• by April 23, 2004

FEARLESS LEADERS INSPIRING, GUESS WHAT, FEAR - We always knew that digital was giving analog a run for the money, but based on comments being made by government leaders this week, we're beginning to wonder if the situation isn't reaching some kind of tipping point. First the nation's media- commander-in-chief spooks the broadcast industry with his not-so- cheery "adapt, evolve or die" pep talk during the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas, then U.S. Postmaster General John Potter spoke to similar concerns about the direct mail medium. "I'm here to tell you that direct mail is here to stay," said Potter during a keynote at a Chicago Association of Direct Marketing conference.

Both of these feds cited specific examples of new digital media that are, or soon would be, challenging their analog versions. "You're going to have a problem," warned the FCC's Powell, referring not to cable, or even the Web, but to "Wi-Fi broadcast," a new form of spectrum that someday might compete directly with local broadcasters. Postmaster Potter's digital media threat was far more imminent: Google's new Gmail service. Citing a recent newspaper headline, "In Google We Trust," Potter defended that "the issue for most Americans is privacy. We in the postal service are all about privacy. I believe the consumer prefers to receive direct mail because it's not intrusive." Potter obviously has never opened the Riff's mailbox.

As scary as the statements by media-related government leaders were, it seems that even industry insiders can't help dwelling on the digital threats to their analog constituencies.

"People want to consume their media where, how and when they choose. They want to look only at the ads that interest them," John Sturm, president of the Newspaper Association of America, told his members during their annual conference this week. "Until someone comes up with TiVo for newspapers ... we are the quintessential pull media." Actually, someone already came up with that: God. They're called "fingers" and it's a little known fact that they actually were the first ad-zapping device.

Actually, not all of the traditional media folks appear to be so threatened by digital media. According to the latest research from the well-regarded VBS Group, affiliate websites have emerged as an integral means for cable networks to support their local cable system operators' local ad sales and consumer marketing efforts. In the most recent fielding of its ongoing periodic study, VBS found that 95% of cable operator execs consider such sites essential to their "ability to do their work effectively."