who’s in charge? the guy with the remote

Here’s something to consider when you’re trying to make sense out of your media projections. Consumer controlled content is a concept that’s now accepted and it means advertisers no longer control what is seen or when.

30-gig iPod plays tunes and video how-to's equally wellToday, I’m as likely to view original content downloaded as a podcast to my video iPod (left) in addition to cable, print, internet web site, direct mail, e-mail or point-of-purchase messages. So far, I don’t do messaging or use my phone browser — that time will depend on a keyboard that’s convenient and portable.

A rude awakening to subscription radio heavyweights Sirius (my provider) and XM, neither of which saw the ubiquitous iPod — easily adapted to play through car stereo — as a contender for their commercial free entertainment channels. Ouch! Why pay $13 bucks a month from here to forever when you’re likely to listen to a small fraction of the content? (My prediction is they’ll add more intimacy by way of on-air personalities, kind of like FM was in the beginning.)

The fractionalization of media has reached critical mass. Technology chases market which chases content. Immediate conclusions have it that connecting is less a case of market selection, more a case of content. Why? Because in the era of total connectivity, like thinkers who discover a message that resonates will distribute to their own — and that’s a good thing, assuming you’ve got the right message in place at the right time.