Death march for older mediums says Eisner

Michael Eisner, the ex-CEO of the Disney company is not overly optimistic about the future of ‘old’ media:

“I don’t totally know where this is going, but I know that it is a business,” Eisner said, while talking about how and when professionally produced original web content will take off. “It can’t not happen.” He added, “There’s a death march going on for some of the older mediums – they are in trouble.” via TBI – Television Business International – Article / Key strategic business information on the production, distribution, broadcasting and financing of TV programming around the world.

In the meantime, Ariana Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post talked about a future where old and new media can co-exist:

Huffington sees a “hybrid future” where the old media and new media work together and learn from each other. “As long as my generation is alive there will still be a need for newspapers,” she told Marketing after her speech, adding she subscribes to seven newspapers. Still, as Huffington said in her speech, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.

While (mixed) reviews of Apple’s iPad keep coming, the device may not be the sole saviour of the future of the media industry as some commentators expected. As we reported before, redundancies are continuing and businesses licensing content will need to find ways to offer flexible solutions for the ‘old’ and ‘new’ media hybrid.