Paid Content Is Coming

Are you watching what happened over the holiday between Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp in their battle with Time Warner Cable for rights fees?

Murdoch wanted Time Warner to pay fees for Fox Broadcasting Network to keep the bowl games going and American Idol flowing.

Time Warner huffed and puffed and then gave in to what they later described as a fair deal.

Fair deal?

No problem.

The very next day, Time Warner Cable subscribers got hit with the first of what I think will be many rate increases to absorb the costs of the new deal with News Corp.

This sets a precedent for other television networks and it goes beyond the deals that niche cable networks have with cable companies. ESPN subscribers have long been subsiding the sports channels. Murdoch just got his share of it.

Rupert Murdoch should not be easily dismissed for the mission he is on.

Murdoch is vowing to shut down the free content flow that is financially killing The Wall Street Journal, his newspaper empire and other sources of content. He's threatening to do a deal with one Google-type business to act as a gateway for all such content in which he will be paid.

I'm really in to this issue and I've added it to my upcoming Media Solutions Lab agenda because I think all that free content that Internet and mobile users have been getting for is about to become paid content. The party is over.

But here's a slice of reality.

Young people who constitute the next generation expect their content to be free. They steal music, get around paid firewalls with the greatest of ease and are cheap enough to throw nickels around like manhole covers.

They want what they want when they want it. Period.

But I sense a change.

Publishers are on the ropes.

The record industry has tried for ten years to cram a CD into a computer. They've fought for the sanctity of the album as a creative work even though any consumer could tell you such albums come few and far between. Spotify and other streaming music services that look to charge monthly fees for instant "cloud" delivery to mobile devices have not set the world on fire.

Radio groups have given away their content only to find that about 3% of their Internet listeners to terrestrial streams listen online -- a lousy business at best. They don't get it.

TV networks are trying to embrace Hulu and other schemes that give them a cut of the ad revenue but even if they succeed, the pot of dough is not enough to pay off.

A few years back I invited a Warner Music executive speak to one of my music industry classes at USC. She frothed from the mouth in describing how the labels would love to have ISPs (Internet Service Providers) act as a toll collector for their customers to pay for every piece of recorded music every offered.

The students were non-plussed. She said the $5 per month charge would mean a record industry bigger than it had ever been selling albums.

They, on the other hand, didn't want everything that was ever recorded for one low, low monthly fee -- they just wanted what they wanted when they wanted it. Hey, we raised them and the branch didn't fall far from the tree.

Now, I want you to watch this trend develop.

I'm watching it as a publisher.

Would you pay $99 a year to read this blog?

No?

Would 10% of you pay $99 a year for Inside Music Media because if the answer is yes, it constitutes a big business for me. At only 10% of the free circulation.

And for those who do not, consider the issue of micropayments that will become part of our lexicon as the years go on. In other words, you don't pay for this publication for one reason or the other, but you break down every once in a while to access a story you absolutely cannot resist ("John Hogan's Plan to Sell 300 Top Radio Stations" or "Lew Dickey's Private E-Mail Revealed" -- you get the idea). That's $9.99 for the month.

But what about you?

If you are an ex-radio content provider or marketer and you start a publication, site, blog, podcast and get to charge a reasonable amount to people who become addicted to your product or service. In the past there was no real reliable way to collect such payments.

But days before my January 28th Media Solutions Lab Steve Jobs will announce the much anticipated Apple tablet, the reinvented iTunes infrastructure platform and new, cool mobile entertainment devices to make your future brighter. Learn more here.

There are estimates that Apple could sell between 1-10 million tablets in the first year alone. Suddenly, if you are a collector of antiques, you can get the content you want from an expert site acting as an app for a small price.

Actually there is nothing new to this model, that's how it's always been in the past. Want to read Sports Illustrated -- get your money out.

And there is evidence that consumers -- even and especially the next generation -- will spend for applications if they are priced right. That is juxtaposed to their stealing music and enjoying free content for which providers have been previously afraid to charge.

Chris Anderson, author of "Free", doesn't see it my way or Murdoch's way. Anderson thinks content will have to be given away free and then providers can charge for enhanced services or other things. That model hasn't set the world on fire so far.

Murdoch is old and stubborn but I think he's reading the tea leaves right.

The Wall Street Journal cannot exist on declining print revenue or even increasing online ad sales. The Journal is probably the only major publication that has had a paid model from the very beginning and because of the nature of the genre, they get millions of dollars in subscription payments.

Of course, providers are going to have to make their content bullet-proof -- not the stuff a lot of local newspapers pass off as news.

And local radio stations could be in this business while adding video and audio.

And, you -- can be in this business, too even if Lew Dickey, John Hogan or Farid Suleman decided to let you go.

Apple's new platform means democracy.

So keep an eye on this and I'll keep you ahead of the curve and for those of you who are attending my Media Solutions Lab in late January, I'll be very specific about the challenges and opportunities that will become available to you.

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Radio’s Three Stooges

Every New Year’s Eve I create a night of excitement, romance and passion for my beautiful wife, Cheryl, by … well, by …

Okay, by staying home and watching AMC’s Three Stooges marathon.

What a romantic guy, eh?

As far as I am concerned there is no better way to ring in the new year than to continue what I’ve been observing the other 364 days – people making fools of themselves.

My wife who – if you must know – was the first to come up with the nickname “Slogan” for John Hogan (sorry John, it wasn't me) while she was proofreading one of my pieces.

So on New Year's Eve when she said, “why don’t you do a piece about Farid, Dickey and Hogan – the Three Stooges” I was all over it like an Italian eating meatballs in Sunday "gravy".

Can you see why I married this woman?

Sheer genius.

Of course, I hated to desecrate three people I love and respect -- Moe, Larry and Curly, but Cheryl was absolutely right. Do it for the sake of my career.

And she mentioned it on the right day because I had been hearing about last minute firings ramping up to New Year’s Eve by radio's three amateur comedians. I guess they thought they could sneak a few more people onto the unemployment lines without anyone knowing.

Aah, but they underestimate the power of our Repeater Reporters whose mantra seems to be “When Big News Breaks, They Break Up (Laughing)”. So yes, Radio’s Three Stooges never get a day off from their employees telling the rest of the story.

First I must tell you that I am getting reports that Fagreed Suleman is all full of himself again since he accomplished his life’s goal of bankrupting the first and only company he ever ran. He seems proud that he’s got job security with the greedy bastards he sold out to.

So, let's get on with it -- how do I cast these Radio's Three Stooges?

Hogan has to be Moe because he’s the clueless leader of the three failing radio groups that begin with the letter “C” – Clear Channel, Cumulus and Citadel. He gives the orders (but only after he takes his orders from Lee & Bain, the workout artists).

Fagreed is Larry. He even looks like him in a way. And while Larry just seems like a moronic idiot, Fagreed --- well, …

Dickey is Curly. Yuck-Yuck-Yuck-Tuck. Two Harvard grads --- just kidding, I'm kidding! I can just see Dickey doing that mock two hand head salute to all his employees. While the real Lew Dickey has an enviable head of hair compared to Curly, both of them seem to act like there’s no common sense below the scalp.

One of the Three Stooges shorts opens with a shot of the front door of the law offices of “Diller, Dollar and Dolar” and somehow I just see all our present day radio stooges coming up with more ways to make fools out of themselves hiding behind the law.

Another is at the funeral home of “Diggs, Diggs and Bury” – God, isn’t that apropos? If any three radio CEOs have done more to kill off an industry, it has been these clowns.

