Jeffrey Cole
, director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, “hit a home run” on the Fox Business Channel’s July 1 Glick Report (including links to video), according to the program’s host, Alexis Glick.
Cole’s appearance on the show gave Glick cause to write about “why he was so terrific and the subject so interesting” on Fox Business’ blog as he talked about television and the digital future, and why both TV and print media will flourish in spite – and because – of recent advances in the Internet.
“Newspapers face the biggest challenge,” he said. “But they also face the greatest opportunity. They are back in the breaking-news business. Now for the first time, The New York Times is television. It’s live, it’s audio, it’s video, it competes like never before.”
He had similar news for TV.
“Even though the convention wisdom is that television is going away,” Cole said, “in a broadband world, television is poised for an era of extraordinary growth. A radical shift. It’s not going to be one static environment. The importance of television is only growing.”
Cole pointed to the proliferation of mobile devices that encourage users to watch shows and movies that can be taken anywhere. He also described the impact of changes in advertising that are being pioneered online, in particular the way online companies such as Google transformed advertising by creating a focus on the active consumer.
“More players are getting in,” Cole said. “We think it’s going to be through advertising. Now you only have to pay for the people who express an interest in your product. We think the Web as it moves to television gives advertisers opportunities they never had before.”
Cole also debunked the fears that an increase in ease of access in creating and posting Internet content would glut the online markets with too much non-professional, low-quality product. He said that professional content would always rise above amateur content and that users would be able to tell the difference.
On-air, Glick invited Cole to return to the show.
“Loved the topic,” Glick wrote following the interview. “Jeff was a 10.”
