Is content king after all?

With the next wave of platform-based digital disruption imminent for the media industry, we examine the pattern of platform insurgence,
the likely impacts on brands and how traditional news businesses should respond.

The three ages of media

The last decade has not been a good time for traditional media businesses. The story – of rapidly declining core revenues, sluggish digital growth and audience loss to nimble digital natives – is well documented and has claimed a number of high profile victims. In the traditional age, media publishers (e.g. TV broadcasters, newspaper groups, music majors) had three important roles: financing content creation, marketing the content to generate an audience, and distribution.

In the digital age, power shifted to content creators as the barriers to distribution and mass audiences were eroded. Those that have survived the first stages of this transition have invested significantly to reinvent themselves. However, OC&C research shows that the media industry now stands at the cusp of a third era – the platform age – which has the potential to be every bit as disruptive as the digital transition.