OMMA East: Beth Comstock, President, Digital Media/Market Development, NBCU

Beth Comstock’s assigned topic was whether it is possible to stay ahead of the consumer when it comes to creating content. Her response was the right one:
“No. Thankfully, no.” She started out by trying to debunk a favorite (to the point of hackneyed) saying. “For years, we’ve heard the saying ‘content is king’ — I’m about sick of it but we keep saying it — and the fact is when we say this what we traditionally meant is content produced by big media is king. Like it or not, we all know there’s been a revolution — content may be still be king but the monarchy has been over thrown. … This consumer-led republic is replacing the monarchy of major media.” Comstock suggested calling user-generated content “small media.”
— “The good news is traditional media outlets are learning to give up some of that control. … It upsets the traditional order but that’s what revolutions do.” (It reminded me of an earlier comment from Ross Levinsohn that if Rupert Murdoch could give up control, anyone can.)
— “The medium isn’t the message. We sometimes forget about that … It’s how we interact …More than ever have to stay in touch with the consumer.” One example: Comstock says NBC’s The Biggest Loser Club has more than 40,000 paying members at roughly $20 a month.

mp3logo1.gif You can download the audio of her keynote here (10 MB, 24 mins).
Or you can stream it here … click on the arrow:

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