“The audience doesn’t disappear when they close the magazine or switch channels”
To me this is the core idea behind converged media experiences. An audience assembles around content not because of the medium but because they share common interest or orientation. Speak to that and the medium becomes important only to the extent that it influences the experience of the core values that connect the audience.
It’s the ability to stretch the audience across platforms that’s critical, not that it’s common content – because just as different mediums speak to audience members in different ways – they also provide advertisers different ways to build connection with the audience. Branding, time of purchase, sub-audience targeting, national vs local - all can be enhanced by choosing the medium most appropriate to the objective – yet leverage the same underlying audience.
On-air content is critical because the original media from a company will be the core assembly point for all its converged media – both because of the core strengths of the organization (and knowledge of audience values) and because of audience expectation. That said, radio has to recognize that a competitive battle solely on content leaves them at threat to sources outside their geographic transmission points – and that leaves advantage with aggregators who can use micro-profiles to segment the audience based on unique content. My own feeling is that radio needs to focus on location specific values for its converged experience.
The value to stations is that there opportunities to connect with, and monetize, the audience will grow with the richness of the converged experience they deliver.
Originally posted as a comment April 19, 2006
