BigBrainBoy

How large is large in TV 2.0?

~~Seth~~ Steve Rosenbaum over at iMediaConnection makes an interesting argument on the future of TV:

So the future of TV is no longer about content creation, though there will be plenty of that. It is instead about content discovery-- finding media nuggets that are site-specific and user-friendly. Video discovery is at the heart of TV 2.0.

So, should Jeff, Les, or Bob be worried about their jobs? Actually, the answer is kind of yes because the media model that they manage is all about the economies of scale. Large networks deliver large audiences, which commands large dollar amounts. But the internet is about identifying, aggregating and monetizing small (but targetable) niches, and there’s little in the top-down media business that serves that purpose.

Conveniently, Seth is also CEO of Magnify.net which is a video search engine that aggregates the search facility of sites like Revver, YouTube, Yahoo! Video and Google Video.

Seth is only half right. It is true that the internet opens up the endless possibilities of specialized channels but he’s giving the traditional TV networks too much credit in the audience department. Most cable channels deliver pretty tiny audiences, so tiny in fact that many popular internet programs regularly attract larger audiences. MTV is dropping TRL for only having 300,000 viewers but Rocketboom has that many viewers daily.

Update: Thanks to Steve for pointing out his name isn’t Seth!

Posted by Ori on 01/18 at 12:24 PM