16
April
2007
|
02:03 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Accenture Study: Mainstream Media Sees User Generated Content as Top Threat

 Accenture's annual survey of media execs:

Media and entertainment executives see the growing ability and eagerness of individuals to create their own content as one of the biggest threats to their business, according to results of a survey released today by Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

More than half (57 percent) of the respondents identified the rapid growth of user-generated content — which includes amateur digital videos, podcasts, mobile phone photography, wikis and social-media blogs — as one of the top three challenges they face today.

Link to Accenture Newsroom: User-Generated Content Is Top Threat to Media and Entertainment Industry, Accenture Survey Finds

User generated content is also an opportunity to make money:

...two-thirds (68 percent) of the respondents said they believe that within three years their businesses will be making money on user-generated content.  Sixty-two percent said they believe their companies will make money through advertising and sponsorships of social media.  Other sources of profits cited were subscriptions (21 percent) and pay-per-play offerings (18 percent).  However, a quarter (24 percent) of respondents said they do not yet know how their businesses will profit from user-generated content.

So, how to tackle this challenge? Here is advice from top industry execs:

  • Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP: "The winners will be those who can probe and analyze the changes and manage and merge on-line and the off-line most successfully."
  • Doug Neil, Universal Studios senior VP: “To succeed in this environment, you need to innovate and anticipate the needs of the consumer, be willing to take risks and try new things.”
  • Leslie Moonves, CEO of CBS: “Current technologically driven distribution channels will expand and new ones will open. But without compelling content, every new platform is an empty shell.  Companies that can combine world-class content with powerful national and local distribution will have the competitive advantage.”
  • Gavin Mann, from Accenture’s Media & Entertainment practice: “Traditional, established content providers will have to adapt and develop new business and monetization models in order to keep revenue streams flowing. The key to success will be identifying new forms of content that can complement their traditional strengths.”

Looks like they are all holding their cards closely to their chests because their comments state nothing but the very obvious.