Its funny how predictable the media delivery industry has progressed in the last 30+ years. Growth, innovation, complacency, consolidation, M&A, consolidation, rinse, repeat.
You could equate it to the fall of a civilization as the main players are crumbling because they did not/would not adapt to global markets, emerging markets, and innovation that was all around them.
Reminds me of the early days of Cable TV or the transition from Analog to Digital. I’ve been fortunate to be around for a good portion of this and always embraced the next big thing, which was exciting for a leader who needed a fresh perspective, (a la - I need a new stream of revenue) but generally was not embraced by the status quo and the day-to-day engineer. I “accepted” it begrudgingly and keep moving.
The folks that didn’t see these changes coming or were unwilling to evolve with the changing landscape are off in forced retirement or out of the space completely, natural selection I guess. This is not unique to this industry but the impact in this space is more obvious as the medium is the message, and many of the companies in this space help distribute the message to greater audiences daily & exponentially.
The transition from brick and mortar MPVD, Head ends & broadcast facilities & the old school FCC engineer to the IT centric admin who is now running the entire technical operation because he/she is younger, has grown up with the newer technology, and doesn’t have to see, hear, and touch the product is the rule, rather than the exception.
In today’s market place this works because the IT centric tech lead is now running a more lean operation out of necessity and by trade doesn’t have the people skills to run a large organization, so down sizing an operation plays into their & EMG’s P & L wheelhouse.
This all being said, to me, this is an extremely exciting time in global media space. Outside of cultural nuances, it’s a level playing field in every market place and an individual with a great idea, some basic tech skills, and an understanding of their customer base can make an instant impact in the market.
Traditional media & content owners who have made the transition are often left with open mouth, ultimately saying....
“We had no idea we had viewers in this market!”.
Money left on the table initially, but now you know where they are, so go serve them more of what they want to see. (social, ad service, CDN, analytics)
New viewers, new partners, new revenue streams, It’s there for the taking, and there is no limit to the amount of devices it can be delivered on.
I have to say I’m having more fun than I’ve had in really long time.