What's so new about new media?

[zoostory]

So, recently, I have had the good fortune of meeting a lot of VPs from a lot of studios. Some TV show runners, and network execs. Everyone comes to me asking the same questions: What do you think about youtube? What do you think about UGC (user generated content)? What's the future?

As if because I am young and more tech saavy I somehow have a crystal ball that holds the future of this mystical beast, New Media.

One thing is for sure - with NBC announcing the death of the 8 o'clock timeslot and the rise of investment in "New Media" - everyone is finally digging into something we have been doing for years: putting stuff on the internet.

So I want to pose the question: what, to you, is New Media? What do you think the future of User Generated Content holds?

What is the future? Because it is wide open for the taking right now!

 

[zoostory]

It's amazing that no one is responding to this. I'm telling you, "New Media" is where the money is in regards to studios and networks right now. If you want to pioneer something, if you want to be creative, this is the place and this is the time.

 

[krestofre]

2:08 AM - 10:20 AM is prime sleeping time. I'm sure you'll get more responses as the day goes on.

The biggest problem that I see with User Generated Content is sifting through it. There's a saturation of stuff that people do and most of it is bad or uninteresting, or ... well you get my drift. Just to give anyone a forum for their creativity doesn't really achieve anything except a lot of white noise. I can count on one hand the number of times I've watched something on youtube because it's just too hard to sift through all of that to find some content that's really compelling.

Where I see the future is iTunes. Not necessarily Apple, but that kind of model. I think the opportunity to bypass a studio, cut a deal with Apple to get on iTunes is a lot more compelling that just uploading something to youtube. I also don't see the networks winning this battle because their over-the-net broadcasts are too segmented. I tried to watch a streamed show that I missed on NBC's website and finding where it was on the site, pulling it up, and then finding out that I had to install a special media player was enough for me to wait for the DVD release of that particular show. iTunes has a uniformity and an ease of use that I find invaluable. I gladly pay $2 an episode to watch something through iTunes and not have to deal with the individual network websites.

Apple's iTV that's coming down the pipe will make this business model more compelling because then they've bridged the gap between downloading it on your computer to watching it on TV. Sure there are media center PCs and you can plug a Mac Mini into your TV. I've done both, and neither are good solutions. iTV looks like a good solution.

So I think that will eventually be the way we get content. Right now Apple is positioned to control it all, but that doesn't mean they'll succeed. They just have the right idea. And if they get 720p or 1080p movies on the iTunes store they'll rule the HD content distribution too.

All in my humble opinion, of course.