• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 15, 2015

Everyone wants to be a media mogul -- or at least a big media company.

That seemingly was the goal of GoPro, the company producing small, portable video devices you can attach to your bike helmet, surfboard, bicycle, commuting car, or other places. All while you dive off a cliff, apparently.

But GoPro’s emphasis, for many, was that it wanted to be more than just a producer of consumer video products. Aspirations were for it to become, in Hollywood-speak, a media play-ah.

Some analysts on CNBC said these lofty goals have been a continued problem and that it should be evaluated as a hardware company -- nothing more, nothing less.

Problem is that the path to becoming a top media dog -- specifically a strong media content producer -- is way harder than it looks. Even the biggest consumer-based companies are leery of moving into the space.

Do you think Apple, for example, is in this field? Apple’s primary business isn’t about producing content -- just devices and software to manage that content. By contrast, Netflix does, in fact, produce content (as well as distributing other company’s content). Netflix has no plans, it seems, of producing a mobile or tablet-like video device.

Even a company like Amazon -- which is making premium TV shows as well as offering up an array of tablet-like devices like Amazon Fire -- aren’t rocketing strong business yet.

Sony has been perhaps the forerunner of all of this: a company with its share of ups and down in producing TV content and theatrical movie content, selling phone/mobile devices, as well as starting up new consumer electronics products.

All to say that GoPro’s goals have been really big and risky. The company’s stock dropped nearly 70% this year, as investors, and perhaps consumers, have figured out many functions of its small, portable video cameras can be adapted through other companies’ electronic devices.

You want to be a big media powerhouse? There is no easy path.