Multiple media. Multiple channels. Multiple strategies.
You have seen (and read) Multichannel News cover the fragmentation of on-screen media for quite some time now.
Time is precious. Attention is pulled in many directions. No one is looking at just one screen any more.
So with this issue that you hold in your hands, Multichannel News begins to deliver news of the digital, always-on age of media in a new way. You have read us closely and carefully for the past quarter-century. For that, we thank you deeply, and with this, we set out to make your reading, listening and watching worth your while for years and decades to come.
Many changes you see here are straightforward. More stories, more tightly packed, than before. More information delivered in condensed form. Where a new-product story might take 400 words before, it gets boiled to four summary sentences atop the Platforms page. Where a review of a TV show might take 40% of a page before, you get the synopsis on paper — and the full story online.
And that is the nature of the new Multichannel News. Move you through the body of the weekly print edition faster. Give you everything you need to know, as quickly as possible. That starts with the cover, which doubles as a summary of the contents that you find inside, and concludes with Coda, which lets our editors give you The Final Say on anything and everything happening in the fast-changing world of video and communications.
Deep stories may appear online, as well as in print. And many features will be found crossing the two “platforms.” You can see the health of the industry atop the Scoreboard page, in a relatively current price for the Multichannel Multimedia Index. But if you want to see the up-to-the-minute status, you will be better off going to www.multichannel.com/wealthwatch, which is updated around the clock. And will even tell you how much wealth Brian Roberts and John Malone gained or lost in the day gone by.
In effect, you are holding a print publication that works like and with the Web. Core information accessible, easy to find. Pointers to additional information, in print or online. Essential data and insight highlighted and readily retrievable.
And from hereon, Multichannel News itself becomes a multimedia platform. Its savvy staff, one that has learned the industry inside out, broken news and delivered insight for decades, now lives in a 24-hour news cycle. And is cutting its teeth on delivering news, insight and even a bit of entertainment in the way it is delivering textual, aural and visual information about the TV screen to the computer screen.
Sure, we’ll be the first to tell you when the Writers Guild of America decides to strike, with stories and photos at multichannel.com. But we’ll also let Frank Caliendo talk frankly about himself and what he’s trying to do with Frank TV when it debuts tomorrow on TBS, in an MCN Radio audiocast on our site. We’ll also link to MSNBC to see Keith Olbermann try to KO Fox News Channel chief Roger Ailes, even if that is one David who won’t actually be able to slay Goliath. And if you want to see the keynotes from this industry’s biggest events, you’ll find them streamed here, in their entirety or synopsized.
In print, you’ll learn the Lingo that matters. You’ll pick up events to watch for in Radar. You’ll get a sense of what it takes to keep subscribers satisfied in Service Call. And, when the service or feature you need is online, you’ll be pointed there with clear, easy-to-read boxes and links.
The look and approach is a distinct advance from the way Multichannel News has presented itself for the past quarter century to the pioneers, executives, managers, staff and customer service reps who have built the multichannel programming business — and the communications services that have followed — in that same period.
Now, we’re preparing for the next quarter century, when services of all types are delivered by multiple competing providers on multiple competing platforms. And every moment, every page and every pixel counts.
Multiple media. Multiple channels. Multiple strategies. Our editorial mantra was meant for you.
It is also is meant for us.
And this edition of Multichannel News is the launching point.
Tell us what you think. This week. Every week.
Or, really, every minute.
Larry Dunn
Publisher
ldunn@reedbusiness.com
Tom Steinert-Threlkeld
Editorial Director
tst@reedbusiness.com
