New Content or Repurposed Content? My Two Cents on The Long Tail Controversy

Authored by Jay Baage on February 1, 2007 - 12:56pm.

Two weeks ago I wrote an opinion piece arguing that “It’s Time for Les Moonves to Cut Off CBS' Long Tail”. Basically, my point was that the big television companies need to focus on creating original content for new media platforms, not just programming these new channels with whatever is left on the cutting-room floor. A few days after, Shelly Palmer, chairman of the national Advanced Media Technology Emmy Awards Committee, followed up with a detailed post on his blog that Chris Anderson’s Long Tail presentation at NATPE illustrated “a profound lack of understanding about television production, distribution and the advertising and subscription revenue that drive the business.” Chris Anderson then responded with a post on his blog and questioned how Palmer is defining “television” and other things. Anderson got backup from Cory Bergman at the interesting TV blog “Lost Remote” and Terry Heaton, Senior Vice President, Media 2.0, who both cried out: “Ground control to Shelly: Please return to planet Earth.”

I think that while Mr. Palmer is perhaps a little high on his own supply, he serves up a good point - we are in a dichotomy when it comes to television content right now:

“There were really two NATPEs. One, where a group of established businessmen (behind closed doors) made deals that could have been made 20 years ago. And, one where a group of new businessmen wondered why they could not get any traction in a world of franchised, licensed, fully capitalized television distribution. It was ironic. On the one hand you had Chris Anderson giving a keynote address about his Long Tail theory which hypothesizes a new economy based upon infinite choice and, just down the hall, you had Anthony E. Zuiker receiving NATPE's 4th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award for creating, writing and executive producing the biggest television franchise in the world, CSI,” blogged Palmer.

My Take: I think that the future of television is inclusive, not exclusive. While much is still the same in the ivory towers of the big networks, things are really starting to change. YouTube has shown the way, but I can see why the networks are hesitant about producing expensive content for new platforms without knowing what the payoff will be. It is easy to embrace the long tail because it is cheap. My point is that I think there is a business opportunity for producing quality programming for new platforms and concentrating less on the long tail. Sure, it is a risk, but the payoff can be huge. It’s like with any investment, you can buy T-Bills or stocks. However, I don’t really believe that CBS or any of the other television giants should cut off anything - that was just a headline to grab your attention. There is room in the future to make money off the long tail, off user-generated content, as well as off professionally produced content. I agree with Anderson when he says that these things are different animals altogether, but it doesn’t mean that they cannot live on the same farm.

Joakim Baage

Related Links:
It’s Time for Les Moonves to Cut Off CBS' Long Tail
Video Parody of the Long Tail

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Comments

Follow the money, not the theory

Submitted by Shelly Palmer (not verified) on February 2, 2007 - 4:58am.

Chris Anderson wrote in his response, "If you define it as "video delivered primarily via broadcast channels" (ie, "commercial television" made and distributed by the people who make up the NATPE audience), I'm entirely with you--the LT is not yet a strong driver there and may never be, mostly because the economics of broadcast delivery aren't changing much." This is not what Chris said from the stage at NATPE, which is what prompted the mention in my NATPE wrap-up email. That being said, we will be publishing a paper deconstructing the "Long Tail" for the television/video industry in a few weeks. You can learn more about it at http://www.media30.com

Reply

Submitted by Hashi (not verified) on February 23, 2007 - 8:44am.

Jay,

I also read Shelly Palmer's essay, calling NATPE a "bi-polar conference." I thought it showed a lot insight into where the media is going.

The Long Tail is here, and we're just in the early stages. It's going to get a whole lot longer.

Adapt, or -- as mentioned in the essay -- you'll miss the flight.

- Hashi