
Jordan Levin, the former CEO of the WB Network says that we're seeing the end of the mass media era and the beginning of a new media world order which will entail niche entertainment determined by consumer demand rather than scheduled releases and marketing campaigns.
At a recent talk at the Museum of Television & Radio he said: "We're in a transformative media age. We're seeing the vanishing of mass media. Mass media is being replaced by customized, targeted media....The old adage 'adapt or die' has never been more pressing.
"New media companies are listening to their employees, who are much closer to their customers. Traditional media companies are still listening to their financial people. How can creative talent thrive in an environment that is not betting on
the new and different but desperately trying to cling to old business models?"
He also added that broad-based media won't completely disappear, as there will probably always be a blockbuster movie that breaks out. But he feels that it will increasingly become hit-or-miss with the business, and it will become even harder to make money consistently.
The introduction of time- and place-shifting technology makes it imperative, says Levin, to get out of the central planning business and increasingly offer cross-platform ways of consuming content.
Even now as traditional media enters the online space especially, all you can hear them talk about is scale, which is definitely an old media concept. Even when someone does get some scale, not soon afterwords people get tired of general stuff and look for specific, targeted content that they have an interest in.
Scale will only work for so long before people go on to something that they really want to interact with. While it's probably not a bad idea to get some scale, it must be realized that the term scale will always be connected to temporary.
Monetizing media will increasingly be more valuable to targeted, niche audiences, rather than general sites that only have a general appeal.








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