Three Irrefutable Laws of Media

THE online REPORTER teaches us the irrefutable laws of Media:

1. People can never get enough content.

Twenty years ago three national TV networks and a few radio stations were sufficient. Today, 150 or more TV channels still leave room for consumers to buy billions of dollars worth of DVDs, CDs and videogames. Thousands walk on Manhattan’s streets, listening to an iPod on their belt play their own personal musical playlist of 10,000 songs.

2. Any new media distribution channel will fill with content. Also stated as: Content expands to fill any new and viable distribution channel.

As in "nature abhors a vacuum," content seems to expand to fill any new media distribution channel. There’s not just one 24/7-news channel, but seven – plus two sporting news channels and a weather channel that run full-time. Channels for shopping, DIY projects, jewelry, religion, old TV shows, cartoons, food, history, soaps and old movies all abound and find audiences sufficient to pay for their costs and leave a profit.

3. Any successful new media distribution channel follows the dictum "any content, any time, anywhere."

Every new distribution channel has made it easier for consumers to access their entertainment – what they want, when they want it, wherever they are:   

Stage                      Vaudeville
   I                                I
   V                                V
Movie theaters            Radio
  I                                 I
V                                 V
TV                        Phonographs
  I                                 I
V                                 V
Videocassette         Cassette tapes
  I                                 I
V                                V
DVD                           CDs
  I                                 I
V                                 V
Internet                     Internet
  I                                 I
  V                                V
Handheld video          MP3 players
  players         

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