So what kind of plots could we have?

Well, you don’t have to look past the reality that has made the radio industry like a Fellini movie with lots of fantasy and baroque images. And maybe “baroque” is the wrong word. Perhaps “broke” is a better word than "baroque"for these ailing and bankrupt companies.

That’s it, let’s look to reality for some story lines for Radio’s Three Stooges – real events, real happenings – like ...

• Clear Channel, the Evil Empire, hires a former ENRON Executive Vice President and General Counsel Rob Walls to work the same magic for them that he worked for the bankrupt, corrupt and defunct ENRON. The plot thickens when they hire the replacement for CFO Randall Mays from the disgraced and failed lender “WaMu”.

I tell ya, you can’t make this stuff up.

Okay, maybe that plot is so believable that it is unbelievable since it really happened. Let’s try something lighter, like firings ...

• Two people were fired from Clear Channel Dayton on the eve of the new year – on-air personalities. Not an exciting enough plot line for these three characters? How about the fact that the latest two stealth firings brings the total to a whopping 18 for that cluster alone in the past year. It’s true. But is it funny enough for Radio’s Three Stooges to do something with it now that it's out there and everyone knows?

Here’s a great script possibility for Radio's Three Stooges …

• Clear Channel launches this great new programming initiative called “Rush Radio” in a number of markets – it’s Conservative talk radio for FMs. You know, “Rush Radio” – Rush Limbaugh! Some of the new "Rush Radio" stations may use slogans (John Hogan loves slogans) like "In tough times, it pays to be RIGHT!" Get it? Conservative? Right. Then you grow the plot by putting Rush Radio on some unfortunate Hispanic FMs that Clear Channel has failed to develop and program a local morning show, then Rush, Glenn Beck, Hannity and then repeat the trio. But then Rush is hospitalized with chest pains … no this can’t be real.

Here’s a real comedy of errors for Radio’s Three Stooges …

• On New Year’s even, Citadel fires a newsman then gets that fired newsman a gig at Metro Networks doing news for the very same station he was fired from for – are you ready – less money! No damn it, I’m not making this stuff up.

Well, I can hear the Three Stooges theme music “Three Blind Mice” coming up in the background, so it must be time to go.

The holidays were too long for me to be away from you.

Just when I thought there would be nothing to write about after the two-week break, Fagreed Suleman, Slogan Hogan and Tricky Dickey make fools of themselves yet again.

But this time the joke is really on them.

I know they hang on to my every word – Lew says he reads me only occasionally when my blog is forwarded to him (imagine that e-mail, “Hey Lew, here’s more good publicity for you”).

So if Radio's Three Stooges are reading this today as we start the new year, here it is –

Gentlemen, be afraid, be very afraid – the ad industry is not increasing its revenue in the year ahead but advertisers will be moving more traditional money to new media no matter how low you go on pricing.

I’ve got three seats for you in front of the room at my upcoming Media Solutions Lab if you want them. Some seats are $200 off until they’re gone – good use of corporate funds. Nearby Scottsdale Airport can handle your private planes.

Then listen and take notes.

Just when they thought they dodged the bullet to escape bankruptcy, the bleeding starts again.

These three may do the impossible and make 2009 look good.

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24 Days Left Until My Media Solutions Lab.

And some seats have been put aside for a $200 Preregistration Discount until they are sold (includes registration, breakfast, lunch and breaks). Register now to claim the $200 discount seats. Lock it in here.

Then search for a wide variety of hotel rooms and pricing options up to the minute, here.

This is a face-to-face interactive learning session divided into 14 meaningful modules. It will not be recorded for rebroadcast nor will you be able to record it. There will be no hucksters, sponsors or speakers with an agenda. You will personalize your involvement and come away with an action plan.

We’re waiting for Steve Jobs to drop the bomb that his mobile Apple tablet will be available – possibly as soon as the first quarter and it will not be enough to just find ways to reconfigure terrestrial radio.

There is mobile media, social networking, podcasting and webcasting but not the way radio companies are doing it.

The Solutions lab is about solutions.

Sample some of the program:

Future Trends

What will happen to radio by next December? What about the music business? The battle between on-demand and cable TV. Mobile content predictions. The shape of things to come in specifics. I worked on this over the weekend and so far there are 14 future trends you need to know to get a leg up on the changes ahead in the media business.

The New Radio

If you’re expecting a lecture on the People Meter or strategic ways to squeeze more listening out of existing programming, you’re aiming too low. Of course, we'll deal with ratings but you won't hear the same things everyone else is telling you. There is so much more. You'll learn if and under what circumstances a terrestrial brand can be ported to the digital world.

Improve Your Digital DNA

Think like Apple CEO Steve Jobs. It’s not a pipe dream. I’ll actually isolate his outstanding skills in reading the marketplace so you can see which ones you have, the ones you want to expand and the remaining that you’d like to acquire. No pie in the sky – this is hands on. Remember, Jobs is 50ish. You’ll learn that old dogs learn new tricks, they study the marketplace and provide consumers with exactly what they want and will support. We'll have some fun together learning how to let go of the less useful tools we've been accustomed to using and grasp a chance to acquire new age tools with people, ideas and marketing.

Make Money in Podcasting

You can be up and running in 30 days – I’m going to share what I tell clients looking to establish moneymaking brands in podcasting. What to avoid. How not to imitate radio because radio formatics on podcasting is not your strongest suit. Then, on to using social networking to grow your new business and finally monetize it. And be ready when I tell you that you can make money in podcasts without running commercials. You’ll get it here.

Fixing the Mistakes of Webcasting

Don’t follow terrestrial broadcasters – they’ve got it all wrong when it comes to webcasting. See, they want the web to be another transmitter – it’s a disease with them. But you’ll get the cure – I’ll show you ways to use the Internet that they are not doing and once the shock wears off you’ll want to run not walk to be the first ones in. And although royalty issues are a problem, I’ll show you how to deal with them. I'll set up a few parameters and then you'll brainstorm with me. While we're at it, you'll see how to use the brainstorming format I developed when I was a professor at the University of Southern California. I'm sure you'll use it with your people once you get the hang of it.

Help Advertisers Go Direct

Another business waiting to happen. I’ll outline where the opportunities are. We see big advertisers dabbling in direct access now but I contend this is a local business, too. If you’re a station willing to change, it’s for you. If you used to work for a station or are an ad agency, it’s a new business. You own the content and build the pathway. This is not just for the youth market. It’s for all ages, all markets.

New Media Businesses You Can Start

Start writing – and then ask all the questions you can. There are some businesses that are begging to be started and they don’t take a lot of money. Just brains and vision and hard work. Plus, a plan. I’ll show you one for each of the three businesses I will isolate.

How To Start a Business for the Apple Tablet

We're going to devote some time to this topic because I believe the Apple tablet is going to be the iPod/iPhone of the decade to come. A mobile commerce platform through the iTunes store that Apple is revamping right now. I'll give you the latest on what the device is, what it can be and how you can ready businesses for it. The Apple tablet through the iTunes store is a robust infrastructure that you can get in on whether you’re a radio brand, former radio executives or talent or an entrepreneur.

Make Money Publishing

While newspapers fret over lost circulation, you'll use those skills you picked up in an earlier session thinking like Apple. Did you see where even newspaper websites are now losing readers? But they are sitting on something powerful and they don’t even know it. Too worried about failure and declining revenues. I'll show you a zip-code inspired way to create your first, second, third (and so on) cash flow stream. Your expenses will be in content -- not delivery. Perfect for ex-radio execs who want to use their programming and marketing skills. Hint: the new publishing will be inhaled, heard, seen and read. More to come.

