Brave New Media
Alt-Media - this must be the bête noire of the MSM. By Alt-Media, of course, I mean all the YouTube, Patreon, and Independent "channels" springing up with New Media personalities.
Once upon a time, this New Media was confined to bloggers and Podcasters. A small cottage industry of them grew up - I was listening to a handful of them fairly faithfully as much as 10 years ago; recorded on my MP3 player, they made for great entertainment as a traveled as an alternative to commercial-laden radio, or even books on tape or CD music. I listened to Father Roderick from The Netherlands (who has since created something of a New Media empire), How Stuff Works, and about six or seven others.
Since then, I stumbled across a few people who had monetized YouTube channels who were sharing simple stand-up chats in front of a green screen or even just sitting at a desk in the living room, chatting away. A lot of these were political. Some were dreadful, some were amusingly horrid, and some were actually quite well done, informative, and no-holds-barred as they weren't beholden to a specific code or even, in many cases, a particular sponsor.
The big ones eventually, because of having tens, even hundreds of thousands of followers/subscribers, attracted regular sponsors for whom they read in-line spots - a far superior method of advertising to program interruption. They're still clearly spots, and they're still :30 interruptions, but there aren't 10 of them in a row that are full of nonsensical images and story lines. They're simply endorsements read by the show's host, so they flow into the program mix and don't take you out of your show "head."
The point being: there was money to be made in YouTube "shows."
Things got complicated as politics and policing heated up. YouTube flexed its cyber-muscles and "demonetized" (interesting how that word starts and ends with "demonized") certain channels because of strong political positions - and of course, new outlets sprang up devoted specifically to channels that had built-in advertising, or, better yet, subscription potential. Now you could by-pass the entire advertising model, as has been done with Netflix, Amazon Prime and other content providers and go directly to a pay-to-play model: I want to see a particular show, I'm willing to pay for it directly, and it's good enough to warrant its airing without commercial support. This, of course, is somewhat along the lines of the old HBO: a premium channel, it offered movies and original programming for a set monthly fee, commercial-free.
Don't mistake me, there's something to be said for commercially-sponsored programming offered free to anyone who has a television. This model served us well for a long time, and in many cases, still does (though I will admit to simply recording most of my commercially available programs and replaying them off of DVR so I can fast-foward through the commercials - a process that used to require programming your VCR to record a show, hoping nothing went wrong, then rewinding and playing it back, fast-forwarding through endless commercial breaks. With a DVR it's the same basic process but infinitely easier to manage.
As these things seem to go, the world of media is mixed martial arts: power, money, and habit versus energy and a complete lack of understanding that you can't do that! Of course they can - and they are. Sure, Old Media hits back with IHeartSomething, which is moving its existing material to a quasi-on-demand version, expanding its reach via the Internet. But what Old Media doesn't reckon with is the thirst for new and different; a short attention span; disregard for time slots (which is to say, I listen or watch when I choose, and if I feel like bouncing around or chasing a thread, I will); and above all, nobody saying "no."
Today's Alt-Media has become a force to be reckoned with. I'll be honest and say that while I occasionally dip into a radio show while doing chores in the house, and I still listen to books on tape, by far my listening drug-of-choice is the new New Media. There are a wide range of options, from entertainment to politics to documentaries to opinion to insanity (sadly, both fun and serious). Whatever you're in the mood for, likely you'll find it. And something new appears almost daily. In the past couple of months I've bounced from alternative political, to history, to science, back to history, to off the charts odd.
If I were traditional media, I'd not only be afraid, I'd be very afraid.
Once upon a time, this New Media was confined to bloggers and Podcasters. A small cottage industry of them grew up - I was listening to a handful of them fairly faithfully as much as 10 years ago; recorded on my MP3 player, they made for great entertainment as a traveled as an alternative to commercial-laden radio, or even books on tape or CD music. I listened to Father Roderick from The Netherlands (who has since created something of a New Media empire), How Stuff Works, and about six or seven others.
Since then, I stumbled across a few people who had monetized YouTube channels who were sharing simple stand-up chats in front of a green screen or even just sitting at a desk in the living room, chatting away. A lot of these were political. Some were dreadful, some were amusingly horrid, and some were actually quite well done, informative, and no-holds-barred as they weren't beholden to a specific code or even, in many cases, a particular sponsor.
The big ones eventually, because of having tens, even hundreds of thousands of followers/subscribers, attracted regular sponsors for whom they read in-line spots - a far superior method of advertising to program interruption. They're still clearly spots, and they're still :30 interruptions, but there aren't 10 of them in a row that are full of nonsensical images and story lines. They're simply endorsements read by the show's host, so they flow into the program mix and don't take you out of your show "head."
The point being: there was money to be made in YouTube "shows."
Things got complicated as politics and policing heated up. YouTube flexed its cyber-muscles and "demonetized" (interesting how that word starts and ends with "demonized") certain channels because of strong political positions - and of course, new outlets sprang up devoted specifically to channels that had built-in advertising, or, better yet, subscription potential. Now you could by-pass the entire advertising model, as has been done with Netflix, Amazon Prime and other content providers and go directly to a pay-to-play model: I want to see a particular show, I'm willing to pay for it directly, and it's good enough to warrant its airing without commercial support. This, of course, is somewhat along the lines of the old HBO: a premium channel, it offered movies and original programming for a set monthly fee, commercial-free.
Don't mistake me, there's something to be said for commercially-sponsored programming offered free to anyone who has a television. This model served us well for a long time, and in many cases, still does (though I will admit to simply recording most of my commercially available programs and replaying them off of DVR so I can fast-foward through the commercials - a process that used to require programming your VCR to record a show, hoping nothing went wrong, then rewinding and playing it back, fast-forwarding through endless commercial breaks. With a DVR it's the same basic process but infinitely easier to manage.
As these things seem to go, the world of media is mixed martial arts: power, money, and habit versus energy and a complete lack of understanding that you can't do that! Of course they can - and they are. Sure, Old Media hits back with IHeartSomething, which is moving its existing material to a quasi-on-demand version, expanding its reach via the Internet. But what Old Media doesn't reckon with is the thirst for new and different; a short attention span; disregard for time slots (which is to say, I listen or watch when I choose, and if I feel like bouncing around or chasing a thread, I will); and above all, nobody saying "no."
Today's Alt-Media has become a force to be reckoned with. I'll be honest and say that while I occasionally dip into a radio show while doing chores in the house, and I still listen to books on tape, by far my listening drug-of-choice is the new New Media. There are a wide range of options, from entertainment to politics to documentaries to opinion to insanity (sadly, both fun and serious). Whatever you're in the mood for, likely you'll find it. And something new appears almost daily. In the past couple of months I've bounced from alternative political, to history, to science, back to history, to off the charts odd.
If I were traditional media, I'd not only be afraid, I'd be very afraid.
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