In a long piece on plans by Warner Bros. to launch an Essence Magazine branded web presence I read this:
“Although the letters “TV” make up the Warner Bros. unit’s name, WBTVG president Bruce Rosenblum said that the group has a wider mission these days. “For the last several years, we haven’t considered ourselves as simply being in the TV business. We view ourselves as being in the content business, and whether that content is delivered over the television screen or for the cell phone or a computer, that distinction doesn’t matter.”
This is the sort of platform-agnostic approach I have been making for the past year. My only addendum is that all content does not work on all platforms. I still see far more repurposing of existing content for emerging mediums than the creation of content organic to the new platforms.
Does that mean one can be platform-agnostic and still serve multiple needs? Sure, but it is a lot harder than making “Extra on Essence” – the first big move by WB. Really? Yup. They’re taking the TV entertainment “news” show “Extra”, cutting it down to only a few minutes an episode, giving it black hosts and an urban twist and calling it “Extra on Essence.”
If this is forward thinking, I’m gonna cry.
I wrote some (here, here) about the rising prominence of digital curators and how they are becoming a major force in driving web traffic.
I guess the term came up a bunch at this week’s PSFK conference, enough so that Grant McCracken brought it up in his blog a couple of days ago:
“Having been a curator once, my ears always perk up at the mention of the term I am pleased that the term has taken on new meanings and new currency, that it has escaped the dusty corners of a museum and gallery world. It and me, both. Still, I wonder what this term is now being asked to mean, and why we should now find it now so compelling and fashionable.”
He makes some very interesting points and his perspective as a classic curator is great.
The Hollywood Reporter, in a downright flood of net-related news today, reports that Ripe Digital has signed a deal to distribute a bunch of original series. (too bad they have allowed there to be an auto-play when you hit the link…bad form THR)
“The first series will be “Model Dating: Hawaii,” with comedian Jamie Kennedy on board as host. Debuting today, the ad-supported series will feature models dating viewers who write in to the show. Aaron and Peters also are in development on two other series for Ripe: “Are You In?” an “all-viewer-controlled online reality game show,” and “The One,” an interactive competition that looks for the next “it girl.”
I’m afraid there is a big trend out there with content providers who think the net is going to be the place to put all their second-tier (or worse) programming with the idea that, hey, it’s short so nobody really cares. This might work for a moment but it will never build any kind of valuable properties for anyone. It might make the site itself popular for a second or two, but that only lasts as long it takes to click away.
Great piece in Micro Persuasion on the idea of the need for, a growth of, the Digital Curator.
“Information overload makes it difficult to separate junk from art. It requires a certain finesse and expertise – a fine tuned, perhaps trained eye. Google, memetrackers such as Techmeme and social news sites like digg are not curators. They’re aggregators – and there’s a big difference.”
Goes on to further define what a Digital Curator is and the role they will play in our futures.
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April 21, 2008 8:57 pm | 
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