Gene Carr's Patron Technology Blog

Not Everyone Laments a World Without Print

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees the demise of newspapers as something completely predictable and ultimately unstoppable. 

The fact that the venerable print publication, Newsweek, published an article this week about this topic surprised me, and I agree with most of it:

Don't Bail Out Newspapers--Let Them Die and Get Out of the Way

Indeed, in about 1996, when I was working closely with AOL, The New York Times began posting selected content on AOL. Getting The Times online was a benefit of being an AOL member.

I asked many people at the time what their long-term strategy for The Times would be, since it seemed clear to me that eventually all of its content would be online.

I think right answer would have been, "We'll eventually have to move to an all-digital environment, and we're going to be innovating like crazy to make sure we thrive in the digital age." But of course, that wasn't the answer I got.

I spend a lot my time thinking about the future, and how technology changes will impact what we're doing. Is your organization doing the same?

The Future of Broadcasting & Print (again)

It was in last week's post that I wrote about the "coming soon" sign at the new studio for WNET. That's why I was rather surprised to read the next day's headline in Crain's: At Channel 13, the financial signals are red.

As you'll see, the article is about all the problems at WNET. With regard to the new Lincoln Center Studio, this sentence pretty much summed it up for me:

"[The new chief executive of WNET, Neal Shapiro] also signed a deal with Lincoln Center for the street-level Broadway studio, paying $1 million a year for the 5,000-square-foot space."

Whoa. Seems to me, you can produce a whole lot of great online content for $1 million a year.

In a related note, this weekend I had lunch with a staffer at one of this country's leading print magazines. She matter-of-factly mentioned that the magazine is debating whether it will go all digital... in 2011 or 2012. Inside the company, it's not a debate about "if" it will go digital -- but only about "when."

The next wave of fundamental changes to media because of the Internet is happening all around us -- clear as day. And what surprises me is that when these changes arrive, so many managers are surprised and unprepared.

The mindset I'm living with is that television and newspapers (and magazines) are artifacts of another era. Sooner than we may think, we'll be living in world in which these media sources will have to reinvent themselves -- if they are to survive at all. That's something we all can prepare for now, seems to me. 

Is this the Future of Arts Broadcasting? I Don’t Think So.

A few months ago on my walk home I took this picture of a new PBS TV studio under construction as part of the renovation of the Juilliard School. It seems to borrow a page from some of the morning TV shows and sports broadcasts that have street-level studios dotted around the city.

Something bothered me about this, and it took until last month for it to really sink in. I was at a concert at Tanglewood, where the Boston Symphony has installed high definition TV screens in the back part of the 6,000 seat outdoor Shed where it performs. In the past, those seats were so far away that you could barely see the stage. Now, with these large and clear screens, the experience is entirely different. You hear the music live but can watch close-ups of the musicians as if you’re at home. The direction is terrific, and it’s done in a completely professional away. I thought it would be somehow a violation of some well-worn concert-going experience, but rather it was a completely new and enjoyable way to hear a concert.

But, I digress. The real point is that if the Boston Symphony has already invested in video cameras, directors, and staff to make these in-venue broadcasts possible, it’s not a stretch to imagine that they will eventually stream these live online. Let’s for a moment set aside all the obvious union issues that have to be surmounted. I think in time the BSO and others will recognize the same thing that major sports teams understand; that when you broadcast, you don’t cannibalize your audiences -- you entice them to come to see the live event. (That’s certainly what the live Met Opera radio broadcasts did for decades.)

But again, I digress. The overarching point is that the technology for any individual to broadcast a live video stream from his or her living room PC is about to be here. And if they can do it, that means that virtually every arts organization is a potential broadcaster. The BSO might just do it, and I'll bet any number of other orchestras with enlightened unions and leadership will too. And the Berlin Philharmonic is doing it right now.

It’s even easier in other genres: There's tons of non-union theater, and dance as well. And just imagine the potential for broadcasting student performances. My own alma mater, Oberlin Conservatory, tells me they are planning to broadcast every student recital and orchestra concert. And doesn't this sort of put high school musicals in a whole new light? If you think grandparents like getting pictures of their grandkids in e-mail, just imagine their delight in watching a live stream of Bye Bye Birdie from Baton Rouge High.

So, is that photo above the future of cultural broadcasting? I don’t think so. That flashy new studio still represents the old model, the narrow pipeline where PBS selects which events the masses get to see. The real future lies in the hands of individual arts organizations, who will find that creating their own broadcasts will be a new and powerful way to expand their audience and motivate folks to attend their live events.

Stay tuned!