Total media convergence
31May10

total media convergence

Are we heading towards total media convergence?

I was showing someone through the new Wired Magazine iPad application yesterday and while she was marveling at the animations, video, audio and general interactivity she made the comment, “Its not really a magazine anymore.”

And in a way she’s right. It seems that with increasing broadband speeds and new media delivery devices such as smart phones and tablet computers that host an array of apps, we are heading towards total media convergence.

Total media convergence was something I first started to think about in mid-2009 when Austereo management invited me to preview their plans for digital and online radio. Here was a radio station that was beginning to package audio, video, live streaming, gossip magazine style columns and pictorials competitions and more all under one digital roof. At the time I said to them, you’re not really going to be a radio station, you’re becoming a full service media company.

As the digital pipes widen and the promise of a high speed National Broadband Network is realised, the lines between traditional media suppliers will likely become increasingly blurred and their old delivery formats increasingly irrelevant. The only real point of difference will be the rights each media owner has to various products Ie. talent and programs.

In an age when anyone can create their own podcast, vodcast, YouTube channel or blogsite, what is to stop any of the established media players from creating their own diverse content online? Popular radio hosts can create TV shows. TV current affairs programs can extend their format to vodcasts or streamed “radio” shows. News and magazine journalists can take their reporting further with video and audio.

As I wrote last year, Its the Package not the Platform that matters as we move towards total media convergence.

What do you think? Will media stay or separate paths or converge? Is this a good thing or not?

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2 Responses to “Total media convergence”

As good as it sounds, platform independence is not easy to achieve.

Getting a piece of content into a format that can be distributed and consumed across multiple channels is complicated and expensive.

Business are still losing a lot of time getting content drafted in Word marked up and published online. This is a simple process but technical and cultural barriers make it a tedious one.

Packaging content is a much more labourious and expensive affair. How many businesses can afford it?

I think most organisations will have to make choices as far as what platform to produce content for. Total media convergence will remain a utopic vision for most.

Comment by Lawrence on May 31st, 2010

I’m putting my $50 on convergence. And I think it’ll be the people who understand how to align business strategy across multiple screens, platforms and forms that will have the most success.

However, there’ll always people who’ll provide a product or service that is exceptional, and people will seek it out.

Desire is human nature.
.-= Jye Smith´s last blog ..10 Things They Never Told You About Social Media =-.

Comment by Jye Smith on June 1st, 2010

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