At the beginning of November, producer Fede Alvarez posted a video on YouTube called “Ataque de Panico” (Panic Attack).   Six weeks later, the 5 minute film he produced for $300 has been viewed 3.5 million times and just landed Alvarez a $30 million movie deal from Ghost House Pictures.

When $300 can produce something of this quality, you begin to see why traditional media & entertainment companies are in trouble.  And it also makes you think twice about how much you are paying your agency for that latest TV commercial as well…

Over the past few days, two things have really started to shape my view on where the Future of TV is headed.  First, on my flight back from Miami on Friday, I read a post by Henry Blodget entitled “The TV Business is Toast.“  Blodget makes the case that the “the traditional TV industry — cable companies, networks, and broadcasters — is where the newspaper industry was about five years ago: In denial.”  Furthermore, he states that TV is headed for a fall because:

As with print-based media, Internet-based distribution generates only a tiny fraction of the revenue and profit that today’s incumbent cable, broadcast, and satellite distribution models do. As Internet-based distribution gains steam, therefore, most TV industry incumbents will no longer be able to support their existing cost structures.

And similar to what Fred Wilson recently wrote regarding Boxee, Blodget goes on to declare that in the future:

You won’t have 5 channels, or 50 channels, or 500 channels. You’ll have millions of channels. You’ll be able to watch anything you want, live or taped. You’ll be able to watch it wherever you want — TV, computer, mobile device… This is where the future is going. That’s obvious. The only question is how long it takes us to get there — and who gets killed along the way.

On Saturday Night, I saw first-hand why the TV networks might be one of the casualties of the Future of TV.  (more…)

[slideshare id=459696&doc=contentmarketingslideshare-1213135180137165-8&w=425]

Every once in awhile you come across a presentation that blows you away…both because of its content and because of its design.  The latest from Helge Tenno is one of those presentations (which I found thanks to Paul Isakson who consistently delivers his own great presentations).  Helge’s presentation takes you through the concept of Content Marketing, pointing out that “Content isn’t king.  Conversation is king.  Content is just something to talk about.”

Wonderful stuff that I really encourage you to check out.  My favorite quote of the presentation:

Content Marketing = Participating in activities facilitated by the brand (slide 62)