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Peters suggested an entirely new way of looking at the future of the industry: the "Postproduction Industry" versus the "Dynamic Media Content Creation Industry.
If you happened to be listening to the leaders of the television postproduction industry during the month of July, you might be left with the distinct impression of doom and gloom. Representatives of the industry converged at the annual Forum of the Association of Imaging Technology and Sound (ITS; www.itsnet.org), July 12-15, to discuss the state of their industry and the prospects for revitalizing the business of creating content. Then on July 25th, ITS President Terry Rainey appeared on a panel of witnesses at a Congressional hearing about the stalled DTV transition. (see: "Follow The Yellow Brick Road," Television Broadcast Online http://tvbroadcast.com/issues/2000/0728/0728.1.htm)
The tone for the ITS Forum was set by keynote speaker, Matt Peterson of Scenic Wonders, a market research firm that tracks the postproduction industry, set the stage for his "state of the industry" report with a question: "If everything is so rosy, why am I so blue?"
Peterson painted a rosy picture of the media industries that have traditionally relied upon the post industry for services. Revenues are up across the board for the motion picture industry, the television industry (advertising revenues), and interactive media (video games and new forms of digital media such as the web and video streaming). While the post industry continues to deliver content to these industries, many facilities are singing the blues due to a variety of competitive pressures, and the marketplace confusion related to the transition to digital television.
Characterizing the industry that he serves as "The secondmost pessimistic industry in America," Peterson analyzed these competitive pressures and the failure of DTV to create demand for new HDTV services. For those who are curious, Peterson identified the cable industry as being the most pessimistic. ITS President Terry Rainey assured Peterson that his organization "would work harder and strive to take the number one position next year."
The Deflation of Content
Peterson went on to identify several major areas of concern, and how they are impacting bottom lines in the post industry. At the top of the list is the relationship between content creation and content distribution. While the picture is rosy...