i don't know who jeh is but he/she thinks a lot about cbs
3 months ago :: ::jeh:
producing quality content for the consumption of many is a fairly involved process. at some point, a media company decides to snapshot the product and begin distributing that snapshot through whatever channels they have available: radio, television, newspapers, magazines, those television screens in elevators, tied to the back of an airplane, whatever.
the process continues after the snapshot, as consumers of that media place it in context and annotate its content. a creative mind can apprehend the value in all components of this process, both prior to and after the snapshot, and package many products in addition to the primary output of the project: “making of” shows, outtakes, soundtracks, etc. each of these secondary outputs requires rigorous control of the production process so that you can capture the secondary outputs and manipulate their distribution to generate revenue.
there are so many interaction points (distribution channels) now between the consumer and all parts of the production process that modern media companies are not able to keep up with proliferation. as traditional distribution channels throw off less and less revenue, media companies are scrambling to restrict and better define the alternative interaction points with consumers: after all, you must define before you can control.
some interesting movements recently in the world of modern media:
- one: cbs, trying to use showtime’s recent critical success to strengthen their bargaining position with the pay station’s content partners, has seen their strategy backfire: viacom, their recently separated twin, is working with mgm, lions gate, and now blockbuster (wtf?!) to aggregate content into another premium cable station (read: distribution channel).
- two: cbs had an okay first quarter without the superbowl, even upping their dividend (is that bravado?). they break out their $3.7 billion in revenues into three operating segments (distribution channels): television ($2.6 billion), radio ($364 million), and outdoor ($497 million). given that they are creating television shows, own the rights to premium sports content, and now have a little movie-making division, i’d love to see them reconceptualize their operating segments around properties of content production and report on which content performed well in the different distribution channels. they’re sitting on almost a billion dollars in free cash flow and are clearly looking to make acquisitions in the online and outdoor distribution channels, but i’d be interested in seeing them reconsolidate around their strength as a content creator.
- three: youtube, an alternative distribution channel for video content, is probably starting to realize they can’t monetize the long tail of ugc; they’re going to need premium content to drive alternative revenue generating strategies. major media companies, of course, are trying to create yet another alternative distribution channel rather than realizing their position of strength as premium content creators. it’s cool, though; hulu is light years ahead of youtube on user experience. that’s what happens when you have to focus on scaling your infrastructure and preventing abuse instead of offering a good user experience.
- four: publicis, who knows how to create and distribute content, are starting to turn the crank on their digitas acquisition. their partnership with google is compelling; to be honest, i think they have more to teach google than to learn. i’d love to see content producers just get it over with and merge with these agencies.
- five: twx finally washes their hands of twc. some interesting quotes in here from bewkes: “in a fragmenting world, we think brands will increasingly matter more, not less” and “we believe that ultimately all packaged media will move to digital distribution”. these statements are fairly lucid predictions, but i’m not sure twx is well positioned to benefit wholly from either trend.
