Emerging Trends in Post-Broadcast Media
Mobile platforms with multi-media capabilities are fast becoming a staple of the American media landscape. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of cellular phone subscribers increased from 109 million to 182 million nationwide. Over the same period, the number of wired phone lines declined from 167 million to 132 million, as mobile phones continued to emerge as Americans’ primary source of telecommunication. These phones’ streaming capabilities improve substantially with each passing year.
(Source: Federal Communications Commission)
By the end of 2005 there will be over 105 million broadband users in the United States. By 2008 there will be nearly 160 million. The prevalence of high speed Internet is facilitating a new era of digital communication. With streaming video and podcasting seemingly here to stay, it remains to be seen what the next wrinkle of the digital media age will bring.
(Source: eMarketer)
We are rapidly approaching the point when Internet video will offer consumers the opportunity to view unlimited channels. To date, video search engines run by Google, Yahoo and others have already indexed over one million videos. As ways to absorb media increase exponentially and consumers have the ability to block advertisements, creating ads that target and connect with the right demographics will require finding and organizing a great deal of data.
(Source: CNET)
Inter-media partnerships promise to further revolutionize the ways in which Americans access both information and entertainment. Google recently partnered with television network UPN to make the pilot episode of a new program available as streaming online video. MTV has also begun to produce a series of short music videos targeted specifically to mobile phone users in Japan.
(Source: Reuters, MTV Networks)
In 2005, American advertisers will spend a staggering $12.9 billion dollars on Internet advertising, a total that is projected to surge past $22 billion by 2009. With more than seventy-five million consumers already looking to the Internet for political information, online advertising holds tremendous potential for enterprising campaigns.
(Source: eMarketer, Pew Internet and American Life Project)
Despite initial concerns, online advertising is now being embraced by a wide range of mainstream industries. According to a recent survey of automotive dealers, nearly eighty percent believe that the importance of online advertising is increasing and more than half already use the Internet for sales and marketing.
(Source: Automotive News)
Online communities are growing rapidly, having nearly doubled in size in just over five months. Between March and July of 2005, the total number of blogs surged from 7.8 million to 14.2 million. These emerging online communities represent a powerful new venue for disseminating information and hold tremendous potential for engaging political activists.
(Source: Technorati)
Social networking sites continue to emerge as influential venues for online communication. The popular site MySpace.com has nearly 27 million registered users, a digital population more than three times that of New York City. As new and different loci for community building continue to emerge, tactics for engaging users will have to evolve accordingly.
(Source: New York Times)
By 2010 half of all homes are projected to have a TiVo or some other form of digital video recorder. Campaigns spent one and a half billion dollars on broadcast media in 2004. With as many as half of all Americans able to skip commercials within the next five years, candidates will need to find new means of connecting with voters.
(Source: Smith Barney)
Spanish language Univison won the coveted 18-34 year old demographic among prime-time viewers twenty-two times in 2004-2005. The growing influence of ethnic media is only one example of the degree to which market segmentation is changing the landscape of political communication.
(Source: Bendixen and Associates)
