March 2020 was the time when the majority of us experienced every single entertainment source diminished, stripped and/or suspended. For an unfortunate number of people, their livelihood suffered the same fate. My work was arbitrarily deemed "essential" so my daily routine did not change much. On top of that, being cheap and lazy meant my social life did not change much either. But I have been paying attention to what was happening to the successful folks as they adapted to the new normal. Being in my mid-30s in 2020, meant I consume my media partly traditionally and party in a non-traditional manner. Most of us noticed that non-traditional media went off without a hitch. The lockdowns had barely any effect on their content or quality. News and Political YouTube channels maintained their posts and live events without skipping a beat. Daily Wire, Tim Cast, Louder with Crowder, Secular Talk, etc, all continued to roll out content without skipping a beat. However, "regular" news, or mainstream media (which I haven't watched regularly since college) took a toll. They were exposed. Their content was not rich enough to overcome missing lights, missing graphics and the support of a full production team that could no longer assemble under lockdown restrictions. Lean and efficient was rewarded.
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The same happened to the sports commentary segment. Shows that I consistently looked forward to watching were exposed for the lackluster programming they were without the previous production value they previously enjoyed, not even good enough to turn on for background noise. I quickly abandoned my FS1 sports commentary lineup. Undisputed became Disputed. First Things First became This Thing Last. The Herd became The Lone Wolf. Speak For Yourself became Talk to Yourself. Could it be fair to judge sports commentary shows during a time when all sports are suspended? Yes. Pat and the Boys continued their success growing The Pat McAfee Show, during this time. 2 hours daily, Monday through Friday and it went off without a hitch. In fact, added another hour in the afternoon with AJ Hawk. Clay Travis grew his audience too. They not only remained successful sports show, but also grew their audiences all while NO SPORTS WERE BEING PLAYED!
Joe Rogan, the largest podcast right now, was able to lock down an exclusive deal with Spotify. What does this all mean? I'm not really sure, but I am noticing a trend. If you pay attention to just the examples I set earlier, it seems like the lesson is to talk online and post it on YouTube. However, judging all the examples in context, I believe the lesson is that the main difference between old media and new media, isn't necessarily TV vs Internet based, but rather bloated vs lean. Substantial content vs glitz. Entertainment from content vs entertainment from a production value.
Shows that have been exposed after having a dip in their audiences once the glitz and the glamour is removed, reveal just how much of their appeal falls on the shoulders of production teams; an army of professionals backed by network money. The talent may or may not be there, but they need touchups and helping hands, graphics, sounds and effects to hide whatever it is they're lacking, and all this costs a lot of money, money that now could be considered to be wasted.
Can we learn anything from this? Let's hope so. This is the most obvious, or at least the most visible of examples due to the nature of this medium. But I think we can adopt so many of the same principles to whatever line of business we are currently in.
In my opinion, these lockdowns have accelerated trends that were going to come our way anyways. We will need to offer better than we had been offering. There's a need for meaningful content, the media has shown us this. But businesses need more meaningful content as well. They need better employees. Employees that are going to stand out, add value and frankly, offer more than what the current pool of employees are offering. I've had dental assistants contact me on LinkedIn asking me if I have a regular dentist, and to come in if I don't have one. Restaurants have transitioned to make catering a larger portion of their business model. Consultants have pivoted to cater to either smaller clients or individuals instead of corporations who are cutting costs and overhead. Financial planners have focused on a different set of services to addressed the new financial needs in this current climate.
I get it. Most individuals, businesses or industries won't be able to pivot, or adapt to this new reality. These losses are tragic and unfortunately appear to be more permanent than anyone anticipated. However, we have a choice to make as individuals. We can either wave the white flag and give up, or find a way to adapt to this new reality, emulate what those who are having current success are doing, or innovate and find your own niche, your untapped market, your blue ocean to reinvent yourself, thrive and come out victorious on the other side. I've done the former before, and my life did not improve one bit, but that just might just be anecdotal.
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