The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago this month taught me firsthand why revolution is simultaneously impossible as well as inevitable. In 1986, I sat with other students from around the globe just blocks from the wall and debated whether it would ever come down. The naïve among us insisted freedom was imperative: It was inevitable. The others asked if we had stopped to think about the massive relocation of people, economic resources, and government structures that such a revolution would require: It was impossible.
Until it happened, just three years later.
Such is the content industry
This article originally appeared in Forrester Research.
Agree, James. The best old media companies are coming to terms with the reality of doing business in a matrixed ecosystem. The worst old media companies (e.g. News Corp) think raising new walls around content will fix the mistakes of the past. The audience has moved on; success in the new ecosystem increasingly depends on connecting to viewers in multiple ways and helping them connect to each other, not by driving audiences with marketing and advertising down the traditional paths of distribution.
Sheesh, this has to be the worst analogy ever. Even if the rest of the article is spot on. As they say in some parts. If you hear water, there is most likely a river nearby. And so it is the demise of old media is upon us, but the death of such companies as you suggest is by no means inevitable, but the real questions is whether this matrixed eco-systems, as you suggest are the road to on-going survival and success.