the resurgence of TV in the digital age

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Published: September 9, 2015

THOUGHT LEADERS  

The Surprising Endurance of the Boob Tube

Michael Wolff on the resurgence of TV in the digital age.

by Edward H. Baker 

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Photograph by Mark Schaefer

For two decades now, journalist and author Michael Wolff has been a thorn in the side of the media elite. As a media columnist for numerous publications, including New York, Vanity Fair, and USA Today, and author of several books, including a biography of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Wolff has been sharply critical of the business and editorial decisions of all kinds of media outlets, whether newspapers or film studios, in print, on TV, and online.

In his new book, Television Is the New Television: The Unexpected Triumph of Old Media in the Digital Age (Portfolio/Penguin, 2015), Wolff asks a simple question: Who actually makes money in the media business? In his view, the answer is easy. Companies that produce content for television, regardless of how rapidly change occurs in how it is distributed, continue to make money — lots of money. This is true even as virtually every online media company struggles to earn a profit, on still-meager revenues.

Wolff recently spoke with strategy+business about his new book. Given his acerbic reputation, it’s no surprise that at one point he referred to the management of a top newspaper organization as “real dummies.” Still, Wolff comes across in person as thoughtful and reasoned. He has strong but well-considered views on what’s right about the TV business, what’s wrong with digital media, and what the former can teach the latter — and those views raise critical issues about the present and future of all kinds of media, both online and off.

S+B: In your new book, you argue that the television business, contrary to all expectations, has only grown stronger over the past decade or two. How come the Internet hasn’t killed television the way it did print or music?.....

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   http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00362?gko=ca454

“The key is that the TV guys have figured out a way to maintain the exclusivity of their content. That’s what has made content king again.”

Author Profile:

• Edward H. Baker is a longtime business journalist and a contributing editor at strategy+business.