Steven Soderbergh is my new hero. By releasing his new movie “Bubble” simultaneously in theaters, on DVD and on HDNet he’s about to change the way content producers control their product forever.
The movie theater chains are boycotting the film and calling him the anti-Christ. Ad agencies that do “movie marketing” are probably crying about their lost revenue from staged release dates, and TV network execs are probably scared to death- that maybe, they won’t have jobs if this keeps up.
Welcome to content distribution 2.0, where the middle-men are about to be cut out as hard as Wal-Mart cuts costs of distribution. Does this spell the end of movie theaters? Probably not- teenagers will always need someplace to go watch a flick away from the kids- and date night just isn’t the same at home- no matter how big your plasma tv is. But what it does do, is give people the option to see what they want, when they want it, how they want it- and that’s the future of all content.
As IBM says- it’s an on-demand world, and consumers are a demanding lot. The only thing truly missing from Soderbergh’s distribution revolution is online delivery. Right now, some cable companies will offer VOD services that will deliver “Bubble”- but a true multi-pronged attack would also allow downloads to your computer- at higher resolution than the iTunes store.
What the current distribution network doesn’t realize is that not everyone is within a 30 minute drive of a movie theater in this country. How many times have they teased the entire country with releasing a movie in only NYC and LA and making the rest of the country wait. Consider this payback time from those of us in the flyover states.
What Soderbergh is doing is delivering content to the people- making it as easy to access as this post- and that, makes him my hero.
In the Dec 20th issue of USA today, technology writer Kevin Maney predicts that “2006 could be year that CEO Jobs falls off pedestal” in his “Cyberspeak” column. He also predicts that 2006 will be the year of RSS and that cell phone cameras will actually become useful. He also thinks that Google will inspire Microsoft to become better- which is like talking about Ford inspiring buggy whip manufacturers to greatness.
More than likely, 2006 will see an even bigger decline in newspaper print runs, and the beginning of the end for USA Today with it’s bite sized info-chunks. Really- an RSS summary of a quality news paper like the New York Times delivered to your web enabled cell phone- will be more likely to pick up monetized subscribers.
As to the fall of Steve Jobs- highly unlikely. Has Pixar made a dud yet? And even if they did- they set the bar, even if it lowered, it would still beat their nearest competition. The real fear here is a new generation of budding filmmakers (Machinima) using super realistic video games to render their visuals and editing the films on their pc. They can distribute their films through bit-torrent- or maybe- the iTunes video store (another Jobs creation). Which is where Steve and company may have hit the home run that even Google will covet.
With the new Intel based Mac’s coming in ’06, Jobs could open the floodgates by allowing dual system boots- giving PC people a way to own a Mac, but still run their PC software until they can afford the sizeable expense of switching licenses from PC to Mac. Adobe and Macromedia (before it was bought by Adobe) wouldn’t allow cross-platform transfers, and Microsoft would be crazy to allow it for Office. Abandoning all PC licenses adds several thousand dollars to a purchase price of a Mac for a PC owner.
Besides the Intel switch, Jobs is still riding an iPod high with no end in sight. Even elementary school kids now want iPods, and with the cost of flash RAM decreasing, the idea of Nano’s for your iKid aren’t so far fetched.
USA today, has nothing to look forward to. There has been no brand integration with other media, it hasn’t generated credibility with any community in particular, and it certainly hasn’t introduced any revolutionary ideas.
My bets stay on Steve Jobs and company.
We have three television news organizations in Dayton OH. Some city’s may have more- some less. Even with the cost of ENG (Electronic News Gathering) cameras and remote technology, there are only so many reporters available at any time.
Enter citizen journalists armed with cell cams, digi-cams, camcorders and an Internet connection- they can post their story on their blog or site faster than a news director can get a crew on the scene.
The cell phone pictures out of the London Underground bombings were front-page news- globally. You don’t even need standard NTSC quality if your content is compelling. So, what are local news operations doing to counter this threat- not a thing.
Instead of building a community of news gatherers- or even a community online to support their broadcast news, they are still doing the same thing they’ve always done- and still advertising as “The Leader” or “StormCenter” or something else totally unrelated to building a 2-way relationship with their viewers.
This is so absolutely critical since local news is the ONLY thing they actually serve as a content provider on- and as any reader of this news section knows- content is all there is to distinguish you from your competition.
What’s more interesting is the site www.scoopt.com, where anyone who happens to be the next Abraham Zapruder (he’s the one who shot the home movie of the John F. Kennedy assassination) can upload their content for sale to the highest bidder.
