We recently covered a few different industries that are starting to really be affected by the digital world. One is broadcast media which, stimulated by the firing of Tucker Carlson, really drives home the point of what is taking place.
The week since his released as compared to the one before reveals a 50%+ drop in total viewers and 59% in the key demographic. This has also affected the other FoxNews programming where there was a greater than 20% drop (the ones immediately following the 8 PM slot).
This is turning into mass carnage. However, this is only a sign of what is taking place.
Tucker Carlson is one person in a larger game. It isn't so much about him as much as the industry. Could we be seeing the death of broadcast television?
Even worse, could this be filtering through to different industries?
$100 Million Offer To Tucker
Things are turning even crazier. Many are theorizing what will Tucker do next?
The other day, there was a public offer made. To be honest, I have no idea who the person is who made the offer. Nevertheless, he put forth $100 million over 5 years plus equity along with full control of what he covered.
What was eye opening, this offer was not coming from a major media company. This is a nobody (at least to me) who obviously has $100 million. Evidently, from what I could find out, there are 4 million paying subscribers to this person's (company) service. Depending upon what is charge, that could be a tidy monthly sum.
Will Tucker take the offer? At this point, it really doesn't matter. What is vital is how we see the money shifting. Obviously, if this guy is offering $100 million, he has the money coming in.
For this reason, we can theorize this is only coming from the traditional television model.
Advertising
By now, most are aware of the Bud Light situation. That company is experiencing a backlash like never seen before. Leaving the specifics aside, could we end up seeing a change in the advertising model.
If a guy like Tucker Carlson ends up on independent media, do we see major advertising dollars follow?
Consider beer, auto, insurance, and other companies. They are able to shell out huge sums of money on things like the Super Bowl. Do they transition to these newer mediums with larger dollar amounts?
Cable news is suffering a diminishing market. That means that advertisers are already seeing a lower return on their money. For this reason, could a show that pulls down a few hundred thousand viewers online be worth it? Obviously, there are a lot of places to spread the money around.
These are questions I honestly do not know the answer to. Nevertheless, things do change over time. I remember when car dealerships would spend big money with newspapers, buying the back page of the Sunday edition (the most expensive). That all shifted to digital by the early 2010s.
We know how badly newspapers are suffering. Like cable news, they are hanging on to a dying demographic (only older than cable news). Businesses are not going to wait for the ship to sink. Advertisers are well aware of the trends and respond accordingly.
As always, follow the money. We could be witnessing some major changes taking place.
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