I was asked to guest lecture an advertising course at Penn State University on Monday, Jan. 24, 2011. In preparing my presentation, I figured I'd use this blog as my whiteboard. Kill two birds with one stone, as they say.
Besides I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient, likedrinking and driving planning my work schedule in advance.
So here it is, the outline to my presentation, which will focus on digital media, dip into social media and center around technology including a few recently announced items from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
My take on social media
The most exciting aspect of social media or even digital media -- music, TV, internet -- is that we have no idea how cool our world will be tomorrow, how connected we'll be, how new gadgets will effect our lives.
The way Facebook has impacted us, integrated itself into our everyday actions and has become part of our everyday lexicon has changed the world. Connected us like nothing before it. Facebook launched in 2004. Since its adoption, hundreds of other copy-cats have emerged. What will be the next Facebook? The next world-changing innovation?
Then take Twitter, created in 2006, is the hottest little thing next to Facebook. Twitter's micro-blogging service has exploded among celebrities and sports stars, has filled a niche that Facebook doesn't. Pro athletes are announcing moves on Twitter before the reporters have the story. Celebrity tweets are quoted daily in the news.
Twitter has successfully evolved into a full-fledged news outlet, from the sources themselves.
What to watch in digital media
Two trends to keep an eye on: 1) Music, particularly how we listen to radio at work, in the car and at home; 2) Television.
Music: Radio, Pandora & your Fridge.
Over the last 10 years, the way we listen to music has changed substantially. Terrestrial radio is still the most-listened to medium. Terrestrial radio reaches nearly 93 percent of people over the age of 12 in a given week. Some 240 million people listen to radio via the radio dial. Compare that to Sirius XM, which just hit 20 million subscribers. Pandora, which began in 2000, has 75 million subscribers.
But even the way we listen to good ol' terrestrial radio has changed. Local radio stations, like the one I work for, are streaming online and have mobile phone apps, in addition to the recent addition of FM Tuners on iPods and other mp3 players.
And that's just FM radio.
Pandora is making even bigger leaps away from its traditional home on the PC, on nearly every type of electronic device we own. In addition to the PC, Pandora is connected to smartphones, automobiles, tablets and televisions.
According to a published report from Advertising Age, more than 50 percent of Pandora listening is done on devices other than the PC.
Including a new device: refrigerators. That's right, the Fridge. Samsung has just announced a Wi-Fi enabled refrigerator with Pandora.
Pandora, by the way, is an advertising supported medium. Much like terrestrial radio, Pandora offers its services for free, then sells ads to all of its listeners. This free, ad-supported model is what has driven terrestrial radio since its first ad, and it's what has taken Pandora from near bankruptcy four years ago to nearly ubiquitous in media. It's also what will drive the change in TV.
Pandora does offer $3 monthly (or $36 annual) fee to stream its music commercial-free, but the majority of users opt for free ad-supported listening, considering it a fair trade-off.
One more thing on streaming radio. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, streaming radio represents only 4 percent of radio listening. So the future of radio may be streaming, but it's not there yet.
Television: What's your favorite channel?
First of all, what is "TV"? Is it the product? The Show? Or is it the distribution vehicle, Comcast? DirecTV?
I say it's the product, the show. And I predict a big change on the horizon in the way we watch TV. We’ve already experienced the start of it with Netflix, Hulu, GoogleTV, Boxee Box, etc and devices like SlingBox, which slings your paid content to other sets and devices outside of your home. But I think this trend will explode in 2011 or early 2012. TV isn’t dead, it’s just evolving.
Television doesn’t live in box anymore. Well, it still kind of does, but that box is hooked up to the Internet. Connecting our HDTV sets to the world wide web syncs our Televisions to an array of programming and applications. Programming like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu as well as applications (apps) that vary depending on the manufacturer, product and model. Samsung’s apps include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pandora, Blockbuster, ESPN, AP, USAToday, Yahoo!, Skype, and many more, all on your TV.
Samsung, in my opinion, is leading the way in Internet Apps. Internet@TV, as Samsung calls it, is available on certain models of Samsung TVs and Samsung BluRay Players. Samsung's Internet@TV apps include: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Break, Blockbuster, Daily Motion, TED, Vudu, Social TV including Facebook & Twitter, AccuWeather, AP News, ESPN Score Center, Facebook, Twitter, Geek Squad (a Best Buy channel, one of the first sponsored apps), HSN, MLB.tv, Pandora, Samsung ESPN Next Level, Skype, Yahoo News, and more.
This shift, in the way we will someday watch TV, provides an opportunity similar to Pandora, ad-supported and relatively free to use. Hulu was one of the first to adopt the free, ad-supported content. And they've now extended that same plan to Hulu Plus.
The only difference being Netflix, Hulu Plus and internet apps require a device to stream the content to your television. So the cost is upfront. Netflix and Hulu Plus also have subscriptions, starting at $7.99 per month.
Netflix has yet to incorporate advertising. But it's doing quite well without it so far, leading the pack when it comes to at-home video streaming.
Internet apps are essentially TV Channels, like ABC, Fox or ESPN. Only they're on our schedule, not the networks.
