The End Of Broadcasting
Every month or so our Head of Technology, John Maxwell Hobbs, invites some guest speakers to host an informal "masterclass" for ´óÏó´«Ã½ staff at Pacific Quay. This morning we heard from two senior figures- Ken Devine and Dan Goldman - from a public television station in New York.
They described their own issues with public subscription and private sponsorship and the complicated relationship between their own station..and the parent PBS network.
They talked about how the people making the decisions about content distribution in America tend to be married to the idea of broadcasting, because that's been their own careeer route. The trouble is that younger audiences are giving traditional television a collective bodyswerve and spend most of their time consuming online content.
"You can't broadcast your way of out these problems," was Ken's memorable quote as he went on to explain his various plans for finding viewers through online portals.
"Of course," he said, "we're miles behind you at the ´óÏó´«Ã½."
Which gave us all pause for thought.
