Television Is the New Television : The Unexpected Triumph of Old Media in the Digital Age

This is a book about what happens when the smartest people in the room decide something is inevitable, and yet it doesn't come to pass. What happens when omens have been misread, tea leaves misinterpreted, gurus embarrassed? Twenty years after the Netscape IPO, ten years after the birth of YouTube, and five years after the first iPad, the Internet has still not destroyed the giants of old media. CBS, News Corp, Disney, Comcast, Time Warner, and their peers are still alive, kicking, and making big bucks. The New York Times still earns far more from print ads than from digital ads. Super Bowl commercials are more valuable than ever. Banner ad space on Yahoo can be bought for a relative pittance. Sure, the darlings of new media--Buzzfeed, HuffPo, Politico, and many more--keep attracting ever more traffic, in some cases truly phenomenal traffic. But as Michael Wolff shows in this fascinating and sure-to-be-controversial book, their buzz and venture financing rounds are based on assumptions that were wrong from the start, and become more wrong with each passing year. The consequences of this folly are far reaching for anyone who cares about good journalism, enjoys bingeing on Netflix, works with advertising, or plans to have a role in the future of the Internet. Wolff set out to write an honest guide to the changing media landscape, based on a clear-eyed evaluation of who really makes money and how. His conclusion: the Web, social media, and various mobile platforms are not the new television. Television is the new television. We all know that Google and Facebook are thriving by selling online ads--but they're aggregators, not content creators. As major brands conclude that banner ads next to text basically don't work, the value of digital traffic to content-driven sites has plummeted, while the value of a television audience continues to rise. Even if millions now watch television on their phones via their Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO apps, that doesn't change the balance of power. Television by any other name is the game everybody is trying to win--including outlets like The Wall Street Journal that never used to play the game at all. Drawing on his unparalleled sources in corner offices from Rockefeller Center to Beverly Hills, Wolff tells us what's really going on, which emperors have no clothes, and which supposed geniuses are due for a major fall. Whether he riles you or makes you cheer, his book will change how you think about media, technology, and the way we live now 'The closer the new media future gets, the further victory appears.'--Michael WolffThis is a book about what happens when the smartest people in the room decide something is inevitable, and yet it doesn't come to pass. What happens when omens have been misread, tea leaves misinterpreted, gurus embarrassed?Twenty years after the Netscape IPO, ten years after the birth of YouTube, and five years after the first iPad, the Internet has still not destroyed the giants of old media. CBS, News Corp, Disney, Comcast, Time Warner, and their peers are still alive, kicking, and making big bucks. The New York Times still earns far more from print ads than from digital ads. Super Bowl commercials are more valuable than ever. Banner ad space on Yahoo can be bought for a relative pittance.Sure, the darlings of new media—Buzzfeed, HuffPo, Politico, and many more—keep attracting ever more traffic, in some cases truly phenomenal traffic. But as Michael Wolff shows in this fascinating and sure-to-be-controversial book, their buzz and venture financing rounds are based on assumptions that were wrong from the start, and become more wrong with each passing year. The consequences of this folly are far reaching for anyone who cares about good journalism, enjoys bingeing on Netflix, works with advertising, or plans to have a role in the future of the Internet.Wolff set out to write an honest guide to the changing media landscape, based on a clear-eyed evaluation of who really makes money and how. His conclusion: The Web, social media, and various mobile platforms are not the new television. Television is the new television.We all know that Google and Facebook are thriving by selling online ads—but they're aggregators, not content creators. As major brands conclude that banner ads next to text basically don't work, the value of digital traffic to content-driven sites has plummeted, while the value of a television audience continues to rise. Even if millions now watch television on their phones via their Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO apps, that doesn't change the balance of power. Television by any other name is the game everybody is trying to win—including outlets like The Wall Street Journal that never used to play the game at all.Drawing on his unparalleled sources in corner offices from Rockefeller Center to Beverly Hills, Wolff tells us what's really going on, which