Revisiting Jeff Zucker’s Famous Comment

NBC universal CEO Jeff Zucker famously said in 2008, “We can’t trade analog dollars for digital pennies”.  This statement has become increasingly false as advertising dollars continue their shift to The Web.  According to eMarketer, online video ad spending will increase tenfold from 2008 to 2013 and more than double over the next two years, from $850 million in 2009 to $1.85 billion in 2011.  Developing new distribution models to capitalize from this shift is key.  Jeff Zucker would now be the first to tell you that there is money to be made form The Web.  NBC Universal and Fox’s joint partnership Hulu now commands the 6th most popular property for online video in the United States, and unlike YouTube, Hulu is able to make money from most of its content.  Analysts estimate that Hulu will generate domestic revenues on par with YouTube (approx $250 million for 2009) despite the massive difference in their audience size.

As a filmmaker, it is important to have your finger on the pulse of the industry.  The good remain adaptive to changing industry trends and the great anticipate the evolution of them.  Filmmakers need to ask themselves, “How can I leverage New Media to benefit my current projects?” and “What industry trends can I anticipate that will impact my future projects?”.