The future of media and the rise of TV brands

Over the past year I've devoted a fair amount of space on this site to the changing nature of the media, in particular the decline of print.

I thought it might be worth summarising all these points into one post, and then taking out a key conclusion - the continued strength of TV brands in the new media world:

The rise of generic 'news brands'

1 — Print may be in terminal decline but journalism isn't — people still want news from trusted sources.

2- There is a future for print, but it will be more specialised and features / investigative reporting led.

3 — Recessionary pressures aside, TV has done well to co-opt the Web as a brand extension. At the same time, TV's core business is in reasonable shape with viewing figures on the up.

4 — In future we'll think about more what PwC calls trusted (and generic) news brands, and less about distinct newspapers, TV etc. This comes especially as the boundaries between the type of content produced by newspapers, TV news channels and A-List bloggers online blur.

TV news in a better place than newspaper brands

On that last point, I believe brands that were once TV only are in pole position to claim that ‘trusted news brand' status. Here's why:

• The English speaking world's biggest media figure and newspaper publisher Rupert Murdoch now accepts that in a decade digital will be the primary mode of delivery (and consumption) for newspapers.

• Yet there are doubts about whether newspapers as they stand now are viable as a primarily online concern. Currently, online ad revenues from the New York Times would only pay for a fifth of its news budget, despite the NYT being one of the biggest online newspapers worldwide.

• Which is why, Rupert Murdoch and others, such as Lionel Barber of the FT, are furiously trying to stop Joe and Joanna Consumer getting something for nothing, and want to make charging for articles rather than free content the norm.

• I don't think that will work as a) I don't believe everyone will really tow the line and b) the likes of the BBC, CNN et al will still offer free news online and as I've already mentioned, the lines between what news and TV brands cover on the web is interchangeable

• In other words, because the type of content you get from the likes of BBC news online and a newspaper website is already pretty similar, if newspapers put up toll booths on their sites, TV news brands will grab a bigger piece of the pie

• Unlike print circulations however, TV viewership continues to grow. Despite a maturing sector, online video is still only used for short clips. People are also comfortable watching TV and surfing the Internet (with an eye on both screens) together

• TV companies already give premium content away online wholesale — the BBC's iPlayer is a good example. Unlike a lot of online publishers, the mindset is already there that sees giving away content as an opportunity and not a threat.

Now what I am certainly not saying is that it's curtains for the New York Times, Guardian, The Times et al — far from it, I'm convinced they'll still be around. The Guardian's API for example could create a whole new source of revenue for the organisation.

What I am saying is that based on 1) revenues and 2) the robustness of the ‘core' business and 3) the blurring of content boundaries on the Web: Organisations we've formerly only thought of as TV news brands have much less of a mountain to climb in establishing themselves in a drastically changed media environment.

Image -GYWST