Media World Shakeup
In the media world, things have always moved fast. Changing to meet the moment, from shifting culture, emerging platforms, to advertising dollars. Just like The Roy family in HBO’s ‘Succession’, the money and power plays continue to shift how, where and why we consume various media mediums, and how our roles change along with it (See the writers strike calling attention to A.I. and changing residuals distribution). Across the spectrum of entertainment, technology, content, and media, there is a clear and widely-accepted reality that almost everything needs rethinking. From the way we interact with consumers, to the way we run our businesses, to the way we invest in new ideas, to the people we have in the room when we make decisions - everything needs to be, and is, on the table now. The acceptance of the need for change has never been higher. The issue: No one really knows what “change” means in this current moment in time, as the lines between media, entertainment and tech sectors.
The world of media is increasingly more complex, and audience behavior and perceptions have changed significantly. The media economy has changed under the influence of new technologies, like new players such as Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft who are influencing new ways of watching TV or video content and interacting with viewers. As Evan Shapiro says, “…in order to survive these changes, the industry needs to ‘think differently; moving away from gatekeepers’/creators’ silo mentality to a community-based approach, and from the concept of frenemies to collaborate.” Also, “Data shows that, when all the streaming volume from European streaming platforms such as BBC Player, RaiPlay, Okko, Exxenm, My TF1, Rakuten and ZDF are added together, they rank above Netflix (48%) and Amazon (34%) with 54%, not far off from YouTube streaming content (75%). This demonstrates the need for this content to be created and continue to grow, in order to ensure a strong and healthy TV ecosystem’.”
So what does this mean for newsroom and journalists that continue to shrink, save for a few giants (Also, see magazine publishers shift to video and digital publications, like Conde Nast’s pivot)? Based on recent poll, journalists’ top concerns were disinformation (50%), lack of funding (50%), trust in journalism/media (40%), and lack of time to cover stories thoughtfully (33%). Also 66% of journalists said they track how many times their stories are shared on social media, which is what Twitter used to be so good for in media (before it fell off of a cliff - let’s see if Post News or Bluesky can give us all a better experience)
Just in the last few weeks, the following happened, and things will not slow down:
Firing of Tucker Carlson (who is now launching on Twitter), Nate Silver, and Don Lemon + the Dominion Voting vs Fox News $787M lawsuit settlement fallout
Paper Magazine Mass layoffs (and closure TBD)
Both Buzzfeed News and MTV News are closing down
How will tech and streaming services continue to merge, and find new ways to create and deliver media and entertainment? And where (audio, mobile, etc)? How will subscription models change?
*Keep up on tech/media news with Kara Swisher and Professor Scott Galloway on the ‘Pivot’ Podcast, or Kara’s standalone ‘On With’
*If you are not already, I would recommend following Evan Shapiro’s Newsletter ‘Media War & Peace’ for his incredible Media Maps to keep up on changes. Here he is speaking at SXSW
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