There is No Traditional Media
Last week, Barry Diller spoke on Kara Swisher’s Recode Decode podcast about the transfer of power taking place in the entertainment business between the major movie studios and the FAANG companies. Swisher noted Diller was part of a small group of “traditional media” executives who were interested in the internet from the early 90’s and ultimately launched valuable tech companies. Diller challenged the notion of traditional media. He suggested a framework around two types of screens:
Narrative media: Screens used to tell stories
Tech screens: Those used for other purposes, mainly computational
There’s a chasm separating the mindsets and businesses models behind them. Narrative media is an instinctual editorial process of ‘I like this idea against that idea’, assisted by research, whereas tech screens require logic, a “perfect order of blocks falling” in ones and zeros, in order to function. There are rare examples of this gap being crossed well. Netflix is one.
What did Diller attribute his ability to cross the divide? Curiosity.
Check out their conversation here.
Diller is a great conversationalist who combines the vision of a tech founder, wisdom from 50 years of media experience and the dishyness of a power agent.