Micropayments

You can get them. I’m going to get them. I'll tell you how I'm going to do it and how you can, too. There is a debate that is relevant about free vs paid. Rupert Murdoch thinks he can get paid for the online content of his newspaper empire and I agree with him. Chris Anderson ("Long Tail" and "Free") says the best you can do is give it all away for free and then charge for paid additional content. I disagree (I never much liked his long tail theory of the music industry, either). So how does this affect you? Got an idea, a talent, a skill, a topic -- if it is good enough someone may pay a fair price to access it. It's happening now. This flies in the face of everything we know about young people and the Internet. Then again, buying Apple apps flies in the face of ... well, you get it. And so does the monthly TV package Apple is reportedly considering. This could be a business for you or your company.

Mobile Money

Radio may be content to miss the mobile revolution, but you don’t have to. If you have an idea, a personality, a talent – you can channel it to the new mobile media world that is evolving. There are rules and pitfalls and we’ll discuss them. You can ask questions and gain insights. Ask me about how to make mobile users go nuts like cats do when you throw them some cat nip.

Social Networking Beyond Facebook

In fact, people are getting pissed off at the blatant commercial uses of Facebook and Twitter. Facebook has tightened its controls for users to keep out unwanted riff raff. Hey, social networking is being redefined and I'll show you some of the ways you can use it. In fact, this is one area you had better be skilled in for over the next ten years social networking will drive everything.

Reinventing You

I’m publishing a book on this topic in 2010. I’ve gleaned a lot of insights from my teaching of the next generation at USC. Basically, if you buy that our world is changing (and few would argue that) then it follows that we must change ---acquire new skill sets, discard less useful tools. You’ll get a preview of the concepts that will help you reinvent yourself for your career and even your life.

Leave with an Action Plan

Once you decide what you want to take from this day, I want you to leave with a plan of action to make changes, explore new opportunities, acquire useful and additional skills.

This Media Solutions Lab is really different. Not a convention. It’s a fast moving, fun, eye opening seven hours and I promise you’ll never see things the same old way again.

My abilities and yours together is what makes this day special and rewarding.

There is a “pre-registration” price category on the Media Solutions Lab website. It’s like the airlines (except we serve food and let you use the bathrooms for free). A limited number of seats at a $200 discount.

I know it isn't easy for the people who need this day the most to afford it. But please consider that sitting out the future even for another year is not an option.

Claim one of them asap here.

I can hardly wait to be with you and help get your creative juices flowing

I hope you invest in yourself and accept my invitation and meet me in person January 28th at the Westin Kierland for my Media Solutions Lab. Register now.

Damascus - Axis of Evil Tour!

I travel a lot as a working musician, and if there’s one thing that travelling teaches you it’s that nothing is black and white. This was once again brought home to me on my recent visit to Damascus, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, and the capital city of Syria, part of George Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ (the other members of George’s trio are Iran and North Korea). Long known as an implacable enemy of Israel (who annexed the Golan Heights from them in 1967), and therefore by extension an enemy of America and by further extension, the ‘free world’, Syria has been demonised in the West. So when I told people I would be going there with my family for a holiday over the Christmas/New Year period they reacted with horrified amazement. I might as well have said I was going to Baghdad or Afghanistan - as far as they were concerned Syria represented the same level of danger and madness, and therefore visiting Syria for a ‘holiday’ provided proof, if proof were needed, that when it comes to choosing holiday destinations I was barking mad.



But as I said, things are never black and white, and in fact Syria is a very safe destination for a tourist to go to, with almost no street crime of any kind (if only we could say the same in Europe or America.....), and is a country with an incredible mixture of races and religions living in it. One of the misapprehensions we in the west have about Syria is that it's a fundamentalist Muslim country, but it's actually one of the most secular and possibly the most, (officially at least), religiously tolerant in the Middle East. This is mainly due to the fact that the ruling regime are all Alawites - a minority Islamic sect that's looked on as being heretic by many fundamentalist Muslims. As part of protecting their own situation they are very heavy on religious tolerance.



About 15% of the population are Christians, and there are Shias, Sunnis, Druze, Orthodox Christians, Armenian Christians, and many others there, as well, as believe it or not - Jews! There are two synagogues in Damascus, though there's not a big Syrian Jewish population any more (most left in 1994 as part of an agreement with the US – one of the conditions worked out at the Madrid Peace Conference) . So though the Syrian regime hates the Israelis, they don't (officially at least), hate Jewish people per se. Having said that, it’s probably not an easy place to be Jewish in, but the fact that Jewish people live in the capital city of Israel’s most implacable enemy, and that Syria is a police state that enforces religious tolerance, shows again how many shades of grey there can be, and how little is black and white.



Marian Shrine, Christian Quarter, Damascus


On arrival in Damascus it was immediately interesting to compare this place to other places I’ve been in the Middle East. One thing that’s particularly noticeable is the lack of tourists around – Syria’s reputation, (undeserved), as a hot bed of radical Muslim fundamentalism keeps westerners away. As a result, you get almost no hassle at all to buy things, or to go into shops, or to take taxis – people leave you alone to do your own thing. Which is COMPLETELY different to Morocco or Cairo, or even Turkey (at least in the tourist areas) – because they depend so much on tourism, they see tourists as being like ATMs, so everywhere you go they try and talk you into buying this or doing that, or going into this restaurant, or that carpet shop etc. - which can get very wearing after a while. But in Syria this is not the case, and on our first day we went into the huge covered market and were amazed not to get the usual calls of ‘please sir’, or ‘this way sir!’, or ‘you want carpet/jacket/shoes/etc. sir?’ - we were allowed to wander around without being importuned even once, which was great – it allowed you to stop and look at things for as long as you want without keeping watch from the corner of your eye for yet another salesman trying to drag you into his shop. Very cool.



The second thing that was striking was the variety of races, cultures and religions represented out on the street. Within the first ten minutes of being in the Souq, we saw women covered from head to toe in the black Chador of Shia Islam, women in designer jeans and jewellery, men in traditional Bedouin costume, Mullahs, a Christian priest, men in business suits, women wearing head scarves - but the colours of which were carefully matched with their earrings and makeup. Again the shades of grey concept was fully in evidence - we saw one man bargaining in a spice shop in the souq, he had a Muslim skullcap on, a full beard, and a jacket, the back of which bore the legend ‘Colorado Boy’s Ranch’.



It said in the guidebook that Syria was one of the friendliest places to visit in the Middle East – we found the guidebook to be unreliable on several fronts, (maps and restaurant recommendations in particular), but they were right about this. The Middle East is in general a very welcoming region, with an incredible tradition of hospitality, and after much travel in the region I’ve come to expect this kind of thing. But the Syrians take friendliness and hospitality into another realm – this welcome we got everywhere we went was truly remarkable. Within one minute of being in the Souq, we had asked and been given permission to take photographs of two sieve makers, who then asked us where we were from, welcomed us and offered us sweets from a bag they produced from under the counter. Later we went for a coffee and were approached by two young guys who again asked us where we were from, told us all about themselves (students – one about to go off to Germany to study for seven years), asked about our impressions of Syria and made suggestions as to things we could do and restaurants to check out. Before leaving they gave us their mobile numbers and asked us to call them if we needed any help or assistance while in Damascus. Again and again we were met with kindness, friendliness and hospitality – people would shout ‘welcome’ to us as we went past and wave. The very scarcity of western visitors to Damascus seems to make the Damascenes all the more appreciative of those who do venture in, and the combination of friendliness and yet at the same time not being hassled into buying things makes this city unique in my experience of travels in the Middle East.

