August 4 2009

Last Friday on the Media Man radio show, we discussed breaking down the 'walled gardens' of media outlets. In fact, one of my guests, Heather Way says she no longer even uses the term traditional media as it really has become more and more digital with each passing day.

A recent article in TV Week from CBS Chief Research Office Dave Poltrack has a vision of media where the DVR is really a passing fad. What? No more recording of shows or restart what you've missed? Potrack sees a world where most of the viewing won't be seen on the square box in your living room, you'll be doing it via the internet and not neccessarily on your computer. Highspeed internet providers will stream the content to your big screen TV.

However, its all about revenue, so lets follow the money trail: the highspeed ISP would pay a fee to the broadcast property for any users that want to access the content, users would then view for free or pay a moderate subscription cost (similar to Itunes) to view commercial free. Great for broadcast properties as they will know have a dual revenue stream-ad dollars and funding from the internet providers.

Keep in mind, since both the ISP and the broadcaster have details on the household, this makes for a perfect addressable ad opportunity, only serving advertising messages that are appropriate for that household in that market. What a concept. No more ads for retailers or restaurants that don't exist near you. No more ads for luxury cars or Florida retirement homes. What if you take this one step further and use the technology that is currently available to find out about Miami while you're watching 'Burn Notice' or purchase diabetic equipment while viewing 'Nurse Jackie' or order up a case of Grey Goose Vodka during 'Mad Men.

The walled gardens are crumbling and media is headed this way-I am hopping on for the ride.