Vol.23: How Media/Communication Channels Are Changing? (Part 1)

In the previous article Vol.22: What Distinguished Internet/Web From Traditional Media?characteristics of Internet/web were compared with those of traditional media to distinguish uniqueness of Internet media and clarify key factors that would contribute to effectively leveraging each media for online and offline synergy.

The topic of this article and the next is paradigm shift in media and communication channel attributed to web/Internet, that dramatically changing traditional media.

1. What kind of paradigm shift has been in process (and still is) in media and communication channel, with the advent of the Internet and Web 2.0?

In short, in addition to emergence of online media, online and offline media and communication channels have been converging, and this has been triggering emergence of many different types of media and communication channels. Moreover, online is truly becoming ubiquitous media and communication channel, attributing to the fact that web 2.0 technologies mean emergence and proliferation of social media, further driven by mobile (platform, applications, devices).

Based on the Media/Communication Channel Paradigm Shift chart, the author would like to briefly explain how such paradigm shift is in progress. In doing so, the author would like to explain changes in traditional media and communication channels in this article, and changes in spatial channel in the next article.

2. How are traditional mass media changing?

Although the speed and degree varies from media to media, online and offline convergence in ongoing for traditional (mass) media, and for some media it may well evolve further more, changing to something quite different from what it is today.

1) Newspapers and magazines

In addition to traditional printed media, newspaper and magazine companies (publishers) now have online content online. As discussed in the previous article Vol.20: How Are News Media to Survive In Web 2.0 World? publishers are trying to develop their own optimum business strategy to establish new business model in the Internet era, which are mostly converging of online and offline business. Examples include making differentiation of printed and online content for co-existence of the two. In fact, Nikkei net, Japan’s leading newspaper website specialized for business and economy, will position (change) their online website as “electronics version newspaper”. Some others are going online exclusively. A Japanese magazine from Recruit (company name) specialized for job hunting closed its offline business and went online only many years ago, establishing new business model. Since the group company also had recruiting business unit as well, which was the leader in this industry in Japan, it had combined the magazine business and recruiting business, leveraging the power of Internet.

2) TV

To the author, online and offline convergence in TV is quite interesting and dramatic. Concept of traditional TV is changing with Hulu.com from consumers watching broadcasting when the content they are interested in are available or recording and watch it later. But now with Humu.com they can watch anytime.

Moreover, interactive TV is emerging and this could change to make revolution in TV media and online interactive TV may well become one of the primary online media in addition to PC and mobile. Interactive TV concept already existed in a vision of a Japanese consumer electronic giant (the company the author used to work for and the author developed web content to deliver this vision) in 2001, with content service called “T Mode” (vs. mobile content service in Japan called “I Mode” that started in 1997). The pilot TV set and content service became available from around 2004, and the author rolled out one of her PC web content to interactive TV (T Mode) content. Interactive TV era might still be “future concept”, it would surely come in not a distant future.

And lately, TV has been collaborating with mobile Internet and phone, at least in some TV programmes in Japan. For example, MCs of the TV programme would ask audience to vote by mobile Internet or by phone, and the result would be announced later in the same TV programme. Voting by phone used to be popular but lately voting by mobile Internet is much more popular.

Another example of TV collaborating with the Internet is in cooking TV programme, MCs would recap the ingredience and recipe at the end then encourage audience to access online page of the recipe by introducing them the URL. Similar tactics/methodologies of linking TV with the Internet are often seen in TV commercials in Japan. At the end of the 15 sec/30 sec TV commercial, search page with the product/service/brand name typed in is shown to encourage audience to get more information by the Internet.

The author feels that Interactive TV and its platform/content services have potential to integrate everything to make it simple. Interactive TV would be ideal for quiz, voting and online shopping TV programmes. Interactive TV would be another driver of further innovation in content distribution.

3) DM and coupons

DM and coupons are no longer only in print. Rather, more and more consumers download them from the Internet, print out, and take it with them in shopping, dining, staying at a hotel etc. DM and coupons are already becoming paperless, and with further evolution of content/web service distribution and applications, it is quite possible that DM and coupons would totally become paperless in the near future.

3. Are similar changes in progress in other communication channel as well?

Yes, changes that are same in essence are in progress in other communication channels as well. Face-to-face communication in person and is offline but with skype, similar benefit can be obtained online. Same goes for phone. Benefit similar to radio can be obtained by podcast. Skype and podcast are both of web 2.0 technologies, as explained in the previous article Vol.5: What Social Media Ecosystem Does Web 2.0 Realize?


Changes in spatial channel are also dramatic and interesting. This will be discussed in the next article as Part 2.


References:-

Mitachi, Takashi (1998), Deconstruction: Disintegration and Reintegration of Value Chain. Diamond Harvard Business Review, October-November, in Japanese, pp110-123.