Not that I want to give the impression that Syria is some paradise on earth either. The people of Syria may be wonderful, but the same can’t be said for the regime that rules it. Make no mistake about it, this is a police state, where any political dissent is ruthlessly crushed, and no opposition of any kind is permitted. President Assad – whose slightly geeky features are plastered everywhere – got 97% of the vote in the last election, which wasn’t as good a result as it sounds when you consider that he was the sole candidate! Syria has been under ‘Emergency Law’ which suspends the basic rights of its citizens, since 1962. Censorship is widespread – in fact I had to wait to get back from there to do this post since Blogger is blocked in Syria – a fate that’s shared there by other well known websites such as Youtube and Facebook. When the current president Bashar Al-Assad took over from his father Hafez, there was hope that things would change, but they haven’t – they’ve tried to open up the economy more and you see progressive kinds of things like the introduction of a partial smoking ban (in the Middle East!) coming next year. But still, say anything publicly against Bashar and you’d better get yourself ready for a visit from the secret police and a vacation that will definitely differ from the one we just had............



A Shi'ite restaurant with a painting of Iran's President Ahmedinijad, Syria's President Assad and the Iraqi Shia radical cleric Mokhtada Al-Sadr displayed over the door. 'The Rogues Gallery Restaurant' perhaps?

Old City, Ummayad Mosque and the incompatibility of Chadors and Escalators......




Damascus is divided into two parts, the Old City, and everywhere else. The new part of the city is fairly nondescript - apartment blocks, shops, seething traffic which seems to operate on the chaos principle, (no road markings on roads wide enough to take cars four abreast resulting in a weaving mass of horn-tooting vehicles), fairly poor air quality and little of architectural merit to attract the eye or delay the casual traveller.

The old city on the other hand is an extraordinary place, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is essentially a mediaeval Arab city, complete with a maze of narrow lanes, tiny shops, bustling street life, and a massive souq right in the middle of it. When you enter this part of the city you really feel like you’re in the Middle East.


And this feeling of being, for a Westerner at least, somewhere very different, is never stronger than when you approach the massive Ummayad Mosque which takes up a sizeable chunk of the old city. This is one of the most famous and venerated mosques in the Islamic world, attracting pilgrims and visitors for hundreds of years. In my own travels I’ve visited quite a few famous mosques in Cairo, and especially in Istanbul. I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere in these places — there’s something different about the feeling that one gets in a big mosque as opposed to the atmosphere of one of Christianity’s massive cathedrals. With the latter I always get a feeling of heaviness in the architecture — you can almost feel the weight of the building as it towers over you. The mosques on the other hand — particularly the domed mosques of the Ottomans — have a lightness about them, almost a feeling as if being in a huge tent. The carpets which cover the floors of these buildings accentuate that feeling, especially since you are required to take off your shoes before entering a mosque - the feeling of walking around on a carpet in your stocking feet helps foster an intimacy with the interior of the building that one just doesn’t get when walking around a large Christian cathedral. The fact too that it is quite acceptable to sit on the floor of these buildings, rest your back against the wall, and contemplate the architecture adds to this feeling of intimacy.



The Ummayad Mosque has an extraordinarily beautiful courtyard — appropriately massive, and covered in the kind of gilded calligraphy that you often encounter in places like this. As you enter it through the main gate, a huge square opens up in front of you, you get a sense of the importance of this building to the faithful, who constantly pour in and remind you of the myriad nationalities and races that are encompassed by the Islamic world — Malaysians, Arabs, Africans, people from the Subcontinent, Turks etc.



On entering the mosque itself, I was actually a little disappointed. Yes it’s a huge building, with some beautiful calligraphy and tiling, and it has a beautiful section which houses the Mihrab , but architecturally I found to be quite disappointing — a kind of giant rectangular box, with little of the grace and airiness of the domed mosques of Istanbul. I first went to the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul in 1986, and in a way it kind of spoiled me for all others! I knew the reputation of the Ummayad, so I was expecting something architecturally spectacular, but found instead something that was almost ordinary — relatively speaking at least.




The mosque attracts many Shia pilgrims, especially from Iran. You can see them arriving in groups, the women clearly identifiable by their head-to-toe black Chadors, which, enhanced by the fact that often all you can see of them is their nose, gives them the appearance of a flock of crows shuffling along towards the mosque entrance. But before they can reach the haven of the mosque, if approaching from the souq, they have to negotiate an urban hazard — an escalator!



We couldn’t figure out what the problem with escalators was for these women, whether it was because they were not used to them, (a lot of these pilgrims are quite probably people from rural areas of Iran), or because they were worried that their Chadors would catch in the mechanism, or whether it was something else. But whatever it was, they definitely had issues with escalators! Time and again we would see them teetering on the brink of jumping onto the escalator, like people standing on the edge of a cliff — irresolute, unable to decide whether to jump or not, before finally making the great leap into the unknown and tottering unsteadily on the first step before grabbing the rail and hanging on for dear life. On one occasion a woman actually lost her footing and began toppling backwards down the escalator as it went up, only a despairing grasp by her husband of her sleeve-end prevented her from falling backwards and hitting the back of her head off the iron steps. It would seem that modern technology in the form of escalators, and Chador-clad Shia women don’t mix.

“Avatar”, Hollywood, and the War On Terror



It’s always interesting to go to the movies in a different country, and especially in a different culture to your own. We once had a great time at a Tamil movie in Madras, despite not understanding a word of what was going on. But the vibe in the cinema was great, with the audience getting involved in the on-screen action in a way that you never see in the West. Walking through the new part of Damascus one day, we came across a new cinema — a real western style, multiscreen place, that was showing “Avatar”, and we decided to go and and get a Syrian cinematic experience. The movie was in English with Arabic subtitles, and though the audience was made up of obviously middle-class, westernised people, mostly in their early 20s, their behaviour in the cinema was quite different to an equivalent audience in a western cinema. As soon as the lights went down chatter broke out amongst the entire audience, and the film was punctuated throughout by giggling and chatting in a way that would draw much irritated shushing in an Irish cinema at least.



So far so good, but then something happened on the screen that gives a very real perspective on how things can be seen in different parts of the world. Those familiar with the story of “Avatar” will know that its premise is that invaders from Earth come to a far away planet in order to exploit its mineral resources for their own use. The fact that the people from ‘Earth’ were to a man, and a woman, Americans made the obvious parallel of the Western exploitation of the oil wealth of the Middle East, and the wars and political shenanigans used by the West to control energy sources emanating from there, all the more obvious. And it began to dawn on me as I sat there in the dark, that some of this made uncomfortable viewing for a Westerner sitting in an audience of Arabs.



