It is amazing how so many miss what is taking place.
Over the last years, we have done extensive dives into the future of Hollywood, cable news, and the world of entertainment. Things are changing rapidly. The old rules no longer apply.
Of course, pointing this out does not mean anyone is going to listen, especially those who might be within the industry. They are going to keep going to the bitter end.
We now have an article that outlines how a cable channel wants to raise funds via an IPO. This is a foolish move for investors that buy in if there ever was one.
NewsMax Looking To IPO
The conservative channel NewsMax is seeking to raise funds via an IPO.
If anyone invests in this, it is a fool's errand. This has nothing to do with the political leaning of the channel, perhaps there is a market. The problem is the entire industry is being fragmented.
Even the originator of 24 hour news, CNN, is in a heap of trouble.
Newsmax, like all cable TV networks, is facing a drop in ad revenue, and they need to find new revenue.
Last year, Newsmax ended the free stream that was the same as its cable networks. NOW, to get the live feed of its main cable feed, you must pay. This move, at the time it was announced, was needed to keep its cable TV deals in place.
It appears this is another entity that fell for the promise of easy month via streaming. They are all having to reverse course now and move to different payment systems.
Millions of Channels
The entire essence of this industry is the fact that we are rapidly moving towards a world of million of channels. Most content creators are going to be their own media companies. Many, if not most, will have minimal followings.
That said, the challenge stems from the dilution of attention. With so many choices, the ability to pull in a lot of viewers gets harder.
From a revenue standpoint, this means that operations are going to require new business models. It is unlikely that most adapt.
Here we see an entity potentially turning to Wall Street for its funding. This is nothing more than throwing money down a hole.
Consider all the places that people will be able to access video in the future. We have YouTube which is enormous. Then there is Rumble. Other social media platforms are accepting video. Even on LEO, it is going to be introduced.
This means massive dilution across a broader range of channels. It is something that already occurred with the introduction of cable television. We saw channels going from a handful to hundreds. YouTube has tens of thousands of channels, garnering millions of hours of viewing per day.
What happens when there are millions of channels instead of tens of thousands? We will see even more dilution.
History Repeating Itself
Consider all the different sites that have text on them. Where do you turn for information?
There use to be simply a couple sources of print information in each area. There was a daily newspaper or two. Then there were some weekly or monthly magazines.
Today, we can turn to millions of sites that have text information. When the Internet first became popular. Newspapers around the world went bankrupt.
Will the same hold true for video?
I believe we will see history repeat itself. The delay was due to the fact video is a difficult media as compared to print. The last 15 years saw massive technological advancements in computing along with telecommunication services.
Ultimately, it all boils down to where the eyeballs are going. In the past, there were only a few options. Today, it is expanding massively.
NewsMax wants to go public in this environment? My guess it is DOA.