As Media Companies Evolve, Conflicts Arise

Hugo E. Martin points us to John Battelle’s “Packaged Goods Media vs. Conversational Media,” where he posits:

“Major media companies are realizing that their digital assets are far more valuable than they initially thought, and they are reacting by putting folks in charge of those assets who they believe will protect the company. Not the *interactive* company, mind you, but the company that owns the interactive products. “

He goes on two outline two forms of media as he sees it:

  • Packaged Goods Media
    “…in which “content” is produced and packaged, then sent through traditional distribution channels like cable, newsstand, mail, and even the Internet.”

  • Conversational Media
    “…This is the kind of media that has been labeled, somewhat hastily and often derisively, as “User Generated Content,” “Social Media,” or “Consumer Content.”

He sees a conflict forming between these two forms:

“…running major companies in the Conversational Media field require quite a different set of skills, and consideration of radically different economic and business models – models which, to be perfectly frank, conflict directly with the models which support and protect Packaged Goods Media-based companies.”

More to come from John on this topic soon.

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