The Death of Cable Television
Welcome to another addition of The Timeline. Much like the many editing sequence timelines I’ve worked on we’ll follow the story of my professional career and my insight into the industry in a linear and non-linear fashion. Often times straight cuts, no cross fades. Just a down and dirty approach to this wild world of media. It will be a look inside the television and digital media industry through my perspective. As someone who’s spent more than a decade at two of the largest media organization, I hope to provide insight through my honest interpretation of the industry and how I see it. Hopefully you all enjoy!
The Death of Cable Television. That’s what a coworker told me we were experiencing these past few years, The Death of Cable Television. I asked him his thoughts on the television industries seemingly never ending cycle of budget cuts and layoffs. He’s worked in the television industry for more than thirty years, so I know he’s seen his fair share of cycles of job cuts and layoffs. So I was hoping he’d say it was just part of another cycle. I didn’t expect such a dramatic response. So final, like a gradual fade to black at the end of your edit.
The media industry as we know it is dying. That is a part of the cycle of inevitable change.
After all, in the thirteen years I’ve worked at either WarnerBrothers Discovery or NBCUniversal I know downturn is a part of the media landscape. It happens in cycles, usually every three to five years. You trade that level of security sometimes to work for household names like CNN and CNBC. Where profits come first. But this has seemed different. Maybe because I was personally effected by my first layoff after the infamous shutdown of CNN+ after just three weeks and dismal viewership numbers. But death, it’s so final. What can we make of my coworkers insight in a shift handoff conversation. After all, they’re just one person and they’re unique perspective.
But you can see it. You can see that the industry is changing. You can see that companies are slashing 15-25% of their workforce across the television and media space. You definitely see it if you log into LinkedIn, “looking for work”. So what can we make of this?
Is cable television dying? Absolutely! It’s been dying very slowly for years. As everyone tried to compete in the streaming wars, the fear of a ression that has in many ways never taken place, and the evolution of digital media. What does media look like five years from now, ten years from now? Do we still have The Big Six Media Companies or did they all merge to one super company to compete with Amazon, Google, and Apple?
So really, what’s dying? Traditional media as we know it will never be the same. But, in many ways the story of television and media has been a story of life and death. The birth of television, the death of black and white. The birth of color television. The death of the big three networks (CBS,NBC, and ABC) being the only media outlets. So on and so forth. Death is an inevitable part of life, and it’s an inevitable part of the media landscape.
Death to the industry as it is doesn’t have to be entirely scary as long as we continue to have the right mindset. For me a lot of versions of myself have died since I graduated with a degree in Broadcasting from Montclair State University. Brian the Intern died. Brian the Weekend Media Coordinator at CNN died. Brian the Assistant Editor / Editor-Producer at CNN died. But you know what? Each time I was brought back to life. We have to keep a growth mindset when it comes to surviving in this very rewarding, exciting yet incredibly difficult industry we are all in.
You know what never dies? Narrative. Telling stories never dies. The need to be informed and entertained never dies. That can be on whatever medium you want. YouTube, Streaming, Mobile, Social Media. These principles remain immune from death. So we look for ways to always say yes when an opportunity comes up. We do our best to outpace the corporate axe when it continues to fall all around us in an industry that seems to be changing and never going back. But at least we can fly! Like the leaves of autumn as they begin to change in the coming days. We embrace it and appreciate the changing media landscape around us.
As long as there’s a need for news, entertainment, information, and narrative storytelling its okay that cable new is dying. Its really up to all of us to continue to evolve and grow. I was once in technical operations, then a craft video editor producer. Then on a whim I took on a job as an adjunct professor. We have to continue to be creatives in this space. To be the people who help inform and entertain. We don’t need to typecast ourselves in any particular role. Things can die in our media industry. But new opportunities will always be born from it.
We hold true to our fundamentals. I emphasize this in the class I teach at Montclair State and I implement it in my own life. Always continue to learn and evolve. Get back up if you get knocked down. Say yes to an opportunity, even if it scares you. Be persistent. And for the love of god, no jump cuts!
So just like the epic quote I love echoed throughout the Game of Thrones series goes,
“What do we say to the god of death? Not today!
