That’s right, I mean “preditors” (online publisher/editors), not “predators” (people who prey on others).
I just read an interesting piece in The New York Times (“Slicing Decades of Video for New Life on the Web” by Brian Stelter). Stelter describes how media companies are repackaging old TV footage and posting it on the Web. One such media company is Discovery Communications (DC), which owns The Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and the Science Channel, among others.
Preditors search through old video files from past shows that likely will not make it to the air again. Yet the material is still interesting, still relevant. People want to watch the footage – especially when it’s repackaged into 7-minute or shorter bits – and advertisers are clamoring to support the postings.
This is a great example of a company paying attention to trends (people watching video online or on their cell phones) and finding a way to meet customers’ needs while making a profit.
As a PR practitioner, you need to keep your eyes open for similar opportunities for your clients. For example, maybe your client has a backlog of graphic images it might want to repackage and sell – one image at a time or on a subscription basis – to similar organizations without graphic designers. You could offer this service online and maybe even attract related advertisers to help pay for the space.
Or what if you work for a client that promotes nutrition education. Perhaps you have “evergreen” newsletter stories about food-borne diseases, such as salmonella, that would be particularly relevant now. You could create a Web site with links to these stories, or you could repackage them as hints or posts on a blog.
Can you think of other examples of what companies – especially traditional media – might be able to repackage and sell online? What about newspapers? Do they have old information that might be worth something to someone? Or might they have new information people might pay for?
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15 years ago
I think that there are multiple avenues with which this type of use of technology can be beneficial to some companies. One example that actually came to mind while I was reading was newspapers. Reputable publications, such as the New York Times, can be used as sources when quoted in a scholarly venue; so why not use articles from newspapers that relate to health, fitness, even the latest LGBT news and repackage and sell the articles to interested parties. Certainly, the New York Times has so much credibility that they can get the stories, from sources that very few can, and that kind of information would be useful for some. No matter what, this is a smart strategy to implement on any company’s behalf, and I expect to see quite a few people jumping on the bandwagon in the years to come.
ReplyDeletePeople are recycling now more than ever before. Television ads and signage around communities influence us to do our part to help save the environment. Just like dark speckled recyclable paper, television networks are doing the same thing with their video clips. When we see old black and white video footage of civil rights activists protesting in the street mixed in with new video, we are looking at something that has been recycled.
ReplyDeleteInstead of throwing out outtakes, someone thought of the smart idea to run them at the end of the show and/or to compile them all into a show of its own. Now that the new media on the web has skyrocketed networks can take their outtakes or old material, cut and snip, put them together, and place it on their websites.
Traditional Media can repackage and sell things on the web like old, but still interesting, magazines. News networks can repackage old court trails and outrageous court disruptions. Most networks receive hundreds of advertisement commercials that they think are quite hilarious. Their viewers may think that they are funny too. They could put together pieces of shocking video of accidents or fights. News stations could also put together clips of anchormen and women bravely reporting in some of the worst storms.
As long as the material is interesting and relevant viewers will watch.
When I first saw this topic, I immediately thought of advertisements. Even though new advertisements are created almost every day, they are extremely cyclical, especially with fashion. With advertisements, people are continuing to look at what was done years ago and are updating it to make it apply to today. When it comes to newspapers, I’m unsure of what they could use. I say this because my thoughts are that if you are bringing back a story that was already done, I would consider that referencing that story and not really repackaging. However, I am sure that this trend has not seen its peak and more companies are going to adopt this idea.
ReplyDeleteTelevision news stations could repackage old footage related to major current events (i.e. President Obama's election, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, etc) with significant history, and create "backstory" packages to bring the younger generations up to date.
ReplyDeleteFor instance with the Israeli/Palestinian example, footage from the conflict over decades could be put together to show the beginnings of the conflict, and so forth.
I think repackaging old shows is a wonderful idea. I myself, like to get on the internet watch old shows and footage.
ReplyDeleteI think this technology is an example of how the media market is changing so dramatically. I also agree with Kiah about advertisments. This is a great way to advertise. Repackaged footage is the perfect advertisement for fashion and trends that are making its reappearance into the 21st Century.
This type of technology is a moneymaker for media outlets, especially since advertisers are necessarily using newspapers and magazines anymore. I'm not too sure how the newspapers and magazines can use video for old stories, but I'm sure someone is thinking about it as I type.
Repacking items and selling them online would be very beneficial to newspapers and magazine. Trying to find and actual article of the infamous "Dewey defeats Truman" story would be impossible. But if the Chicago Tribune were to upload that article to the internet, historians and students alike would pay money in order to access the article. Repacking old stories on events or cases that have made a drastic impact on the way life is now could also be profitable. Seeing that the internet is pretty new to the media, there are thousands and millions of newspaper and magazine articles from the past century that people would die to get ahold of.
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