I am pleased to announce a new series of articles regarding the convergence and consolidation of media channels. Since traditional channels like broadcast, print, and cable are folding into the Internet at an ever increasing rate this topic has become incredibly relevant. Like everyone else in my age group (don’t ask don’t tell) most of my associates come from a different era of marketing, public relations, PR, advertising and we’re all reacting from our unique personal and professional vantage points. We have similar questions which range from theoretical debate to matters of survival or forced obsolescence.
SEM and “Traditional” Television Can Learn From Each Other.
Anyway among my associates I have a dialog going with the good folks at Charter Communications. Peter Provost, Sales Manager of Charter Communications in Duluth, Minnesota, has been educating me about the daily authority blogs he reads in the broadcast and cable television world. He’s turned me on to publications which are not common fodder in the SEM universe. In turn I have been channeling Peter the authority blogs I read every day like Search Engine Land and SEO Roundtable. I like the exchange of ideas from different perspectives from media players speeding towards the same destination from opposite directions.
We all know how, like two lovers running towards each other in slow motion, the television and Internet industries are on a collision course destined to make peanut butter and chocolate a minor occurrence. It’s that big. What strikes me is how the most important writers in both the SEM and television worlds write about the same convergence issues from the opposite perspective. There is tremendous insight to be gained by both parties to the dialog.
Like it or Not, Here We Come
Think about it. It is obvious that SEM firms will have a noticeable part to play in the new “media buy” paradigm. Sales and marketing executives for companies like Charter are reacting to the radical shifts precipitated by increasing bandwidth, penetration, and audience habits. Cripes, they SELL the Internet access (cable) which is part of the force behind the radical reconfiguration in our industries.
I am salivating to know that Google has made a deal with Clear Channel to sell inventory on all 600+ Clear Channel radio stations from a Google interface on a bid model and Yahoo has a deal with Comcast. Google hired Michael Steib the general manager of strategic ventures at NBC Universal to help work with advertisers to create effective, measurable video advertising.” The list goes on and on representing the gears as they grind into one big measurable machine to cut up and deliver advertising to audiences.
Hence the Convergence Articles
Shortly we will publish the first television/Internet convergence article written by veteran industry executive Steve Frohrip. He writes from the “traditional” television perspective as the Advanced Media Manager/Minnesota, Charter Communications, Rosemount, MN. Steve brings a rich perspective on convergence tooled from over a decade of experience. He saw this coming. Cross media articles make valuable reading for SEM professionals because soon enough we will all be working together :).
