• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, October 3, 2011

Itunes, smartphones, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are just some of the media innovations that have appeared in the last decade. But fasten your seat belts -- there's a lot more coming. Nigel Morris, North American CEO of Aegis Media, told a crowd at the Reuters Roundtable Advertising Week session Monday there will be more change affecting the media landscape in the next three years than there was in the last five to ten.

In a wide-ranging discussion about media and where it's headed, Morris acknowledged that change is occurring at such a rapid clip that advertisers and agencies are sometimes "flying blind" as they make choices about which media to buy.

The good news for marketers, said Morris, is that techniques for measuring ROI "are getting closer to the point of the transaction with the consumer."

When the subject turned to the role of TV, divergent views emerged. Andrew Capone, SVP, marketing and business development, NCC Media, the cable ad sales rep firm, said TV would continue to dominate -- basically because people like watching well-produced, high-quality fare. And that's expensive. "Somebody's got to pay for it," he said, asserting that the ad-supported model will continue to be the most efficient way of doing so.

Despite what he called "the VC [venture capital] frenzy and disruptive technology looking for a seat at the table where the money is," TV will remain the big driver, Capone insisted. "It's fun to build" in the new media world, said Capone. "It's not easy to maintain."

But Bob Bowman, president, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, disagreed. "The more ubiquitous device is the one in your hand right now," he said, referring to cell phones. That's the device that people have with them 24 hours a day, he said -- and it's one that is "far more loved by most people than TV."

Frank Holland, EVP, advertising and online, Microsoft, envisions "a multiple device world." TV, he said, "doesn't have the strength" to deliver resonating messages across all video platforms.

Lisa McCarthy, EVP, client development group, Univision, said that many of the Hispanic network's viewers -- particularly recent immigrants -- often call the network or one of its affiliated stations, asking for specific advice about what medical or other services are available in a particular community. "We're trying to figure out how to capitalize on that," she said, suggesting that digital extensions to Univision's core business might be the solution.