By Todd Chambers, Texas Tech University | Media Management and Economics
Wow. Have you heard the news? Television is making a comeback! From viewers spending more time in front of their new HDTVs (Stelter, 2010) to double-digit increases in spot television advertising revenues (Elliott, 2010), it appears that the good ole’ days are back. Despite these positive indicators for an important cog in the media wheel, significant challenges remain for an industry struggling to stay relevant to younger media consumers. It’s within these challenges where new theoretical and applied research studies can inform the next generation of media management and economics teachers and scholars.
In addition to the implications of policy and regulatory issues, the adoption of digital television by the industry and the consumer has provided numerous opportunities to think through some of the research opportunities in management and economics. Just on the consumption side, media managers are constantly trying to justify ‘new’ strategies for new ‘revenue streams’ from an active audience that is using multiple media concurrently. From applied studies related to managing multiple media platforms to theoretical studies about competition in local television markets, the digital era provides unique prospects for scholarship.
For teachers, digital television offers numerous topics related to news, advertising, public relations and electronic media. Resources from federal government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and industry organizations such as the National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association can provide excellent starting points for class discussions and case studies related to pricing, budgets, and competition. Specific reports from the FCC such as their annual video competition reports (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/csrptpg.html) can provide exhaustive information about trends facing the television, cable and other video industries.
There is no question that television is just one screen in this new multi-screen media environment. New topics related to mobile television, competition from portable media devices, video games, and new models for pricing programming will dominate the literature and the classroom, as they should. In fact, thinking about the interesting implications of media business models focusing on monetizing “free” content has been and will continue to be a challenging concept for the next few years. If you are interested in a book for the summer that provides an overview of the new media economy, I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of Chris Anderson’s Free: the future of a radical price (2009).
The good ole’ days aren’t coming back. Digital television is one of several media platforms that have ushered in new ways to think about media management and economics. As an industry, the next generation of viewers will continue to challenge the relevancy of television. Despite the challenges, digital television will continue to anchor or at least be a partner as one of the primary delivery platforms for information and entertainment content. As such, its value as a topic for teaching and scholarship has specific value for a variety of disciplines within the journalism and mass communications community.
Web resources you might be interested in:
- Federal Communications Commission (www.fcc.gov)
- National Association of Broadcasters (www.nab.org)
- National Cable & Telecommunications Association (www.ncta.com)
References:
- Anderson, C. (2009). Free: the future of a radical price. New York: Hyperion.
- Elliott, S. (2010, May 26). Ad spending turns up in first quarter, tracking service says, after
many quarters of declines, New York Times, Media Decoder Blog. Retrieved on May
26, 2010, from http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/ad-spending-turns-up-in-first-quarter-tracking-service-says-after-many-quarters-of-declines/ - Stelter, B. (2010, May 25). Crystal-clear, maybe mesmerizing, New York Times. Retrieved on
May 25, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/business/media/24def.htm