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THE Rant by Rich Antoniello
People tend to throw out the phrase “content is king” a great deal but the value/price the marketplace actually puts on content is usually contradictory.
Let’s start with the television industry. How does one explain how broadcast television has decreasing audiences every year, yet the marketplace supports it with increasing CPMs? (And lets not even get into the dramatic drop in “quality” programming with the proliferation of reality TV and almost complete dearth of well-written, unique, innovative shows.)
I know what you are thinking: TV is an easy target (they could arguably be put in jail for calling shows like Flavor of Love, The Biggest Loser and Gossip Girl content), so lets agree to put it to the side and move on to the hot topic of the day: The Internet. Somehow the Internet continues to be considered a more influential medium (with blogs and videos being in the center of this supposed “go viral” revolution clients are obsessed with). The real question is where would blogs be without the print industry? It is important to note that I am saying this as a CEO of not only Complex magazine but Complex Media Network, an ultra-targeted vertical ad network that reaches 8 million unique visitors and delivers more than 100 million impressions monthly (and our network includes six “blog-oriented” sites out of our current but growing 25 total sites).
Think about it this way—if quality content really had value, magazines would not be experiencing the severe decrease/downturn in advertising support (especially the added downward pressure CPM-wise) despite increasing audiences and, even more importantly, the fact that all other mediums continue to use a larger amount of magazine content as their own or as a starting point for a larger story. Take, for example, magazine editors appearing as the ultimate authority on news programs (i.e. George Will from Newsweek on the Sunday morning political shows; Complex’s own Bradley Carbone on ABC News bringing a unique perspective on the burgeoning “sneakerhead” community); and breaking celebrity news from People and Us Weekly. Wouldn't it be great of there was a way to factor in the value of viral content as a way to incorporate the "extended" reach into the audience when negotiating CPMs?
My purpose here is not to downgrade any other medium, but rather to attempt to open up what I feel is the most important conversation the media community needs to be having about publishing industry: How do we place a value on our content? Do you hear me, MPA?
Rich Antoniello is publisher and CEO of Complex Media.
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