This could be the next big things in local TV ENG- enlisting your community and paying them for the hottest story tips and shots instead of carrying a load of reporters that can’t be everywhere at once.
November 14, 2005 issue- Business Week, with IKEA on the cover- in the letters to the editor: “Soon, TV advertisers will be thanking Steve Jobs”
It’s not movies Apple Computer Inc.’s (AAPL ) iTunes Store will revolutionize — it’s TV and the ad industry that fuels it (“Hollywood holds its breath,” News: Analysis & Commentary, Oct. 24). Now you can buy last night’s Lost for $1.99. Next you’ll be able to get it for less in exchange for watching and interacting with targeted ads. The return-on-investment model Google Inc. (GOOG ) has championed, combined with the customer profiles of an Amazon.com Inc., (AMZN ) will let advertisers buy the exact eyeballs they want, with a feedback mechanism. Bandwidth and digital- rights issues will be solved as the $46 billion TV ad industry realizes that this is the future. Hollywood may be the last on this bandwagon, but there’s no question that once again, Steve Jobs is leading it.
David Esrati,
Chief Creative Officer
The Next Wave
Dayton
This is the second time I’ve had a letter published in Business Week. The first one was on “mass markets“
I wrote about this back on 4/3/2005, Cable system DVR’s are not the future, and yesterday Apple released new iPods that can play video. Immediate reaction of people- who wants to watch TV on a little iPod screen- that’s right up there with the IBM chairman Thomas Watson Sr. estimating the global market for computers at ‘about five or six’ in 1946.
The big deal isn’t seeing video on the iPod- it’s that you can now buy last night’s episode of Lost for $1.99. I’m not sure if that’s with or without commercials, but, soon, imagine it’s $1.99 without commercials- or free (or cheaper) if you download and ACTUALLY watch commercials that are targeted to you.
That is the future- and it just came to you via Apple computer.
Currently the video is not high resolution to play on your TV- but, that will change as codec’s improve. TiVo may just be seeing the end of their business model, or it may be the beginning, if they figure out a way to sell programs direct too.
A message to the “Broadcast” industry- your days are numbered. To the producers of quality content, you may be seeing a bigger piece of the pie coming your way. How many people will skip paying HBO and buy the Soprano’s direct? A season subscription for $50- I’d buy it.
All right, quick- this is a test. You want to buy TV spots in Columbus OH on the broadcast stations. So you do a google search on TV Stations, Columbus OH and then start chasing down results- this should be easy, right?
NOT.
You know you want to find ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB and then you want to find an e-mail for the Local Sales Manager. I could find 2 of 5. Even finding the phone number for the WB/UPN affiliate was a pain, because THEY TOOK THEIR WHOLE SITE OFFLINE and put up a holding page- with NO CONTACT information. How lame is that?
Seriously, they want people to buy advertising from them, an electronic media, and that is the best they can do?
You have to wonder where local stations find their General Managers, because none that I’ve met seem to understand the power of integration between the web and TV, just look at their sites. Most stations, especially the big news sites, seem to be buying prepackaged templates in the same way they buy their graphics packages. If you’ve seen one site, you’ve seen them all- branding, format, content, it’s all the same.
Didn’t anyone explain the power of differentiation to these people? Do they understand their unique ability to build community (something radio used to excel at, before they became a conglomerate)?
So, after tracking down the phone number of the affiliate (not easy, because almost all the links I found were back to the worthless site) I asked for the Local Sales manager- and of course got voice mail, for her, for her assistant, so back to the receptionist, who could give me the e-mail address I needed.
If you are making it this hard for people to find the person to buy from you, you’re in trouble- especially if you are supposed to be an expert in helping your customers drive sales in their businesses.
But, don’t worry the TV stations weren’t as bad as the guy from COTA, the bus company in Columbus, who is supposed to sell ads on the side of buses. I found the site easily, but all the pages for advertising were “being updated and not available at this time” and when I called and asked to be connected, his number was disconnected!
That, my friends, is the ultimate disconnection between a media outlet and the buyer.
So, go look at your own site and examine how easy is it to find a way to initiate a business relationship. It should never be more than one click away. And always have a phone number visible.
Just remember- it’s not all about news, it’s also about building community, for those stations that don’t have news operations.
Also found this funny link to look alike logos for TV stations- see what 7 looks like across the country- esp. funny, when your call letters, your dial position- mean NOTHING! Who does these brands? Is there any hope?
