At this time of great disruption in the media industry, I
find it interesting to look back and realize that disruption in media was always
a constant. The systems we used to measure content continually changed,
improved and even disrupted our ways of doing business. I recall that, when I
was an intern at NBC years ago, I was impressed that my computer did not
require punch cards. Am I dating myself? Probably.
As we embark on 2018, I asked others in the industry to
answer the question: “When you first started in the industry, what was the most
amazing device/application/program/aspect/item at the time?” One person noted
that in the 1990s when she was at Discovery “it was PCs and the internet. That
technology changed everything.” For others, it was a range of other advancements:
Arlene Manos, President Emeritus, AMC Networks: When I
started at A&E, we did a lot by spreadsheet. Someone I hired as an intern’
recently mentioned in an article, that he shared a computer with me since they
were scarce. The first system we were on was Columbine, followed by a Nesbitt
system for planning and posting. Don’t remember any more than that.
Mitch Oscar, Advanced TV Strategist, USIM: In 1999 it was the introduction of TiVo, The
inventor came to my office to talk to me about advertising and TiVo’s functionality.
At about the same time, the head of IPG called me and said, “So advertising is
dead?” TiVo was momentous because everyone was worried about the impact of two
functionalities – the recording of programming and the ability of fast
forwarding to skip commercials. We wondered if the speed be would be fast or
slow enough to see the brand messaging.
Caroline Horner, Co-Founder, Spicy Tequila: Well, this will
show my age...a desktop PC with a spreadsheet and database application and for
data...LNA, MRI, Scanner data (IRI, I think.) and IMS (I started in a
healthcare agency.) Then it was online services (pre-AOL) and then anything
internet… and a laptop, cellphone and modem. Then there was the introduction of
Java and JavaScript and dynamic webpage generation with ad serving, SAS
enterprise miner, set top box data, mobile video, growth of marketing database
companies, Programmatic. Addressable TV!
Kathy Newberger, Advanced Advertising Consultant: I was
working in local ad sales at the time and we said it was going to be digital ad
insertion. We were going from six networks that were inserted using tape decks
to sixteen networks using digital equipment. We thought that was going to be
amazing … and it was. Now it’s amplified by 500 times more – every network is
insert-able. And on top of that is OTT.
Brad Adgate, Independent Media Researcher: I think the most important introduction early
in my career were spreadsheets. Long gone products like Lotus 1-2-3 and
afterwards Quattro Pro were being used. Before that, workers used those large
green accounting pads and calculators to fill in the data, took a lot longer
and more error prone.
Dave Morgan, CEO and Founder, Simulmedia: In early 1993, I
was working in "new media" helping newspaper companies develop ad and
content strategies for early online services and partnerships with telcos and
cable companies and had a chance to play with the Mosaic browser. It was pretty
clear, even then, that a user managed rendering engine like the browser would
change the media industry, particularly for print companies with text and still
photos, which rendered well even without high speed internet. It certainly did.
Jane Clarke, CEO, Managing Director, CIMM: Back in 1982, we
were analyzing clickstream data from set top boxes in a Pilot Test for Time
Teletext, which was a text and graphic service similar to the early AOL, but
delivered via the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) of a channel on Time
Warner’s cable system! I never thought
it would take this long to get to nationally representative samples of Return
Path Data!
Sheryl Feldinger, Media Consultant: I often comment to my 16-year-old
that the biggest difference between growing up today versus the 1970s is the
pace of life. Everything happens so much faster today. The pace of
communication, especially, flies at warp speed. Confession: early in my career,
fax machines were a game changer. They revolutionized the work place. No longer
could you tell the client, "We will messenger it to your office first
thing tomorrow." The new retort was, "Why wait? You can fax it
tonight!" It didn't matter that the edges of the thermal paper curled. All
of a sudden, deadlines got pushed up and we all had to work faster.
Next article – Looking Ahead to 2018.
This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com
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