emperors have no clothes, and which supposed geniuses are due for a major fall. Whether he riles you or makes you cheer, his book will change how you think about media, technology, and the way we live now. "The closer the new media future gets, the further victory appears." --Michael Wolff This is a book about what happens when the smartestpeople in the room decide something is inevitable, andyet it doesnt come to pass. What happens when omenshave been misread, tea leaves misinterpreted, gurusembarrassed? Twenty years after the Netscape IPO, ten years afterthe birth of YouTube, and five years after the first iPad,the Internet has still not destroyed the giants of oldmedia. CBS, News Corp, Disney, Comcast, Time Warner,and their peers are still alive, kicking, and makingbig bucks. The New York Times still earns far more fromprint ads than from digital ads. Super Bowl commercialsare more valuable than ever. Banner ad space on Yahoocan be bought for a relative pittance. Sure, the darlings of new media Buzzfeed , HuffPo , Politico, and many morekeep attracting ever moretraffic, in some cases truly phenomenal traffic. But asMichael Wolff shows in this fascinating and sure-to-be-controversial book, their buzz and venture financingrounds are based on assumptions that were wrong fromthe start, and become more wrong with each passingyear. The consequences of this folly are far reaching foranyone who cares about good journalism, enjoys bingeingon Netflix, works with advertising, or plans to have arole in the future of the Internet. Wolff set out to write an honest guide to the changingmedia landscape, based on a clear-eyed evaluationof who really makes money and how. His TheWeb, social media, and various mobile platforms are notthe new television. Television is the new television. We all know that Google and Facebook are thriving byselling online adsbut theyre aggregators, not contentcreators. As major brands conclude that banner ads nextto text basically dont work, the value of digital traffic tocontent-driven sites has plummeted, while the value ofa television audience continues to rise. Even if millionsnow watch television on their phones via their Netflix,Hulu, and HBO GO apps, that doesnt change the balanceof power. Television by any other name is the gameeverybody is trying to winincluding outlets like TheWall Street Journal that never used to play the game at all. Drawing on his unparalleled sources in corner officesfrom Rockefeller Center to Beverly Hills, Wolff tells uswhats really going on, which emperors have no clothes,and which supposed geniuses are due for a major fall.Whether he riles you or makes you cheer, his book willchange how you think about media, technology, and theway we live now. The Author Of The Man Who Owns The News Shares New Insights Into The Ongoing War For Media Profits To Argue That Digital Media Is Failing As A Profit Generator And That A New Age Of Television Will Be Pursued By Major Advertisers, --novelist. Prologue -- Part 1 The Revolution Is Foretold -- 1 Blinded By The New -- 2 The Logical Outcome -- 3 Why Digital Is So Sure About The Future ... The Millennials! -- Part 2 Inventing New Media -- 4 How News Came To Wag The Dog -- 5 To Be, Or Not To Be, Cool -- Part 3 The New Audience--and What It's Worth -- 6 Traffic Patterns -- 7 The Self-promoters -- 8 Tech Men As Ad Men -- 9 Explaining Programmatic Advertising -- 10 The Advertising Curve -- Part 4 Counterrevolution -- 11 Th Netflix Unrevolution -- 12 Screen Time -- 13 More Boxes -- 14 Consolidating Consolivision -- 15 Television Wants To Be Paid For -- 16 Finding The New Economics -- 17 No Neutrals In Net Neutrality -- 18 When Youtube Challenged Tv--and Lost -- 19 Youtube Becomes Not Youtube -- 20 Facebook Television -- Part 5 The New Television--or The New Old Television -- 21 Premium Plus Plus Plus -- 22 Repacking The Unbundle -- Part 6 Content Is Kind--well, It Is On Television -- 23 Sine Qua Non -- 24 Television And The Way We Live Now -- 25 The Digital Postscript -- Acknowledgments -- Index. Michael Wolff. Includes Index. Prologue Part 1 The Revolution Is Foretold 1 Blinded by the New 2 The Logical Outcome 3 Why Digital Is So Sure About the Future ... the Millennials! Part 2 Inventing New Media 4 How News Came to Wag the Dog 5 To Be, or Not to Be, Cool Part 3 The New Audience And What It's Worth 6 Traffic Patterns 7 The Self-Promoters 8 Tech Men as Ad Men 9 Explaining Programmatic Advertising 10 The Advertising Curve Part 4 Counterrevolution 11 Th Netflix unRevolution 12 Screen Time 13 More Boxes 14 Consolidating Consolivision 15 Television Wants to Be Paid for 16 Finding the New Economics 17 No Neutrals in Net Neutrality 18 When YouTube Challenged TV and Lost 19 YouTube Becomes Not YouTube 20 Facebook Television Part 5 The New Television Or The New Old Television 21 Premium Plus Plus Plus 22 Repacking the Unbundle Part 6 Content Is Kind Well, It Is On Television 23 Sine Qua Non 24 Television and the Way We Live Now 25 The Digital Postscript Acknowledgments Index.