4. How Would It Work?

If it is true that broadcast networks are becoming just another set of pipes for content, then it follows that they could very well lose their traditional centrality in determining what content gets made. Advertisers will start to want to buy content directly or to make their own. Producers will want a way to tap advertising dollars.

In this environment it seems to me that there is an opportunity to create a marketplace for advertisers to deal directly with producers.Obviously these relationships can and will occur anyway. However just as there is a difference between having a garage sale and using Ebay, there would be an advantage to aggregating those who want to produce content and those who want to buy content.

The ideal would combine the auction/payment mechanics of ebay or adwords with advanced metadata customised to fit the content industry. Advertisers would be able to use this metadata to match up content with what they are trying to sell. Producers could look for opportunities to marry a project to a certain symbiotic brand.

As mentioned below, the system would not lock any party into any preset distribution platform or advertising technique. The producers of LOST could sell a watermark in the first episode to one company, top and tail to another, product placement to a third, then distribute it with the Sunday paper on DVD. The second episode could have a different mix of advertising and be an internet download. These decisions may be strategic blunders - the point is that the system itself would need to be flexible enough to let the market work out how best to proceed.

For the advertisers the advantages would be:

1. Cost - no need to pay huge premiums to the networks. International competition among producers who want to build a show/project for you.
2. Creativity and flexibility - talk directly to the producers about how the advertising should be incorporated. Alternately, use powerful search tools to wade through the thousands of offerings by demographic, popularity, production team, to find the right match for your product.
3. Data - know exactly who is watching your shows, how many times and what other things they like.

1. Funding - advertisers looking to get creative means more projects or more opportunity for support of something you're already doing.
2. Control - give up as much or as little control to advertisers as you want.
3. Access - at present funding is hard to get and controlled by a coterie of 'seasoned' producers. If everyone is on a level playing field the best idea and best team will win.