• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, February 28, 2008

So the question really is this: is fragmentation good or bad? Well, it all depends on your definition of fragmentation. In the traditional sense of the word, one thinks of the negative effects that fragmentation has had on the entertainment industry and its audience -- less time, fewer eyeballs, less interest, less valuable inventory, less of well, everything.

For once, though, I am going to suggest that we look at less as being more. By that I mean that while audiences may be decreasing or spending less time on one medium, let's focus on where they are going and what they are doing there.

Taking a chapter from the "almost best practices" book of how to find your audience when they aren't watching your TV program, NBC's "Heroes" definitely gets high marks for its use of derivative content to help drive and feed the hunger of its fans.

But what happens when you don't have an audience yet, but know that you have a killer property on your hands? Apply the positive laws of fragmentation, of course! Break down the elements of this fantastic story and place its content on the media platform that serves each of the elements the best. It could be a game, a comic book, a live event, trading cards, merchandise; the possibilities are endless. As long as each "fragment" is earning its keep by finding an audience, then it is working. The trick, of course, is re-aggregating the pieces. But when you do, think of the value -- not only to the network but to you as well. The possibilities are endless, don't you think

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