This weeks reading looks at the media landscape and how it is evolving, and what this means for big media companies as well as those entering the media industry in regards to where the money is, and where it will be. It attempts to answer questions such as, who consumes the most media? In what ways is media changing? How adaptive should media companies be to adapt to younger, more progressive audiences? And what is the future of traditional media? There are a lot of predictions being made, however it is heavily supported with statistics and research, which all really boil down to the conclusion that as youth pick up new technology and adapt to new ways of consuming media, entertainment and media companies need to adjust for this, whilst – at least for a while – still maintaining some traditional forms of media to cater to existing, older and wealthier consumers, perhaps through bulk setups. They also find that ultimately, content is king and cannot be forgotten in the grand scheme of things.
It reminds me a lot of the discussions had in our lecture on Friday about the future of the ABC and how it is seen as an older person’s media outlet. ABC R&D are working to make sure that the ABC remains relevant in a shifting media landscape and can remain relevant to its existing, older base of consumers while also appealing to the younger generation and giving them other platforms and content to consume. And it would appear that ABC is succeeding in this, since I honestly haven’t thought of the ABC as an old person’s company for a long time, and consume more of the ABC’s content through triple J, Facebook pages, ABC iview and TV than my parents or even my grandparents do. I think ABC has done a great job of adapting and producing material that hits the mark for more than one audience, through both content and platform, and I think that’s exactly what the reading was getting at.
