I am thrilled about participating in TEDx Transmedia. I’ll be the final speaker there at the end of the day. They have a stellar lineup of speakers, all exploring the future potential for media. It’s happening in Rome on September 28.
Below I’ve posted a preview interview that I did for the event. Personally I find the word “transmedia” inelegant, like new media in drag, but I am a big fan of innovation in television. I am looking forward to seeing some amazing things in Rome.
TEDxTransmedia (TXT): Hi Robert, please can you give a brief overview of your relationship with Transmedia? What do you think of the term?
Robert Tercek (RT): The word “transmedia” may not beautiful, but the concept is deeply appealing. Continue Reading
In my previous post, I shared the first half of the transcript for my opening keynote speech about the future of television at the PrimeTime conference in Ottawa in March. Below you will find the text for the second half of the complete transcript for my speech. This section focuses on Facebook’s impact on social media, Google’s impressive collection of video properties, and it concludes with speculation about how the future media landscape will be controlled. The final section includes a quick survey of the amazing diversity of original video content on digital platforms. Enjoy.
THE FOLLOWING IS THE SECOND HALF OF THE TRANSCRIPT.
To read the first half, click here. Continue Reading
On Thursday, March 1, 2012, I gave the opening keynote speech at the CMPA’s PrimeTime conference in Ottawa. My topic was the future of the television. This talk examines the disruption of the old television industry and the rapid emergence of an entirely new ecosystem for digital video.
This clip includes the full video of the speech. I’ve included the text transcript below.
Topics: second-screen apps, social discovery, over-the-top video OTT, cord-cutting, disruption in cable TV and pay TV, the rise of the new ecosystem, the changes wrought by Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon and other technology giants, and the Motorola acquisition by Google. Also includes discussion about Aereo, Boxee, and other new players.
The following text is the edited transcript of my speech. Continue Reading
MIPTV is the biggest international TV market in the world. Twice each year, the buyers and sellers of TV shows converge in Cannes for a frenzied week of dealmaking.
The folks at Reed-Midem who run MIPTV invited me to help produce and present a new mini-conference called MIP Cube. This two-day event offered an immersion into the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving online video industry.
I invited the co-founders of Maker Studios to join me for a lively conversation at MIP Cube. Danny Zappin and Lisa Donovan are the original YouTube stars. They both began Continue Reading
On Sunday afternoon, I recorded a “virtual” seminar for Michael Margolis‘s REINVENTION SUMMIT which starts tomorrow. This is the premier online conference for people who are redefining themselves and their careers by using storytelling techniques to reframe their own circumstances and the meaning of their lives.
My seminar is called “THE CHOICE”. It will be the closing session for the online conference, posted this coming Friday. In my usual style, I’ve crafted a Continue Reading
At the recent MIPTV market in Cannes, I interviewed Philip DeBevoise, the co-founder of the super-hot online video startup Machinima. This Los Angeles-based company has experienced some incredible results in the past year. They reach a global audience of 166 million viewers and they serve more than 1.4 billion video views each month. That’s way bigger than any traditional TV channel.
I’ve known Phillip’s brother (and co-founder) Allen for more than a decade. We worked together in the mid-1990s on pioneering online narratives and some early interactive TV concepts. I’ve watched his progress at Machinima with great interest because it offers some useful insight into the dynamics of the new video business that will eventually encompass today’s television industry.
I get a great deal of satisfaction from helping my portfolio of startup ventures make progress. During the past six months, I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with longtime friend Brian Bowman, who just launched social dating site TheComplete.me with a big round of funding from Intel Capital, PlentyofFish and the CrunchFund as well as a group of individual investors. Here’s the news via TechCrunch.
What makes TheComplete.me different and, in my view, significant, is that Continue Reading
Here’s the video of my recent speech at TEDxMarin. The theme of the event was “Communication Revolution”. The organizers invited me to speak about the future of television, social media and personal storytelling.
TED talks are all about passion and ideas. The ideas that get me most excited these days don’t come from big corporations or even startup ventures. They tend to come from individuals who are working outside of the context of business entirely. I decided to focus my comments on four activists who are using media to tell stories that literally change the world. I find these people very inspiring. They are some of the 85 Creative Activists sponsored by the Creative Visions Foundation, where I have been involved on a volunteer basis.
It’s official. Only 8% of US households watch TV by tuning into free over-the-air broadcasts. The vast majority of American homes get their TV signal via cable, satellite or telco fibre. Gary Shapiro, the President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, says “It’s time we accept this shift away from over-the-air TV as an irrevocable fact of the TV market. The numbers tell the story.”
Why do we still give away vast chunks of spectrum to broadcast networks? Continue Reading
There’s a predictable cycle in business, at least in the sectors of technology, media and telecommunications.
In the first part of the cycle, companies achieve success by introducing a new service that delights customers: call it the “Value Creation” phase. This is the phase when lots of customers sign up. Remember when you bought your first Windows computer, your first iPod, or your first smartphone? Chances are good that you made the switch at the exact same moment when millions of other people were migrating to these new gizmos, too. Everyone was attracted by a novel combination of utility, cool factor and the right price.
But over time, as the new product/service evolves into our daily habit, some companies are tempted to Continue Reading
I am thrilled about participating in TEDx Transmedia. I’ll be the final speaker there at the end of the day. They have a stellar lineup of speakers, all exploring the future potential for media. It’s happening in Rome on September 28. 
