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The phrase “Content is King” has certainly come to define the notion that regardless of business models, content that has intrinsic worth will be able to command and define various vehicles for monetizing those assets. As new distribution venues and methodologies have taken root, such as broadband penetration in households, the linking of content and technology is empowering the WIWWIWI customer.
It is most apparent that whereas in the past Content was King, it is now the Consumer who is King. Andrew Heyward, former President of CBS News, coined the term “If content is King, then Connectedness is Queen”, referring to the increasing numbers of digital connectivity by which viewers are consuming and interacting with content. We may be “connected” by sitting in front of our television set, web page, downloads for portable devices and our mobile phones. Today’s consumers are certainly changing and augmenting their viewing habits and this has placed enormous pressure on content holders to examine their acquisition formats and their workflow processes in order to create and deliver content to new business models that have, and are, appearing in the market place.
The most basic question that arises in servicing these models is how to ensure that the right content gets to the right place at the right time in order to meet format needs as well as contractual obligations for content delivery and expiration. A fundamental aspect of addressing these issues is to coordinate the movement of digital files on networks in order to electronically deliver content to multiple distribution venues.
No Going Back
Today, the term “advertising” has become incredibly complex. Do you know where your audience will be tomorrow? Next Month? Next Year? Do you know what device (or devices) they’ll be watching your content on? How will you reach them? What percentage of advertising dollars will you spend on each medium that you have determined is key to your reaching that audience? How, after all, did we get here?
Advertising Today
Today, it’s getting harder to reach target audiences. In 1973, advertising depended heavily on television. But look at figures outlined by John Kramer from EMAK Worldwide Marketing. Not only do you need more time in front of the viewer, the viewer is now watching on a variety of devices. It’s no wonder that Proctor & Gamble decided to funnel a considerable amount of its advertising budget to “use media that works harder”.
The Content Creation_to_Distribution Pattern
The amount of time being allotted to the content creation and distribution process is radically changing. If we examine this from a historical perspective, we find the following trends: In 1994, the average amount of time allotted to the creation of an A_list feature motion picture was twelve months. Today, that average is seven months.
In 2001, the theatrical_to_video window, the amount of time from a motion picture’s theatrical debut to its availability on video/disc, etc., was 165 days. Today, the average is 116 days. In 2006, the year_over_year growth of user_generated content (UGC) on YouTube™ was 2,662%, placing it within the top 15 Internet sites.
These shrinking production and distribution cycles have, in turn, created unique content trends and requirements. The amount of content transformations and the actual movement of digital media files are also on the rise. There are four noteworthy trends:
1. Content Size
Content size and volumes are continuing to increase. The adoption of high definition (HD) video as an acquisition format has the potential to increase file sizes from 22 Megabytes (MB) / sec to 132 MB / sec, depending upon bit rate. Similarly, productions are tending to shoot more “footage” given the significant differences in per_minute costs of film acquisition versus HD acquisition. In 1989, the cost of hard disk memory was $15 per megabyte (MB). Today, the cost of 1 gigabyte (GB) can be as little as 13 cents. As a result, it is inevitable that more material will be shot, need to be stored, and the demands on infrastructure and delivery schedules will only become more complicated with HD.
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