Convergence of new and traditional media was an idea that got a lot of play around the turn of the century (I love saying turn of the century and referring to 1999).
The biggest example of course, is the ill-fated Time-Warner/AOL merger. In its day, it was considered to be ‘transformative’ and a sign of the future. But as we all know, it didn’t pan out as planned. Maybe the deal was badly conceived or it just too far ahead of the game or both.
There’s not a lot of news this week, but our theme centres on convergence:
YouTube leads the pack. Dreamworks purchased AwesomenessTV, one of YouTube’s premium channels and the first YouTube channel to be sold. Now granted, the seller was a Hollywood veteran with major TV credits and capital behind him. Still, it means there may be hope for a few of the Next Up stars. And in a move that resembles the cable model, YouTube is close to offering paid subscriptions to certain channels. Are bundles next?
LinkedIn announced it’s rolling out channels, too. Only they define the word a bit differently. Their offering may not be video (at least not yet), but it’s a way for users to customize the news and insights they see in their feed based on interests. The richer content on LinkedIn makes the platform seem more like the Wall Street Journal with ads and less like a job hunting classified with a little editorial to round it out.
What did you notice this week? I’m interested to hear.
And I wanted to let you know I’m heading out on holidays, so the next what’s new will be in June.