But this feeling of slight discomfort with the storyline was ratcheted up several notches when the bad guy in the film — a stereotype GI Joe kind of guy dressed in American military fatigues — announces to a military briefing, “We will defeat the Hostiles - we will meet terror with terror!”, his description of what he was about to unleash on the native people included the phrase “shock and awe” -- the phrase coined by Rumsfeld to describe what America was going to do to the Iraqis — a people who lived only a couple of hundred kilometres from where we were sitting in the cinema. The phrase ‘we will meet terror with terror’ was greeted by an audible intake of breath by the audience in the cinema, and I was suddenly conscious and that we were three Westerners sitting in an audience of about 1000 Syrians, whose country has been demonised by the leading military power in the West, and were watching a film in which a stereotypically macho American Marine is about to launch his helicopter gunships on the native population. It’s not that I felt that we were in any danger of any kind, but when you watch something like that in Damascus, it definitely gives you a different perspective than if you watched it in Dun Laoghaire! When GI Joe bad guy was eventually killed in the film, the audience erupted into wild cheering and clapping — which given the context in which most of the people were watching that film, was hardly surprising.

All in all we spent five days in Damascus, which is probably about enough — the city doesn’t have much more in it that would keep the tourist occupied for much longer than that. It was an interesting and fascinating experience to be in a country that is often seen as a pariah in the West, and yet to be met with only friendliness and kindness, to see a very deep culture, to see a myriad of people, races, and religions living together harmoniously, and, oh yes, did I mention the great food!?

Inside the Media Solutions Lab

By Jerry Del Colliano

$200 Preregistration Discount -- Some seats have been designated for a $200 discount while they last in the "preregistration category" category until they are sold (includes registration, breakfast, lunch and breaks). Register now to claim the $200 discount seats. Lock it in here.

Happy New Year to all of my readers with the wish and hope that you will be able to take advantage of the many major changes that are coming in the new year.

Many of you have asked me to say more about my upcoming Media Solutions Lab at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, January 28th -- where we will spend an entire day focusing on these challenges and opportunities.

You already know that my Media Lab is about the future -- we've talked about it from time to time. And there are 14 modules of content -- and yes, we'll cover all 14 in seven exhilarating hours. You can take a peek at the learning modules right here.

But the real magic of this format is built around you and me.

You are obviously not like other people in that you come here regularly to get the straight scoop on both the mistakes being made by traditional media companies and the promise of new media as it emerges in its early stages.

Sitting on the sidelines is not an option.

Record labels and radio groups are fighting to defend the status quo but they are fighting a losing battle. The Media Solutions Lab is for smarter radio people who are willing to take a fresh look at what's ahead and most specially for radio people, music execs, traditional media professionals of all types.

So let's see if I can take a moment to paint some vivid word pictures about an event the nature of which you probably have not seen before.

You will likely arrive in Scottsdale the night before the January 28th (Thursday) Lab. The WestinKierland is a great property and worthy of even a longer stay, but if you're on a budget I've found a list of other nearby hotels that may be better options -- compare hotel rates here. You'll be just around the corner but you'll love the meeting space, I promise.

The next morning, we'll have a continental breakfast waiting for attendees at the Westin so put your credit card away -- and if you've ever attended one of my old Inside Radio conferences you know this will be first class. In addition, we'll have lunch for you as well as breaks, refreshments and snacks -- it's all included.

I want to meet each one of you personally before the day is done -- and I know some of my friends will want to follow up with me after the event once you put together your own personal action plan.

We'll start no later than 9 am and work in an atmosphere of approval and acceptance. You'll tell me "you look better in person than in your pictures" and I'll probably give you an additional discount and you'll add, "your wife is so sweet, why did she marry you?" Okay, I'm lying about the discount part. My wife is sweet - that part is true.

I'll start with a look into the next 12 months -- what will happen, what is unexpected, what opportunities exist. We'll talk.

Remember, this event is not being recorded (you will not be permitted to record it as well) nor will it be available in any other form after the event. It's face to face, interactive. You've got to be there. You'll know why after just a few minutes.

Then, we'll hit on a number of topics that I've planned for you.

Here's a sample of a few topics (only a few) right here:

Reinventing Radio

I've got some surprises for you. There is a way to prolong the life of terrestrial radio but few operators are doing it. No consultant can tell you what you're going to learn here but you will see how to revitalize your fan base. You'll learn about the misinformation that is being put out about how to program to the People Meter by consultants and researchers who want your business, but the real answer will become apparent and you will learn how to put your best programming foot forward. You'll also learn if and under what circumstances a terrestrial brand can be ported to the digital world.

Think Like Apple

Why is the media business thinking like label execs and radio consolidators? They don't really understand what happened to their businesses. In fact, they are failures not worthy of following. Apple CEO Steve Jobs understands the changing media market. He's no kid and you don't have to be one either to acquire the skills he has and you'll need to operate in the digital future. We'll have some fun together learning how to let go of the less useful tools we've been accustomed to using and grasp a chance to acquire new age tools with people, ideas and marketing.

Earn Podcasting Revenue in 30 Days

I always wonder why some of my talented on-air friends are not running toward podcasting. They should be. It is the future for talent, personality and information. You can be your own Clear Channel -- I'm sorry, I just insulted you. I mean, you can be your own company. And don't think podcasting is radio on a mobile device. It isn't. And if you don't believe me -- why do you think so many podcasters have a fan following and no revenue stream. We'll fix that for you.

Avoid The Webcasting Trap

I know ... I know ... royalty fees are killing webcasts. No, actually radio groups are killing it. They dump terrestrial programming online -- pick up a mere 1-3% more at-work listeners and call it a success. No wonder WBEB, Philadelphia owner Jerry Lee pulled the plug on streaming B-101.1. But wait -- there is a better use for webcasting. I'll set up a few parameters and then you'll brainstorm with me. While we're at it, I'll show you the brainstorming format I developed when I was a professor at the University of Southern California. I'm sure you'll use it with your people once you get the hang of it. Oh yes, you'll come away with ideas -- so many -- that it will be hard to keep you in your seat.

A Growth Alert -- Advertisers Are Going Direct to Consumers

Advertisers have figured this out -- but somehow broadcasters have not. Of course advertisers aren't going to abandon traditional media all of a sudden but what you can expect them to do is spend increasing amounts of money building promotions, websites, podcasts, social networking outreaches and other mobile things without the middleman. And if you think this is just about the youth market, you would be wrong. This is about all ages, all markets. And I'm going to show you a way to be the one who creates the content for advertisers without traditional media. I'll bet I won't be able to get a word in edgewise once I light this fire.

New Media Businesses You Can Start

I can't think of any better red meat to throw in front of my attendees -- after all, they care about their future and want to be part of the media revolution ahead. I'll start with a few ideas and you'll build on them. Only the people in my meeting room will have the advantage of seeing a future for businesses that require little to no investment other than sweat equity -- and who works harder than media people?

How To Start a Business for the Apple Tablet

We're going to devote some time to this topic because I believe the Apple tablet is going to be the iPod/iPhone of the decade to come. A mobile commerce platform through the iTunes store that Apple is revamping right now. I'll give you the latest on what the device is, what it can be and how you can start businesses for it whether you are running a radio station, group or you are currently at liberty. Steve Jobs may make his announcement two days before the Media Lab -- you'll be at the right place at the right time to get a leg up on this important mobile platform.

The New Publishing

While newspapers fret over lost circulation, you'll use those skills you picked up in an earlier session thinking like Apple. Did you see where even newspaper websites are now losing readers? Publishers can't seem do anything right, but they could. And you can as well. Look, you're not going to go buy a distressed newspaper -- let Sam Zell do that. But I'll show you a zip-code inspired way to create your first, second, third (and so on) cash flow stream. Your expenses will be in content -- not delivery. Perfect for ex-radio execs who want to use their programming and marketing skills. Hint: the new publishing will be inhaled, heard, seen and read. That's it, more to come.