Internet apps, including Netflix and Hulu Plus, are the future. They'll soon change TV forever.
Because a movement is slowly building. But consumers will still have to drive it.
Besides I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient, like
So here it is, the outline to my presentation, which will focus on digital media, dip into social media and center around technology including a few recently announced items from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
My take on social media
The most exciting aspect of social media or even digital media -- music, TV, internet -- is that we have no idea how cool our world will be tomorrow, how connected we'll be, how new gadgets will effect our lives.
The way Facebook has impacted us, integrated itself into our everyday actions and has become part of our everyday lexicon has changed the world. Connected us like nothing before it. Facebook launched in 2004. Since its adoption, hundreds of other copy-cats have emerged. What will be the next Facebook? The next world-changing innovation?
Then take Twitter, created in 2006, is the hottest little thing next to Facebook. Twitter's micro-blogging service has exploded among celebrities and sports stars, has filled a niche that Facebook doesn't. Pro athletes are announcing moves on Twitter before the reporters have the story. Celebrity tweets are quoted daily in the news.
Twitter has successfully evolved into a full-fledged news outlet, from the sources themselves.
What to watch in digital media
Two trends to keep an eye on: 1) Music, particularly how we listen to radio at work, in the car and at home; 2) Television.
Music: Radio, Pandora & your Fridge.
Over the last 10 years, the way we listen to music has changed substantially. Terrestrial radio is still the most-listened to medium. Terrestrial radio reaches nearly 93 percent of people over the age of 12 in a given week. Some 240 million people listen to radio via the radio dial. Compare that to Sirius XM, which just hit 20 million subscribers. Pandora, which began in 2000, has 75 million subscribers.
But even the way we listen to good ol' terrestrial radio has changed. Local radio stations, like the one I work for, are streaming online and have mobile phone apps, in addition to the recent addition of FM Tuners on iPods and other mp3 players.
And that's just FM radio.
Pandora is making even bigger leaps away from its traditional home on the PC, on nearly every type of electronic device we own. In addition to the PC, Pandora is connected to smartphones, automobiles, tablets and televisions.
According to a published report from Advertising Age, more than 50 percent of Pandora listening is done on devices other than the PC.
Including a new device: refrigerators. That's right, the Fridge. Samsung has just announced a Wi-Fi enabled refrigerator with Pandora.
Pandora, by the way, is an advertising supported medium. Much like terrestrial radio, Pandora offers its services for free, then sells ads to all of its listeners. This free, ad-supported model is what has driven terrestrial radio since its first ad, and it's what has taken Pandora from near bankruptcy four years ago to nearly ubiquitous in media. It's also what will drive the change in TV.
Pandora does offer $3 monthly (or $36 annual) fee to stream its music commercial-free, but the majority of users opt for free ad-supported listening, considering it a fair trade-off.
One more thing on streaming radio. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, streaming radio represents only 4 percent of radio listening. So the future of radio may be streaming, but it's not there yet.
Television: What's your favorite channel?
First of all, what is "TV"? Is it the product? The Show? Or is it the distribution vehicle, Comcast? DirecTV?
I say it's the product, the show. And I predict a big change on the horizon in the way we watch TV. We’ve already experienced the start of it with Netflix, Hulu, GoogleTV, Boxee Box, etc and devices like SlingBox, which slings your paid content to other sets and devices outside of your home. But I think this trend will explode in 2011 or early 2012. TV isn’t dead, it’s just evolving.
Television doesn’t live in box anymore. Well, it still kind of does, but that box is hooked up to the Internet. Connecting our HDTV sets to the world wide web syncs our Televisions to an array of programming and applications. Programming like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu as well as applications (apps) that vary depending on the manufacturer, product and model. Samsung’s apps include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pandora, Blockbuster, ESPN, AP, USAToday, Yahoo!, Skype, and many more, all on your TV.
Samsung, in my opinion, is leading the way in Internet Apps. Internet@TV, as Samsung calls it, is available on certain models of Samsung TVs and Samsung BluRay Players. Samsung's Internet@TV apps include: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Break, Blockbuster, Daily Motion, TED, Vudu, Social TV including Facebook & Twitter, AccuWeather, AP News, ESPN Score Center, Facebook, Twitter, Geek Squad (a Best Buy channel, one of the first sponsored apps), HSN, MLB.tv, Pandora, Samsung ESPN Next Level, Skype, Yahoo News, and more.
This shift, in the way we will someday watch TV, provides an opportunity similar to Pandora, ad-supported and relatively free to use. Hulu was one of the first to adopt the free, ad-supported content. And they've now extended that same plan to Hulu Plus.
The only difference being Netflix, Hulu Plus and internet apps require a device to stream the content to your television. So the cost is upfront. Netflix and Hulu Plus also have subscriptions, starting at $7.99 per month.
Netflix has yet to incorporate advertising. But it's doing quite well without it so far, leading the pack when it comes to at-home video streaming.
Internet apps are essentially TV Channels, like ABC, Fox or ESPN. Only they're on our schedule, not the networks.
Internet apps, including Netflix and Hulu Plus, are the future. They'll soon change TV forever.
Because a movement is slowly building. But consumers will still have to drive it.
