Content is king

Hello from Providence, Rhode Island where I am attending the AHECTA conference. This is a group of individuals who represent their respective cable television systems and TV stations from colleges and universities all over the country. It’s a good group of folks.

So you’ll never guess what the main topics of discussion were at the sessions so far: streaming video, video over IP and the transition to digital in February of 2009. All this talk about technology has been exciting but I’m anxious for the days when we can get back to talking about content. Content is still king in my book. It doesn’t matter if you have 50 different methods of deploying content . . . if it’s crap it’ll still be crap on all those 50 platforms.

It’s been a reminder to me that it’s never been a better time to be a student interested in making television . . . imo. When I graduated from SU in 1977 the path was pretty much get a job at a TV station and work your way up. That was it. Remember, there were only four major networks at that time, NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS. That was it. I don’t have to tell you what exists today. All the channels that are on the air in some fashion (broadcast, cable, internet) need content and isn’t it always the most interesting and creative content that gets “the most views?”

But creative and interesting doesn’t just happen because someone owns a camcorder and editing software. Like most things in life, it takes work and practice to hone those skills. Last week I touched on being an agent of change and I truly believe that storytellers can be agents of change to make this world a better place. I guess this week my blog is a little “preachy” but I’m basically trying to say that I think good storytellers are important. Good storytelling practices take time to learn. And I want to help you become good storytellers in any way I can.