How to Get Paid for Being You

I'll tell you how I'm going to do it -- and I've been quite an innovative entrepreneur over the years. There is a debate that is relevant about free vs paid. Rupert Murdoch thinks he can get paid for the online content of his newspaper empire and I agree with him. Chris Anderson ("Long Tail" and "Free") says the best you can do is give it all away for free and then charge for paid additional content. I disagree (I never much liked his long tail theory of the music industry, either). So how does this affect you? Got an idea, a talent, a skill, a topic -- if it is good enough someone may pay a fair price to access it. It's happening now. This flies in the face of everything we know about young people and the Internet. Then again, buying Apple apps flies in the face of ... well, you get it. And so does the monthly TV package Apple is reportedly considering. This could be a business for you or your company.

Mobile Content

There is nothing bigger than the cell phone/smart phone business. It can't be about just texting and applications forever. Over the next ten years content will be integrated more and more into mobile devices but that doesn't mean radio or newspapers. I'll frame the discussion and we'll have at it. Hint: without understanding the sociology of mobile media, there is little chance to create thriving businesses based on it.

Social Networking Beyond Facebook

In fact, people are getting pissed off at the blatant commercial uses of Facebook and Twitter. Facebook has tightened its controls for users to keep out unwanted riff raff. Hey, social networking is being redefined and I'll show you some of the ways you can use it. In fact, this is one area you had better be skilled in for over the next ten years social networking will drive everything.

Reinventing You

Look, you can't believe that the media business is ready for monumental change without acknowledging that you need to change as well. Acquire new skill sets, discard less useful tools. I am writing a book about this topic so you will be getting an advanced look at some of the ways we can reinvent our careers -- even before the book is available for purchase on -- The Apple tablet!

Leave with an Action Plan

Once you decide what you want to take from this day, I want you to leave with a plan of action to make changes, explore new opportunities, acquire useful and additional skills. Leave with this and you'll want to pay double for admission -- okay, I lied again. But I think you'll agree you got more than your moneys worth.

If you want conventional industry meetings, you've got many choices.

Want to hear Lew Dickey again or another Wall Street banker imitate a funeral director -- well, we're not going there.

My abilities and yours together is what makes this day special and rewarding.

One more thing.

I know it isn't easy for the people who need this day the most to afford it. But please consider that sitting out the future even for another year is not an option.

If you register today before it expires in 2 days, you'll save $300 off the regular price and lock in the discounted early bird savings -- the lowest price the registration will ever be. Divide the "early bird" price of $495 by my seven hours of working with you and you're paying $70 an hour -- and that's before meeting space, breakfast, lunch, refreshments and breaks are considered. And you can pigeonhole me in the hallway and talk one-on-one about your ideas and plans.

I am so excited about this I hope you will accept my invitation and meet me in person January 28th at the Westin Kierland for my Media Solutions Lab.

Here's how to register.

Inside the Media Solutions Lab

By Jerry Del Colliano

Today is the FINAL DAY to save $300 off the registration price for my January 28th Media Solutions Lab. Lock it in here.

Happy New Year to all of my readers with the wish and hope that you will be able to take advantage of the many major changes that are coming in the new year.

Many of you have asked me to say more about my upcoming Media Solutions Lab at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, January 28th -- where we will spend an entire day focusing on these challenges and opportunities.

You already know that my Media Lab is about the future -- we've talked about it from time to time. And there are 14 modules of content -- and yes, we'll cover all 14 in seven exhilarating hours. You can take a peek at the learning modules right here.

But the real magic of this format is built around you and me.

You are obviously not like other people in that you come here regularly to get the straight scoop on both the mistakes being made by traditional media companies and the promise of new media as it emerges in its early stages.

Sitting on the sidelines is not an option.

Record labels and radio groups are fighting to defend the status quo but they are fighting a losing battle. The Media Solutions Lab is for smarter radio people who are willing to take a fresh look at what's ahead and most specially for radio people, music execs, traditional media professionals of all types.

So let's see if I can take a moment to paint some vivid word pictures about an event the nature of which you probably have not seen before.

You will likely arrive in Scottsdale the night before the January 28th (Thursday) Lab. The WestinKierland is a great property and worthy of even a longer stay, but if you're on a budget I've found a list of other nearby hotels that may be better options -- compare hotel rates here. You'll be just around the corner but you'll love the meeting space, I promise.

The next morning, we'll have a continental breakfast waiting for attendees at the Westin so put your credit card away -- and if you've ever attended one of my old Inside Radio conferences you know this will be first class. In addition, we'll have lunch for you as well as breaks, refreshments and snacks -- it's all included.

I want to meet each one of you personally before the day is done -- and I know some of my friends will want to follow up with me after the event once you put together your own personal action plan.

We'll start no later than 9 am and work in an atmosphere of approval and acceptance. You'll tell me "you look better in person than in your pictures" and I'll probably give you an additional discount and you'll add, "your wife is so sweet, why did she marry you?" Okay, I'm lying about the discount part. My wife is sweet - that part is true.

I'll start with a look into the next 12 months -- what will happen, what is unexpected, what opportunities exist. We'll talk.

Remember, this event is not being recorded (you will not be permitted to record it as well) nor will it be available in any other form after the event. It's face to face, interactive. You've got to be there. You'll know why after just a few minutes.

Then, we'll hit on a number of topics that I've planned for you.

Here's a sample of a few topics (only a few) right here:

Reinventing Radio

I've got some surprises for you. There is a way to prolong the life of terrestrial radio but few operators are doing it. No consultant can tell you what you're going to learn here but you will see how to revitalize your fan base. You'll learn about the misinformation that is being put out about how to program to the People Meter by consultants and researchers who want your business, but the real answer will become apparent and you will learn how to put your best programming foot forward. You'll also learn if and under what circumstances a terrestrial brand can be ported to the digital world.

Think Like Apple

Why is the media business thinking like label execs and radio consolidators? They don't really understand what happened to their businesses. In fact, they are failures not worthy of following. Apple CEO Steve Jobs understands the changing media market. He's no kid and you don't have to be one either to acquire the skills he has and you'll need to operate in the digital future. We'll have some fun together learning how to let go of the less useful tools we've been accustomed to using and grasp a chance to acquire new age tools with people, ideas and marketing.

Earn Podcasting Revenue in 30 Days

I always wonder why some of my talented on-air friends are not running toward podcasting. They should be. It is the future for talent, personality and information. You can be your own Clear Channel -- I'm sorry, I just insulted you. I mean, you can be your own company. And don't think podcasting is radio on a mobile device. It isn't. And if you don't believe me -- why do you think so many podcasters have a fan following and no revenue stream. We'll fix that for you.

Avoid The Webcasting Trap

I know ... I know ... royalty fees are killing webcasts. No, actually radio groups are killing it. They dump terrestrial programming online -- pick up a mere 1-3% more at-work listeners and call it a success. No wonder WBEB, Philadelphia owner Jerry Lee pulled the plug on streaming B-101.1. But wait -- there is a better use for webcasting. I'll set up a few parameters and then you'll brainstorm with me. While we're at it, I'll show you the brainstorming format I developed when I was a professor at the University of Southern California. I'm sure you'll use it with your people once you get the hang of it. Oh yes, you'll come away with ideas -- so many -- that it will be hard to keep you in your seat.

