networks, is now a role unto itself, with companies from outside the traditional media value chain claiming major stakes in that world (for example, Google).
New challenges and new opportunities exist for everyone, including the huge media conglomerates, small niche players, and the individual.
Traditionally, content that reached a level of consumer accessibility was only a small subset of all content created - and gatekeepers, whether they be networks, mobile carriers, record labels, gaming console companies and the big game distributors - determined what content received exposure. Garage bands had few ways of finding an audience. Individuals had few means with which to share their thoughts. Gatekeepers have acted as the filter mechanism that determined what content ultimately reached the consumer. These gatekeepers include record labels (who determine what music to produce and distribute to radio stations and retail outlets), networks (who determine what programs make it onto TV schedules), mobile carriers (who determine what content is available on their 'walled-garden' decks), game console companies and big game publishers (who determine what content will be created for their consoles), and even government agencies (like Canada's CRTC, that determine which channels and content fill the 'air waves'). The role of the gatekeeper has, in part, been that of a filter that, for better or worse, determined what content was available to the consumer. But new distribution mechanisms are opening up an unprecedented array of content to the consumer, by-passing these traditional filter mechanisms.
However, having a world of content at their fingertips in and of itself does little for the consumer. Without some form of filtering, the choices are overwhelming and perhaps even paralyzing. Thus, new filter mechanisms have emerged to put order to the chaos - and, increasingly, do so at an individual level. These filters range from the highly personal (recommendations from trusted friends) to the quasi-personal (recommendations form within real or virtual communities) to the contextual (the Amazon-type approach that says "if you like this book, you may also be interested in this book" and are based, in part, on the buying patterns of others). Lastly, new ways to self-filter are changing the world, too. We can now view, and selectively apply, product and content reviews from complete strangers, not just in newsgroups or magazines, but also right there on electronic retailers' web-pages.
Accessibility to the consumer, too, was traditionally limited to a macro-level approach. Advertisers could target demographic groups that ranged from the very-broad (say Oprah's audience, or the fans of Desperate Housewives) to the only-somewhat broad (the audience of a gardening, car or cooking show). The relative scarcity of spectrum on radio or within conventional radio and television distribution mechanisms limited the degree to which niche audiences could be served with content and, thereby, limited how niche audiences could be addressed by advertisers. Because there are no spectrum limitations, niche publishing has been way ahead of other media. But that is changing, and other media are catching up - and advertisers have embraced opportunities that now exist to address smaller audiences, with well-defined demographic groups, and, increasingly, we'll see advertising cater to 'the audience of one'.
Mobile carriers and BDUs (Broadcast Distribution Undertakings - in layman's terms, cable, satellite and, now telephone IPTV operators) must accept the fact that they live in a different world now. Mobile carriers no longer have exclusive control over content. BDUs are no longer the only alternative to over-the-air content delivery.
Content producers must address multiple distribution platforms that require varying forms of content, must vie for attention of the consumer, and must compete with user-generated content. Paid content must compete with free content. If inexpensive or free content tells a compelling story, consumers have demonstrated that Hollywood-style production quality, with its inherent high price tag, isn't an over-arching criterion when it comes to consumer content selection.
Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2006 - 'You' - is now at the centre of these new ecosystems. An unprecedented world of choice in all forms of media content, from radio and TV and recorded music to print and gaming, has empowered the individual in ways never before possible or imagined. The consumer is in the driver's seat and the consumer is no longer limited to content selected for them by others, and they are influenced by 'big media' hype to a much lesser degree than before in their content acquisition decisions.
The times they are a-changing, indeed. And it's all because of YOU!
New ecosystems are developing, with redefined roles for the distributors (mobile carriers, cable and satellite distributors), the networks and record labels (traditionally, the content aggregators), the content producers, advertisers... and the consumer. Content aggregation, once a task performed solely by the gatekeepers and the networks, is now a role unto itself, with companies from outside the traditional media value chain claiming major stakes in that world (for example, Google).
New challenges and new opportunities exist for everyone, including the huge media conglomerates, small niche players, and the individual.
Traditionally, content that reached a level of consumer accessibility was only a small subset of all content created - and gatekeepers, whether they be networks, mobile carriers, record labels, gaming console companies and the big game distributors - determined what content received exposure. Garage bands had few ways of finding an audience. Individuals had few means with which to share their thoughts. Gatekeepers have acted as the filter mechanism that determined what content ultimately reached the consumer. These gatekeepers include record labels (who determine what music to produce and distribute to radio stations and retail outlets), networks (who determine what programs make it onto TV schedules), mobile carriers (who determine what content is available on their 'walled-garden' decks), game console companies and big game publishers (who determine what content will be created for their consoles), and even government agencies (like Canada's CRTC, that determine which channels and content fill the 'air waves'). The role of the gatekeeper has, in part, been that of a filter that, for better or worse, determined what content was available to the consumer. But new distribution mechanisms are opening up an unprecedented array of content to the consumer, by-passing these traditional filter mechanisms.
However, having a world of content at their fingertips in and of itself does little for the consumer. Without some form of filtering, the choices are overwhelming and perhaps even paralyzing. Thus, new filter mechanisms have emerged to put order to the chaos - and, increasingly, do so at an individual level. These filters range from the highly personal (recommendations from trusted friends) to the quasi-personal (recommendations form within real or virtual communities) to the contextual (the Amazon-type approach that says "if you like this book, you may also be interested in this book" and are based, in part, on the buying patterns of others). Lastly, new ways to self-filter are changing the world, too. We can now view, and selectively apply, product and content reviews from complete strangers, not just in newsgroups or magazines, but also right there on electronic retailers' web-pages.
Accessibility to the consumer, too, was traditionally limited to a macro-level approach. Advertisers could target demographic groups that ranged from the very-broad (say Oprah's audience, or the fans of Desperate Housewives) to the only-somewhat broad (the audience of a gardening, car or cooking show). The relative scarcity of spectrum on radio or within conventional radio and television distribution mechanisms limited the degree to which niche audiences could be served with content and, thereby, limited how niche audiences could be addressed by advertisers. Because there are no spectrum limitations, niche publishing has been way ahead of other media. But that is changing, and other media are catching up - and advertisers have embraced opportunities that now exist to address smaller audiences, with well-defined demographic groups, and, increasingly, we'll see advertising cater to 'the audience of one'.
Mobile carriers and BDUs (Broadcast Distribution Undertakings - in layman's terms, cable, satellite and, now telephone IPTV operators) must accept the fact that they live in a different world now. Mobile carriers no longer have exclusive control over content. BDUs are no longer the only alternative to over-the-air content delivery.
Content producers must address multiple distribution platforms that require varying forms of content, must vie for attention of the consumer, and must compete with user-generated content. Paid content must compete with free content. If inexpensive or free content tells a compelling story, consumers have demonstrated that Hollywood-style production quality, with its inherent high price tag, isn't an over-arching criterion when it comes to consumer content selection.
Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2006 - 'You' - is now at the centre of these new ecosystems. An unprecedented world of choice in all forms of media content, from radio and TV and recorded music to print and gaming, has empowered the individual in ways never before possible or imagined. The consumer is in the driver's seat and the consumer is no longer limited to content selected for them by others, and they are influenced by 'big media' hype to a much lesser degree than before in their content acquisition decisions.
The times they are a-changing, indeed. And it's all because of YOU!
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