A Creative Communications Agency

Several years ago, I sat there wondering why I couldn’t download just one song at a time. I remember thinking it would be great if I could pay a dollar to download whatever song I wanted. I was usually disappointed with entire albums, and I didn’t like the hassle and expense of buying a CD and ripping the preferred songs. I even had Napster and Kazaa accounts for a while and obtained songs though ill-gotten means.

Now just to be clear, I’m not claiming to have invented the concept of iTunes (Are you listening Al Gore?). What I am saying is that I thought it would be a great business model. Fast forward a few years and Apple has proved my theory correct. I was amazed, though, at how the record companies fought this new way of selling music. They claimed that they were trying to protect declining sales and illegal distribution. They won their war with Napster in court and now, thanks to Apple, they are making money from the downloads. It didn’t have to be that tough though.

Now the same thing is happening with video. Broadcasters are losing ad revenue and they are fighting illegal distribution. Once again, I’m thinking there is an easy solution. Listen to me all networks! Stream all of your programs! Stream then now! Embed the commercials in the stream.

With networks and video I don’t even consider it a new business model. It simply is meeting the demand of a new and proven distribution system. Instead of broadcasting the signal to television sets, they are making it available to computers with a broadband connection. The bonus here is for the both the consumers and the networks. Consumers can watch their program whenever they want and networks and not limited to broadcasting one program at a time. TIVO may be in trouble. The phrase “I missed last night’s episode.” should never be uttered again.

And don’t worry networks. You are not going the way of the dinosaur. Just like the major record labels, you still have a place in the new digital world. Networks still have a strong relationship with advertisers. You are the connection between the wannabe producer and the money. You also have a strong brand presence and marketing clout to draw users to your affiliate channels or website. Just remember to not think of time slots anymore. It’s more about discovering quality content and telling the public about it.

If you don’t do it, someone else will. I wouldn’t be worried about Youtube.com. They have the “Throw the spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks.” philosophy. I would be worried about a Valued Content Aggregator (VCA); a respected source that continually promotes and offers quality, easy-to-find content. That type of company will dominate the digital video future. Who’s it going to be?