A Growth Alert -- Advertisers Are Going Direct to Consumers

Advertisers have figured this out -- but somehow broadcasters have not. Of course advertisers aren't going to abandon traditional media all of a sudden but what you can expect them to do is spend increasing amounts of money building promotions, websites, podcasts, social networking outreaches and other mobile things without the middleman. And if you think this is just about the youth market, you would be wrong. This is about all ages, all markets. And I'm going to show you a way to be the one who creates the content for advertisers without traditional media. I'll bet I won't be able to get a word in edgewise once I light this fire.

New Media Businesses You Can Start

I can't think of any better red meat to throw in front of my attendees -- after all, they care about their future and want to be part of the media revolution ahead. I'll start with a few ideas and you'll build on them. Only the people in my meeting room will have the advantage of seeing a future for businesses that require little to no investment other than sweat equity -- and who works harder than media people?

How To Start a Business for the Apple Tablet

We're going to devote some time to this topic because I believe the Apple tablet is going to be the iPod/iPhone of the decade to come. A mobile commerce platform through the iTunes store that Apple is revamping right now. I'll give you the latest on what the device is, what it can be and how you can start businesses for it whether you are running a radio station, group or you are currently at liberty. Steve Jobs may make his announcement two days before the Media Lab -- you'll be at the right place at the right time to get a leg up on this important mobile platform.

The New Publishing

While newspapers fret over lost circulation, you'll use those skills you picked up in an earlier session thinking like Apple. Did you see where even newspaper websites are now losing readers? Publishers can't seem do anything right, but they could. And you can as well. Look, you're not going to go buy a distressed newspaper -- let Sam Zell do that. But I'll show you a zip-code inspired way to create your first, second, third (and so on) cash flow stream. Your expenses will be in content -- not delivery. Perfect for ex-radio execs who want to use their programming and marketing skills. Hint: the new publishing will be inhaled, heard, seen and read. That's it, more to come.

How to Get Paid for Being You

I'll tell you how I'm going to do it -- and I've been quite an innovative entrepreneur over the years. There is a debate that is relevant about free vs paid. Rupert Murdoch thinks he can get paid for the online content of his newspaper empire and I agree with him. Chris Anderson ("Long Tail" and "Free") says the best you can do is give it all away for free and then charge for paid additional content. I disagree (I never much liked his long tail theory of the music industry, either). So how does this affect you? Got an idea, a talent, a skill, a topic -- if it is good enough someone may pay a fair price to access it. It's happening now. This flies in the face of everything we know about young people and the Internet. Then again, buying Apple apps flies in the face of ... well, you get it. And so does the monthly TV package Apple is reportedly considering. This could be a business for you or your company.

Mobile Content

There is nothing bigger than the cell phone/smart phone business. It can't be about just texting and applications forever. Over the next ten years content will be integrated more and more into mobile devices but that doesn't mean radio or newspapers. I'll frame the discussion and we'll have at it. Hint: without understanding the sociology of mobile media, there is little chance to create thriving businesses based on it.

Social Networking Beyond Facebook

In fact, people are getting pissed off at the blatant commercial uses of Facebook and Twitter. Facebook has tightened its controls for users to keep out unwanted riff raff. Hey, social networking is being redefined and I'll show you some of the ways you can use it. In fact, this is one area you had better be skilled in for over the next ten years social networking will drive everything.

Reinventing You

Look, you can't believe that the media business is ready for monumental change without acknowledging that you need to change as well. Acquire new skill sets, discard less useful tools. I am writing a book about this topic so you will be getting an advanced look at some of the ways we can reinvent our careers -- even before the book is available for purchase on -- The Apple tablet!

Leave with an Action Plan

Once you decide what you want to take from this day, I want you to leave with a plan of action to make changes, explore new opportunities, acquire useful and additional skills. Leave with this and you'll want to pay double for admission -- okay, I lied again. But I think you'll agree you got more than your moneys worth.

If you want conventional industry meetings, you've got many choices.

Want to hear Lew Dickey again or another Wall Street banker imitate a funeral director -- well, we're not going there.

My abilities and yours together is what makes this day special and rewarding.

One more thing.

I know it isn't easy for the people who need this day the most to afford it. But please consider that sitting out the future even for another year is not an option.

If you register today before it expires in 2 days, you'll save $300 off the regular price and lock in the discounted early bird savings -- the lowest price the registration will ever be. Divide the "early bird" price of $495 by my seven hours of working with you and you're paying $70 an hour -- and that's before meeting space, breakfast, lunch, refreshments and breaks are considered. And you can pigeonhole me in the hallway and talk one-on-one about your ideas and plans.

I am so excited about this I hope you will accept my invitation and meet me in person January 28th at the Westin Kierland for my Media Solutions Lab.

Here's how to register.

The Big Media Trend of NEXT Year

At the end of the year – not to mention another decade – attention seems to be directed to what changes have happened over that time span.

But today, I’d rather look ahead to next year, the next three years – I doubt anyone could accurately see through the entire next decade.

We are about to enter a time of great change in the media business -- yes, even bigger than anything we have seen to date in the tumultuous first decade of this new century.

The Internet thing has happened.

Social networking has taken root – even if in the primitive form of Facebook and Twitter.

Traditional media has been increasingly on the ropes.

The music industry has locked itself out of the digital future – no one else did it to them.

And the radio industry is a mere shadow of its former self as consolidation, greed, mismanagement and too much debt service has taken its toll.

But having said all of this, the next few years will not be about radio or records. These businesses have left themselves in harm’s way. I can prove it.

Putting everything else aside, how much money does a record label or radio group budget for new media development?

Three percent would be a high guess.

It should be over 33%.

The future is about mobile devices – the ones we’ve seen and the ones we have yet to see.

Smart phones and media players are already in the hands of consumers. Now, we’re seeing mobile content choices migrate seamlessly into the entertainment system of cars that used to be the sole domain of a simple radio.

But the big story of NEXT year is the Apple tablet that I have been telling you about for some time now.

Steve Jobs, the Apple magician, is going to wave his magic wand again – perhaps as early as the first quarter of this year – to introduce a game changer like no other. It will be the Apple tablet – likely a ten inch screen that will serve as a book, a television, an iPod and a link to the Internet.

And that's just for starters.

As the radio industry smugly likes to point out, iPhones represent only five percent of the media market – and if that makes them feel good, knock yourself out.

What media companies don’t do well is know their audiences – the sociology of why they do the things they do. Many of you know what I am speaking of. Young people like to watch their laptops and order TV shows. They don’t like to pay for things. Don’t much like commercials. No longer look to radio to tell them what type of music they like.

They have information that is channeled to them to get news and entertainment – they don’t go to a channel to get this content. In other words, the content is invited onto their mobile devices on an increasing basis.

Keep in mind they create their own content when they text and mobile users spend a lot of time texting (even texting while driving – they all do it).

The mobile audience we all covet is bound together by Facebook and slightly older folks tend to be your Twitter users.

Now, this one device -- the Apple tablet -- will revolutionize everything. A TV tower will be less valuable. Radio stations less important. Newspapers in print are done and must reinvent themselves for this new ten inch monster and by that I don’t mean just slapping up the kind of websites they’ve been doing.

Newspaper websites are declining in readership – see some late intelligence here.

But when details come out about the new Apple tablet, let the learning begin.

It’s not the fact that a handheld entertainment and information device will exist. It’s how consumers will use it and that’s where I am interested. There may be many new opportunities for talented people (especially the ones fired from traditional media companies) to set up shop and get access to this emerging market.

I’m going to get into this at my upcoming Media Solutions Lab in January.

