Terry Semel
Photo Credit: Yahoo
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In a breakfast series sponsored by the Newhouse School and The New Yorker, Terry Semel, Yahoo (YHOO) CEO, forecasted that TV broadcasters' only source of ad revenue - 'CPM-based buys' against specific shows will be their biggest downfall in the digital media age.
He added that the Internet benefits from two sources: search and branded. He conclude also that the Internet has a tremendous advantage of built-in accountability and return on investment. In other words it can be measured.
He also said:
"Did you ever hear of a single person who saw that auto ad on TV, stood up, put on his coat and went to the dealer and said, 'I want to buy that car I saw on TV'?" he asked. Additionally, he said, TV at this point doesn't offer any real way to know who's actually watching those ads. He called the new-media company a "media-exchange company" and said 20th-century media companies had great content and distribution but 21st-century media companies have great content -- licensed or aggregated --as well global distribution and technology, which is really the distinguishing factor.
He recalled Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking him how Yahoo could have the largest music product on the Web. Yahoo has the same content others do -- mostly audio files and music videos -- but adds personalization tools, ratings reviews and the ability to e-mail playlists to friends. "Technology enables us to make it a richer, more personalized experience."
While there has been some steps being taken by broadcasters, it is still from the old model of keeping all of their current way of doing things in place while treating what Semel says as more of an add-on to their business. This is a huge mistake that they will learn sooner or later.
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