Feb
29
The End of Movies, from Bruno Ombreux
February 29, 2012 |
Movies are now competing with other forms of entertainment. The video game industry has been bigger than the movie industry for quite a few years now. Movie theaters, Broadway, non-VOD TV, printed press… these are all on the way to obsolescence. Interestingly, the only thing from the past that is not getting superseded by newer alternative media is the radio. One can listen to the radio while doing something else, which is a great advantage.
My theory is that if something survives among my list of old entertainment vectors, it will be the radio. The idea is that people who drive cars end up listening to the radio. So there will always be some demand as long as people drive cars. I do not drive cars, but I take the cab, and cabs always have the radio on.
This is not really my personal idea, it is the result of a brainstorming session with my 22-year old trainees. The Oscar discussion on the dailyspec prompted me to organize an impromptu brainstorming session with my trainees. When it comes to the future, I trust the opinion of young people much more than 30+ years old farts.
Radio is yet difficult to replace when you are driving. All the other media can be dis-intermediated (movie theaters, Broadway, TV, dead-tree press). There is a need for content production, but not for a specific distribution vehicle (like a movie theater), or editorial effort (eg VOD and news aggregators get rid of the need for channel-imposed programs and editorial choices). Which is good news, because we are getting rid of the middlemen and of one of the means for sheeple thought-control.
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As Mark Twain opined on seeing an obituary of himself in the morning journal:
Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
Movie theatres have adapted quite nicely with such events as simulcasts, special events and marathon showings such as Harry Potter, Star Wars etc.
Also the Met Opera now does simulcasts for six months of the year.
In our local theatre, they have shown UFC events American Idol shows and others. with all the downloads still avaiable and netflix there are still those who wish to go out for the evening, and eat $6 popcorn and $4 soft drinks. Go figure.