Television is the New Television: The Unexpected Triumph of Old Media in the Digital AgeThis is a book about what happens when the smartest people in the room decide something is inevitable, and yet it doesn't come to pass. What happens when omens have been misread, tea leaves misinterpreted, gurus embarrassed? Twenty years after the Netscape IPO, ten years after the birth of YouTube, and five years after the first iPad, the Internet has still not destroyed the giants of old media. CBS, News Corp, Disney, Comcast, Time Warner, and their peers are still alive, kicking, and making big bucks. The New York Timesstill earns far more from print ads than from digital ads. Super Bowl commercials are more valuable than ever. Banner ad space on Yahoo can be bought for a relative pittance. Sure, the darlings of new media - Buzzfeed, HuffPo, Politico, and many more - keep attracting ever more traffic, in some cases truly phenomenal traffic. But as Michael Wolff shows in this fascinating and sure-to-be-controversial book, their buzz and venture financing rounds are based on assumptions that were wrong from the start, and become more wrong with each passing year. The consequences of this folly are far reaching for anyone who cares about good journalism, enjoys bingeing on Netflix, works with advertising, or plans to have a role in the future of the Internet. Wolff set out to write an honest guide to the changing media landscape, based on a clear-eyed evaluation of who really makes money and how. His conclusion- the Web, social media, and various mobile platforms are not the new television. Television is the new television. We all know that Google and Facebook are thriving by selling online ads - but they're aggregators, not content creators. As major brands conclude that banner ads next to text basically don't work, the value of digital traffic to content-driven sites has plummeted, while the value of a television audience continues to rise. Even if millions now watch television on their phones via their Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO apps, that doesn't change the balance of power. Television by any other name is the game everybody is trying to win - including outlets like The Wall Street Journal that never used to play the game at all. Drawing on his unparalleled sources in corner offices from Rockefeller Center to Beverly Hills, Wolff tells us what's really going on, which emperors have no clothes, and which supposed geniuses are due for a major fall. Whether he riles you or makes you cheer, his book will change how you think about media, technology, and the way we live now. 'The Closer the new media future gets, the further victory appears.' Michael Wolff'A mindless jerk who'll be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.' Wonkette'Possibly the bitchiest media bigfoot writing today.' The New Republic'He's both needy and amoral enough to just, you know, insult people for attention.' Gawker'Far less circumspect - and sometimes more vicious - than other journalists.' The New York Times'Long a media provocateur, Wolff has optimized his barbed bitching for the Internet.' New Yorkmagazine'If the Web doesn't kill journalism, Michael Wolff will.' Salon |
Contents
Prologue | 1 |
THE REVOLUTION IS FORETOLD | 7 |
the Millennials | 23 |
INVENTING NEW MEDIA | 29 |
THE NEW AUDIENCEAND WHAT ITS WORTH | 45 |
The Advertising Curve | 83 |
COUNTERREVOLUTION | 91 |
THE NEW TELEVISIONOR THE | 163 |
CONTENT IS KINGWELL IT IS ON TELEVISION | 179 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 201 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
audience Auletta became become began behavior bought broadband broadcast bundle BuzzFeed cable companies cable operators channels Comcast Comedy Central competing consumer cost create cultural deal devices digital media dollars effect effort entertainment ESPN executives Facebook fact Forbes function Funny or Die Gawker going Google Google's hence Huffington Post Internet largely launched Les Moonves leverage licensing magazine Marc Andreessen Mark Zuckerberg media business media companies million Moonves movie Murdoch negotiation net neutrality Netflix newspapers offer old media percent platforms premium profitable programmatic programming Reed Hastings revenue RSNs seemed sell sense side social media strategy streaming tech tele television business television's thing tion Tom Freston traditional media traffic transform ultimate unbundling vastly Viacom Vice Warner watch What's Yahoo York YouTube Zuckerberg