2005: 'Year of deep darkness and trouble for broadcasting'
A dark, very dark, view of the upcoming year for local broadcasters -- darkness largely wrought by the Internet and an ever-more empowered audience -- comes this week in a prognostication essay from media consultant Terry Heaton of Donata.com.
"2005 will be the most important and difficult year in the history of local broadcasting, and by year's end, the landscape could well be littered with the corpses of those who hung on too long. The industry faces significant fiscal challenges and accelerating changes in viewer preferences and behaviors, things it is ill-prepared to handle, much less turn into profit. Absent some economic miracle or very smart and quick action, it will be a year of deep darkness and trouble for broadcasting and the people who work in it.Heaton predicts newspapers will more and more invade the local video space and blogging focus will turn more and more local."Of all the challenges facing broadcasters, none is greater than ignorance born of denial. Locked into old formulas and business models, the industry hasn't paid enough attention to teaching and training itself and its employees about what's been happening in the media world around them. The challenges faced by media companies — especially broadcasters — have been bubbling and brewing for years, but few have had the courage to act on them."
→ Full Column (tx Tom Davidson)