Transformational thinking

By David Jenkinson 28-11-2023

C21 founder David Jenkinson reflects on how digital technology has changed the content business over the past 60 years and, as we sleepwalk towards Singularity – the moment when the machines take control – how it will redefine the industry’s future.

We live in transformational times. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the ever-evolving digital economy, the changing relationships between content, brands and audiences, and the collapse of the traditional models that underpinned the growth of television, ensure the future will be very different to the past.

I turn 60 during Content London. Apart from the obvious benefits of discounted rail travel, this milestone also affords a bird’s eye view over the transition from analogue to digital across more than half a century.

So grant me a brief moment of nostalgia. It’s relevant. I promise.

The Good Old Days
I learned to write on a small slate tablet using a piece of chalk. Around 1968, a tiny classroom of children sat, not so quietly, drawing words on their little blackboards, using the edge of the chalk to ensure the lines stayed sharp. I can still remember how that felt; the curve of the letters, the smell and texture of the slate, and the dust on your hands at the end of the lesson, wiped on pressed grey trousers.

Just 50 years ago we learned to write on slate

There were no computers, no mobile phones, no internet, and no social media perpetuating an anxiety loop to sustain the obsessional importance of self. Oh yes, and the summers were endless.
That was just half a century ago. How much has changed.

The most exciting thing that happened in the sixties in many houses was the arrival of a television set, glinting for the first time in the corner of the living room, so we could, among other things, watch man walk on the Moon.

And that’s where we gathered. Global congregations worshiping at Cathode Cathedrals, presided over by the high priests of entertainment, who hububbed in the vestries of their commissioning palaces to plan next week’s sermon.
We were their humble servants.

Science fiction becomes science fact
In the sixties, science fiction was just that: stories. But in 2023, science fiction is becoming science fact.

Who’d have thought that in the heady days of the four-channel universe – when shows reached 30 million viewers without breaking a sweat and the watercooler provided a common morality – 60 years later we’d be heading towards Singularity: a hypothetical point in the near future when technological progress accelerates so rapidly that it leads to profound and unpredictable changes in human civilisation, as machines surpass human intelligence and comprehension.

The core theme of Content London is PROMPT START: How AI Will Change the Content Business. The reason we’ve put this at the heart of this year’s event is simple: it will change everything. And soon.

Accepting change, especially change driven by technology, can be challenging. But we’ve been here many times before.

In the eighties computers were banned in the workplace

Computers are banned in the workplace
I started my career as a journalist in the late eighties. And in 1987, the National Union of Journalists went on strike over the introduction of computers into the workplace. Let me just say that again: In The Eighties The National Union Of Journalists Went On Strike Over The Introduction Of Computers Into The Workplace. Can you believe it?

I’d bought a word processor – as they were affectionately called – and taken it into work at Reed Business Publishing to help write stories faster. The union rep not only came round and stuck a ‘Do Not Use’ label on the computer (pictured) but also reminded us not to go on any computer training courses. Jobs would be lost. I still find it staggering this happened only 36 years ago!

Of course jobs were lost, but scores more were created, and computer technology allowed new creators – like C21 – to launch nimble competitive brands against these dinosaurs with a few Macs and some cheap desktop publishing software. It was the companies that should have worried, not the National Union of Journalists.

Technology disrupts. But disruption is good. And computer technology drove a digital renaissance that has transformed everything, from medicine to media.

The same thing is now happening with AI, with unions trying to legislate against its use in the content business. And while there surely do need to be rules, particularly around IP and brand ownership, you can’t stand in the way of this technology.

However, the debate around AI is not just about its use in entertainment but how we protect humanity itself. The existential threat from AI to the survival of our species is now a real conversation.

I did smile when I asked my good friend ChatGPT about the threat and was told it was nothing to worry about. “The concept is highly speculative and subject to various interpretations and debates,” it said. Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you, I thought.

AI provides new opportunities
AI is not just about ChatGPT, of course, it’s about the myriad other AI tools that are continually evolving, and their adoption in the TV industry is growing rapidly.

AI provides opportunities to enhance content quality, reduce production costs and deliver more personalised and engaging experiences to viewers.

It can create storyboards or visual representations of scenes based on script inputs, helping with pre-visualisation.

AI algorithms can assist in casting decisions by analysing actors’ previous work, demographics and audience preferences.

AI can analyse social media activity, viewer comments and reviews to provide insights into audience reception and sentiment.

AI tools help broadcasters and content creators understand viewer demographics and behaviour, informing content decisions.

And, of course, AI-driven tools can assist in generating scripts for TV shows and movies by analysing existing content and predicting story elements. The list goes on.

