Ever heard of Plum TV?
Neither had I, until reading a piece in the very informative Jack Myers Media Business Report. The Report is only one offering from Myers' highly engaging site. I met Jack at the TED Conference two years ago and recently ran into him again at the wf360 event at the NYSE. Having material of this caliber available daily, free, is just one indication of how far the content distribution revolution has come.
But, back to Plum.
It turns out that Plum TV ranked first in Myers' recent Media Brand Survey and Emotional Connections Report. That report asked viewers how frequently they watched each of 103 networks, how relevant the network is to their viewing interest, whether or not viewers stay tuned during commercials, whether or not they view ads on the network as recommendations which they might follow, and whether or not they valued the network enough to consider paying a special fee to watch it. Given today's media landscape, those questions struck me as a decent indicator of a network's level of differentiation.
So, what is Plum TV? Well, it's a network of channels serving eight areas: Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, the Hamptons, Vail, Aspen, Telluride, Sun Valley and Miami Beach. See the pattern? Yup, $$$$; these are areas in which some of the wealthiest, most influential Americans live and play. Plum creates original content that focuses on everything from the Aspen Institute's brainy ideas to conversations with moguls like Barry Diller and Donald Trump (!).
And, viewers love it.
Other top-ranked networks in the survey included Voy (Spanish language), TVG Interactive (Thoroughbred horse racing), The Africa Channel and the Gospel Music Channel.
Fact is, nowadays all of us want to watch stuff that's suited to our own interests and sensibilities: the "ghettoization" of culture, and media, is progressing very nicely, thank you very much.
Forget "red state/blue state," modern life is way more fragmented than that, today. Check out Myers' site to stay in touch with all the ways in which media reflect that new reality.
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