Question: Is the Internet a threat to big media?
Tom Freston: No. Well it depends on what you describe as “big media”. Is Google big media now? I mean they’re worth more than most of the other media companies. There was a period of time when most of the cable companies, they were worth more, at least in Wall Street market cap terms, than the broadcast networks. It seems in media that no one ever really goes away. When something new comes out, eventually first of all people say, “Oh,” you know, “TV is gonna kill radio.” And then, “Cable TV is gonna kill TV.” And you know, “This, or that, or the other thing is gonna always kill something else.” Somehow everybody moves over on the bench and nothing really goes away. I mean some formats might go away, like the 8-track, or the cassette, or the LP. But the idea pretty much continues. And in the end the big media companies, which face a lot of challenges now . . . I mean I’m talking about the traditional TV . . . cable TV companies, they face a lot of challenges from the new media. They will eventually morph into that world, be bought by a new media company, buy one in turn, will still find ways to participate. It’s gonna be hard . . . I think it’s naïve to think that these companies are gonna crumble and fall away. I mean they’re going through a very tough transition now, as are people in any industry that have to deal with the digitization of anything. But at the end of the day, there’ll be a bunch of large companies pretty much controlling a good amount of what goes on. That seems to be, you know, the way of our capitalist system. That’s not to say that the small, independent voices still won’t be out there and be able to be heard. But the mass market as it . . . however you wanna define it will be reachable largely probably through bigger companies.
Recorded On: 7/6/07
Discuss
Lang Kasranov on March 18, 2008, 3:21 AM
I think a more interesting question is, does Tom check back ever to see if anyone is responding to his post.
I wonder… this place seems well and truly dead.
Lang Kasranov on March 18, 2008, 7:21 AM
I think a more interesting question is, does Tom check back ever to see if anyone is responding to his post.
I wonder… this place seems well and truly dead.
Mary Coyote on March 20, 2008, 3:18 PM
Tom Freston is obsolete. If his twisting-and-turning-in-the-wind thinking is any indication of the kind of thought that predominates main stream media, then their obsolescence is proven. For example his bumbling attempt to define %u201CBig media.%u201D
%u201CBig media%u201D is merely a polite way of saying MSM or old media. It is not Google. And why is old media obsolete? Because it is a one-way trip from the executive suite into my home, a trip that is unresponsive to my individual desires. And moreover, media has evolved into nothing more than an excuse to deliver advertising -there is no longer any real purpose for old media.
Newspapers, broadcast TV and Radio are like dumb animals compared to the empowerment I can achieve on-line. Where I wrote my favorite newspapers hundreds of letters to the editor and only a few were printed, now I am able to express a million words in a short time frame. And all are published.
Why should I put up with an expensive and stupid-as-a-sack-of-hammers Cable or Satellite TV system (that in spite of the endless channels offers me nothing that I want to see at that time), when my 12 year old downloads all the Doctor Who I want and ZIP.ca provides our favorite shows sans repetitive insulting and crappy advertising. The very best way to watch LOST or Jericho is to rent it from Rogers, or better yet, on-line.
I have 100GB of MP3's and I have not consumed commercial broadcast radio in two decades. It's inane, stupid and stultifying. Canadian CBC radio is awesome in comparison because they indulge the listeners' intelligence. Okay, so I miss the latest 'hits' until I discover (uncover) them for myself, but what is the biggie about that?
Main stream media is obsolete because they are completely blind to this change in media consumption DESIRES. I want the opportunity to express myself (and my desires) and satisfy my desires. MSM wants to shove their cheap and highly profitable crap down my throat. Vomit.
Mary Coyote on March 20, 2008, 7:18 PM
Tom Freston is obsolete. If his twisting-and-turning-in-the-wind thinking is any indication of the kind of thought that predominates main stream media, then their obsolescence is proven. For example his bumbling attempt to define %u201CBig media.%u201D
%u201CBig media%u201D is merely a polite way of saying MSM or old media. It is not Google. And why is old media obsolete? Because it is a one-way trip from the executive suite into my home, a trip that is unresponsive to my individual desires. And moreover, media has evolved into nothing more than an excuse to deliver advertising -there is no longer any real purpose for old media.
Newspapers, broadcast TV and Radio are like dumb animals compared to the empowerment I can achieve on-line. Where I wrote my favorite newspapers hundreds of letters to the editor and only a few were printed, now I am able to express a million words in a short time frame. And all are published.
Why should I put up with an expensive and stupid-as-a-sack-of-hammers Cable or Satellite TV system (that in spite of the endless channels offers me nothing that I want to see at that time), when my 12 year old downloads all the Doctor Who I want and ZIP.ca provides our favorite shows sans repetitive insulting and crappy advertising. The very best way to watch LOST or Jericho is to rent it from Rogers, or better yet, on-line.
I have 100GB of MP3’s and I have not consumed commercial broadcast radio in two decades. It’s inane, stupid and stultifying. Canadian CBC radio is awesome in comparison because they indulge the listeners’ intelligence. Okay, so I miss the latest ‘hits’ until I discover (uncover) them for myself, but what is the biggie about that?
Main stream media is obsolete because they are completely blind to this change in media consumption DESIRES. I want the opportunity to express myself (and my desires) and satisfy my desires. MSM wants to shove their cheap and highly profitable crap down my throat. Vomit.
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