If you take into account the diminishing numbers for cable and network television, the huge nightly Facebook usage, Netflix winning three Emmys, new studios set up by Apple, Google, Yahoo and Amazon, the huge numbers being generated by You Tube and Hulu then you have to reach the conclusion that traditional television as we know it is in real trouble. Variety this week lists 16 original productions that are being produced by Amazon, both for adults and for children and the Publicis Group, the gigantic ad agency holding company, has reached a deal with Google to purchase tens of millions of dollars in YouTube advertising over the next year. This is just a few months after Media Vest made a similar huge deal with Twitter.
A note to all TV execs; Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, Hulu and the like, all have massive and rapidly growing audiences, while yours are diminishing, and they are coming after your ad dollars and fast. Add to that the fact that Canada will soon allow the public to buy their programming from cable distributors à la carte, which sooner or later will happen in the US, which has the potential to decimate the industry. Wow, big changes are on the way.