But one thing is for sure – if the Apple tablet is programmed like traditional media, you can forget the future. My bet is that everything will have to be reinvented to fit the sociology of the Apple tablet to have a chance. And by that I don't mean giving lip service to the sociology of technology but rather a new appreciation and approach to looking at media and audiences.

Here’s what I hear:

1. Apple could announce this device as early as the first quarter, but be warned – with Steve Jobs, it is really anyone’s guess. All this talk is pumping up interest. Apple stock is at $211 a share and climbing. There is talk that an Apple announcement is in the wind for January 26th – two days before my Media Solutions Lab which is why I am going to deal with this issue in person with you.

2. It will be larger than an iPod Touch – about ten inches with higher resolution as far as we can determine.

3. Apple is supposedly talking to TV networks about a subscription plan that would kick cable where it hurts by allowing consumers to prepare their own agenda of what they want to watch and pay a monthly fee. Details here.

4. The iTunes store is being revamped as we speak – it’s a major reinvention from what I hear and I believe the iTunes store is getting ready for books, newspapers, blogs both video and audio as well as television.

5. You may be able to read PDFs on this device making it a boon for school districts to save on the cost of buying textbooks and make it useful to businesses such as the legal and medical professions.

6. There is a high probability that Jobs will be looking to kill the Kindle with this device and some cool applications are likely to make a ten inch reader the last device anyone will ever need to read books. The publishing industry is already in trouble dealing with the Kindle and competing readers from Sony and Barnes and Noble. It is Jobs who will be able to dictate price points if this device takes hold.

7. The Apple tablet is likely to function as an iPod but there is also information that Apple is looking to the paid subscription model for streaming music “stations” the model the record industry has long coveted. Apple could pull it off although the debate of free vs. paid (Chris Anderson vs. Rupert Murdoch) is still raging which is why we’re going to address it at my Media Solutions Lab in January. I personally believe paid is coming. This site will likely be a paid site in the future for those who want to keep reading it – making micropayments along the way. But all information and entertainment will be monetized like this because --- well, because – the infrastructure will be enabled once Apple melds the tablet with the new iTunes store commerce component. More importantly, this new business infrastructure provides you and your businesses with real growth potential. We'll talk more in person.

This is all too exciting for words.

True, the radio industry will continue to shoot itself in the foot in the year ahead and we’ll follow it – because there is a lot we can learn from other people’s mistakes.

But get ready to roll up your sleeves. It’s back to school – not so much to learn about technology but to take sociology 101 again.

Much money will be wasted in the years ahead by companies and entrepreneurs guessing what consumers want.

That’s not what I’m into.

Become the master of sociology and you’ll know your market better than you ever have before.

In the past, you bought a radio station and set up shop. If you failed, you hired a consultant or programmer to find the hole in the market and then you program to that audience. Choices for listeners were very limited. Competition sparse.

Today, anyone can program to an audience and soon Apple will make the platform available that will make it all work in a boom environment.

Are you betting on Lew Dickey or Steve Jobs?

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Final 3 Days To Save $300 on Jerry's Media Solutions Lab in January.

We've just discussed how the Apple tablet will change everything, but few people understand the sociology of marketing. That’s a recurrent theme in my January 28th Media Solutions Lab in Scottsdale, AZ.

More money will likely be wasted by companies and entrepreneurs guessing that their next big idea will work in the new media world.

More radio stations will squander a chance to move their brands (not their formats) to a digital marketplace.

Record labels will fall behind again because big egos know what audiences want – that’s how it always used to be, right?

The publishing business will be a boom business but not the one you’re looking at on newspaper websites.

Webcasting has laid an egg when done by radio broadcasters but I’ll show you an affordable model that you can do even without a major investor.

Podcasting can start bringing in money within months – and add video in a year or so and tell me the difference between video podcasting and short form TV?

All this comes to those who are willing to go back to school and learn a new way. That’s exactly what I have in mind for those folks attending my January event.

You’ll see why I am so excited – so upbeat – about the future of digital media not only for smart traditional broadcasters but for those individuals who have been “laid off” by consolidators. But it isn’t going to come to you. You have to go get it. Scottsdale, January 28th is where it starts in a big way.

And the "early bird" price now posted at our events site is available for just 3 more days -- until December 31st.

The Media Solutions Lab will be held January 28th at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ. But there's lots of hotel options for every budget on the events site.

It is a teaching/learning format. Interactive -- which is why we won't be making it available on webcasting or audio at a later date. Trust me, you won't want to sit this out and watch it -- you'll want to be part of it.

Check it out:

• What type of terrestrial radio will actually survive -- not what you're listening to now in most cases. The plan for radio reinvention will be revealed and be ready to have an open mind so you can be the first to know. And if the big groups don't want to listen, I'll show you a way to have them for lunch.
  
• Think like Apple CEO Steve Jobs -- I say this often but now I'll tell those who gather in our lab session how they can start changing the way they innovate and succeed at bringing new ideas to the marketplace.
  
• Podcasting makes money from day one if you have a plan. And if you have a brand already, you'll want to know how to implement this plan. I'll show you the blueprint.
  
• Webcasting done by terrestrial broadcasters has failed miserably -- it's only an add-on to terrestrial listening a small one at that. I've got another approach and you don't have to have Wall Street's money to launch it.
  
• A big business next year will emerge in helping advertisers go directly to consumers. It's happening now and it's efficient, agencies love it. They cut out the middle man. You can be in this business. Want to know how?
  
• I'll show you 3 new businesses you can start the day after your return home from the Media Solutions Lab -- hobbies or future careers. You decide.
  
• Why I'm so high on publishing in advance of the new Apple tablet. Find the market, deliver the content and make money from -- of all things -- subscription micropayments. I'm going to do it. I'll share my plan for you to do it as well.
  
• Free vs. paid -- Is Rupert Murdoch right or is Chris Anderson's "Free" the future? This is a topic you want to be an expert on -- and we'll frame the debate January 28th.
  
• The free cash flow business you'll wish you had gotten into ten years from now is mobile content -- so why wait. See why and how and if you're suited to operating in this mobile space.
  
• Social networking is being misunderstood to be basically Facebook and Twitter. Wrong. I'll wet your appetite for what social networking is destine to become and don't follow big media companies -- they're all wet on this one.
  
• If the digital future sounds promising to you -- stop! You'll have to acquire new skill sets to succeed with a new generation, new technology and new sociology. Think it can't be done? Look at Steve Jobs, the baby boomer, who does it flawlessly every day. Let's just say we'll borrow a few of his skills.
  
• If you sign up and attend, you'll leave The Media Solutions Lab with an "Action Plan" as you brainstorm the next media growth business -- if you're not there, you miss it.

I wish I could make this event available for free, but it is not possible. The venue at the Westin Kierland is awesome -- great meeting rooms, location and climate. The "early bird" pricing that is available for only 3 more days means you're getting your "professor" for $70 an hour -- and that's before meeting room, breakfast, lunch and break expenses.

I've assembled a list of budget hotel options -- access it here.

You've got to decide whether you are going to invest in you -- even if it hurts a bit -- or sit this one out for the next 12 months. There may be no other option and I respect that, but if there's a way invest in your future by registering for my Media Solutions Lab.

This lab will not be conducted in any other location.

There are 14 learning modules -- we cover all 14 in a format tht is unlike anything you've ever participated in -- motivating, fascinating and strategically exciting. There are no sponsors. No bragging industry execs. No pitchmen or skewed agendas bought and paid for by money.

You always ask me to show you the future.

Now's your chance.

Register here.