That doesn’t mean you have to use it. But you can. And do you think people won’t, no matter what agreements have been reached?

It’s all about timing
The arrival of AI as a tool to use across business comes at a time when the walls that protect legacy media companies are being dismantled.

The gatekeepers are losing power to a new digital generation that has the wherewithal to produce and go direct to its audience. AI will only help digital natives do this better.

Cost and skills – the barriers to entry – are being removed.

The same thing happened with the arrival of the internet. Digital provided the platform for streamers to disrupt the content business in the video space, once connectivity speed increased.

Hayley Morris is a next gen digital creator with eight million followers across her platforms whose videos generate 28 million views

Content London started as The International Drama Summit in 2010. In those days, drama was an expensive genre that was difficult to amortise globally. People shied away from it. Two hundred people came to the first event.

But in the same year, Netflix – previously known for sending out DVDs in the post – launched its streaming service, and within a few years drama exploded.

Digital technology delivered new opportunity that revolutionised the business, disrupted the commercial model and put the traditional business on the back foot.

The digital revolution is not being televised
Digital is delivering the next revolution, but it is not being televised in the traditional sense.

What the content business has realised is the proliferation of choice means it’s difficult to garner an audience for entertainment brands in the same way it did before. Even the streamers have struggled.

It’s almost comedic when HBO boasts 2.9 million viewers for the season finale of Succession – one of the most talked-about shows on television – while footballing legend Cristiano Ronaldo reaches more than 600 million followers (spoiler alert: that’s an audience) on Instagram.

The total production budget for season four of Succession is estimated at as much as US$50m. It costs Ronaldo nothing to post.

Which do you think is the bigger entertainment brand? And the Ronaldo channel could do what in 30 seconds? As they say, go figure!

Next gen creators own the future
Over the past decade a growing community of influencers, next generation content creators, digital natives, whatever you want to call them, have taken connecting with an audience into their own hands.

We have been charting this revolution through our brand Future Media since 2008, right back to the early days of digital franchises like Online Caroline and Lonely Girl 15 – classics of their time.

Brandon Relph is building a social streaming platform called Nile that will help to super-charge the next gen creator community

Bringing things up to date, at Content London this week we will host a panel called Next Gen Creators: Dig the New Breed. This features creators and agents who are collectively responsible for a bigger audience than any producer or channel in the room. And they make their content on a shoestring. Is it any wonder brands are now focused on engaging with them rather than television?

As one example, Hayley Morris, just one of seven people on the Next Gen panel, is a comedy actor and writer with eight million followers across her platforms. Her ‘shows’ generate around 28 million views per video, and that’s not unusual for good creators in the digital space. What did your show do?

Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook have provided digital creators with massive audiences and monetisation opportunities. These creators produce a wide variety of content, from shortform videos to longform series, and they can earn revenue through advertising, sponsorships, merchandise sales and more. This has created a competitive alternative to traditional television advertising.

Many digital creators also rely on crowdfunding platforms like Patreon and Kickstarter to fund their projects directly through fan support. This enables them to create content independently and cater to niche audiences without the need for traditional television networks or studios.

Platforms like Twitch, where gamers and other creators broadcast live content, demonstrate how user-generated content can be a powerful draw for audiences.

The internet has made content distribution easier and more accessible. Digital creators can reach global audiences without the need for extensive broadcast infrastructure. This accessibility has led to the democratisation of content creation and distribution. And so much more.

Most importantly, young people don’t watch television.

A hybrid partnership model may define the future
While digital creators are undoubtedly disrupting the television business, traditional media companies are investing heavily in digital content production and streaming services, and many digital creators are partnering with traditional studios and networks to reach wider audiences.

And while many next gen creators attract large audiences, what they often really want to make is television.
AI will help them do that better and supercharge their growth over the coming decade.

To reflect and support this, C21 is launching The Next Gen Creator Festival and The AI Festival, both of which will run alongside Content London 2024. They will both be supported by new content strands that will connect the emerging community and the technology with players from the traditional business.

This will help facilitate partnerships between old and new with the belief that the future of media is likely to involve a hybrid model where both traditional and digital content creators coexist and collaborate to meet the diverse needs and preferences of audiences.

Looking back over the past 60 years, from a world in which machines may control our future within a few years (if not already) to a world in which we learned to write in a not-too-different way to the generations before us, certainly it seems like profound change.

The cognitive change it has brought is significant too, and as the medium continues to become the message, it’s unlikely to allow us to enjoy a simpler life any time soon.

Whichever way you look at it, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore!

Have a great week, and we hope to see you next year when these plans have brought a new seam of creativity to Content London.