Big media has two customer bases: 1) the consumers it attracts as viewers and 2) the advertisers it sells time and space to.
These companies do quite a bit of advertising to attract the latter and one of the best places to track their pitches is the print version of the New York Times.
Why bother?
These pitches show what big media companies think their ad buying customers want (and big media generally has a very good sense of what’s selling.)
Guess what’s hot?
CNN rad an ad in yesterday’s Times to let media buyers know that they’re a player in the new media world.
Here’s how CNN described its charms:
* GRAPHIC: A TV set 83.6 million Americans tune-in to CNN and/or Headline News monthly
* GRAPHIC: A laptop 22 million monthly unique visitors with 27.9 million free videos served
* GRAPHIC: A cellphone 62 million page views per month for wireless devices
* GRAPHIC: An iPod 2.5 downloads per month
Traditional TV viewers are still at the top of the totem poll, but look at what CNN felt compelled to include to bolster its credentials: podcasts, wireless, web site visitors and Internet video.
“27.9 million free videos served” was the only text in the ad CNN thought was important enough to specially highlight.
Could total Internet video downloads some day exceed the number of viewers who tune into the TV show? And if so, how will that change things?
Which would you rather buy as an advertiser? Someone who lands on a program while channel surfing or someone who requests a specific video to download and watch?
See what the new media reality is doing to the value of traditional media companies: “The genie is out of the bottle”
– Ken McCarthy
P.S. For over 25 years I’ve been sharing the simple but powerful things that matter in business with my clients.
If you’d like direction for your business that will work today, tomorrow and twenty years from now, visit us at the System Club.
Radio audience erosion:
During the period from 2003 to 2006…
* 28% decline in in-car radio listening (2003-2006)
* 29% increase in in-car call phone listening
Source: Bridge Ratings
It looks like all things being equal, people would rather talk to each other than listen to a one-size-fits all presentation.
Why do we listen to radio in the car, anyway? Because it’s so good? Hardly.
Because for a long time, it was the only choice.
Then came cassettes, CDs and now cellphones. Some passengers even watch TV.
Related reading from the WSJ
Thursday March 16 Wall Street Journal:
To Blunt the Web’s Impact, TV Tries Building Online Fences Stations Are Using Technology
To Restrict Who Watches; Seeking Aid From Congress
Major League Baseball limits the games you can view online based on your location.
BBC’s website limits the viewing of videos to only viewers in the UK.
As with the telecommunications industry, the advertisers are trying to take claim to protect their turf.