The Post-TV Era

In his prescient tome Life After Television, originally published in 1995, then Forbes columnist George Gilder predicted the demise of the television and telecommunications industries based on the convergence of microprocessors, IP communications and digital content sources.

In 2006, my wife and I “cut the cable” by having our cable television service disconnected. We did this primarily because of the negative influences of certain “family” networks on our childrens’ behavior and my wife did not appreciate my prime time channel surfing amongst the top-five network talking heads news programs. We are often asked how we stay on top of news, sports, entertainment, etc. without TV.

We still connect through the internet and are entertained by watching tons of videos from Netflix, the public library and other streaming and physical sources. One major upside is I don’t remember the last time I saw a television commercial.

It seems our experience is not unique — Americans are quitting TV. Disruptive changes are happening in the media, entertainment and telecommunications industries. While this does not bode well for many shareholders in companies wedded to legacy business models, the implications for Life Sciences companies are subtle and intriguing.

•  Direct to consumer advertising – with many pharma companies losing patent status on blockbuster drugs, DTC advertising budgets are shrinking, (we may have to endure fewer erectile dysfunction commercials) and this is negatively affecting media property companies such as WebMD.
• Consumerization of IT – technology has empowered consumers with vast choices and we are clearly exercising them. We are also bringing this tendency to work through BYOD (bring your own device) demands.
• Content provisioning – coupled with the BYOD movement, the days of one-size-fits-all distribution of scientific, educational and promotional material are over. No longer do PULL (turning up “portals” where customers must go for information) and PUSH (broadcast distribution through physical or electronic mailings) strategies work.

We have entered the PROVIDE phase where content producers must meet the customer where they are, when they are there, and provide content that meets their form factor requirements. This requires strong leadership, organizational change, and strong collaboration between business units, legal and regulatory and information technology departments to get it right.

Successful Life Sciences companies will recognize these implications, embrace the newer technologies, and appropriately re-allocate their marketing budgets to PROVIDE content to their customers in support of the corporate mission.