Platform Power
Owning a newspaper, a radio station or a TV channel has always puts you in a good position. You’re a gate keeper deciding what happens. In the multi-media world that’s changed slightly with the power resting with the platform operator, usually a large media conglomerate. I guess it’s easier for you to compete when you stop your competition appearing on the same platform.
Now though, the internet is the biggest platform of all, providing opportunities for anyone with great content to become popular and accessible.
Al-Jazeera English, the cable TV channel, is a very well funded organisation that is trying to create a news channel with a more global perspective. It’s well-known big brother, Al-Jazeera, hasn’t helped its expansion as some countries, notably the US, aren’t big fans. This has stopped the network getting much cable/satellite carriage in the States. This has caused the channel to make greater efforts on-line and has recently launching a channel on YouTube.
Using YouTube is a perfect way to counter any assumption that possible viewers have about the channel. By making available content YouTubers can decide for themselves what kind of channel Al-Jazeera is and whether they want to encourage their cable operators to broadcast it. The other interesting point about the venture is that they’re producing YouTube only TV content for the site too. This is something I think we’ll see more of, and when you think about it, makes perfect sense. YouTube is after all just another platform with a particular demographic, both social and geographic. As a broadcaster wanting to get closer to their audience, tailoring content is a very sensible thing to do.