I’ve been reading the intensive debate this last week in the Yahoo ADM group, and now it’s my turn to chime in.

Some 25 years ago, I was part of the birth of another new media industry — cable TV. I helped start two cable TV companies and then consulted to many of the giants here in Denver. I have applied alot of the lessons-learned to starting my own podcast business; it’s almost identical.

When cable started, consumers subscribed to cable not because of new
content but because of improved reception to local and network TV. Cable was the iPod of that generation — creating convenience for accessing their favorite progamming. The first cable-only networks to
launch were super-stations like WTBS and WGN and then later CNN and
ESPN that were “ad-supported.” To pay the freight of carriage, the
industry struggled to define standards so traditional TV advertisers
would be able to understand and buy niche cable channels more easily.
The NCTA and CTAM were born to help set technical (for insertions)
advertising standards and make it easier for agencies and marketers to
buy cable. Sound familiar?

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Ahhh, the very beginning of the New Year, and I have a few download-relevant thoughts I’d like share with ADM members.

- Get green. With just about every company pursuing a green strategy, I resolve to pitch podcasting and digital media as the ultimate green publishing tool. No resources used except bandwidth. PS: Send your proposals electronically.

- Get mobile. With Apple, Google, Yahoo and many other big players getting into the mobile space, this may be the year mobile content starts to take off. I resolve to offer mobile solutions for marketing and communications to all my clients, complementing our podcasting solutions.

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First of all, congratulations to the new Executive, Advisory Board and Committee Chair members of the ADM. I know they will do a great job stewarding our young association. I ran for a position on the Advisory Board, and although I was disappointed I did not win a seat, I am eager to continue and even ramp-up my involvement with the ADM. Why? I believe that downloadable media is the future (and the now) of communications, and that the ADM needs to lead the way.

I would like to be one of the first to sign up and assist with two of the newly formed Committees: Advertising Standards and Membership — two areas where I feel I can contribute to our organization. I hope others will contribute time to the Committees. We have a lot of work to do.

I am often asked by clients, “What is a podcast?” I used to explain the push of RSS and the pull of podcatchers, but now I like to take this approach: podcasting isn’t a medium or a technology, it’s a paradigm shift in the way people consume their media. Consumers now want their media anytime, anywhere and on any device.

Content has become untethered from the restraints of distribution channels, time and space. Since everyone and anyone can create and launch content, consuming the media – the very act of downloading the media to an iPod, desktop, laptop, phone or portable player – has become the distribution.

Content and distribution become one. Who knows the magic we can create with untethered media.

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