In Defense of Mass Culture

This Sunday's New York Times magazine has an interesting profile of CBS executive Les Moonves, a man they dub Mr. Mass due to his unwavering belief that TV is and will always be a great medium for selling hit shows to a wide swath of people.   Moonves had been credited with reversing the fortunes of the Viacom-owned network, which once sported a terribly unattractive demographic, consisting mainly of older folks--the 60 minutes set.  It was shows like CSI and Survivor that turned the network around.

If you listen to our modern techno-philosophers they'll have you believe that "The Hit" is dead, that nationwide radio networks can't possibly compete against niche podcasts, and the hundreds of targeted channels on Sirius, and that TV should give up on The Network or The Channel because BitTorrent is tomorrow's mode of distributing video content.  Newspaper content, being the easiest to replicate online is only the first victim of the shift.  Soon ABC, CBS, and NBC will be similarly valueless the thinking goes.

But reading this article is a good reminder of the importance of The Hit, and it's ability to make a lot of money.  Right now, it's vogue to suggest that big hits are (were) a function of technological limitation.  The limited shelf space in a bookstore requires that bookstores focus on big sellers.  With only three networks to choose from, viewers were captive to the mainstream schlock on TV.  Now that there are no more physical limitations (shelf space, or broadcast spectrum) media should focus on targetting small niches it's the "Business Model of the Future".

But it's not just a technological or logistical phenomenon. The Hit is also important culturally. It's what people discuss around the water cooler.  It's a common point of reference and also a time-saver "I'll have the Jennifer Annistion haircut please"..."ok".  Studies suggest that kids who know more about celebrities are better adjusted in school, because they already have a large group of common "friends" that they can share with their classmates.  Hits bring us together and capture our imagination:  The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, ET, Elvis, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars.  No, these are not merely the product of limitations in distribution technology.  For a fuller discussion of such things, I highly recommend reading GMU Economist Tyler Cowen's book "In Praise of Commercial Culture" .

I don't think society is interested in giving this up.  Just because I like 70's country music,  indie-rock, and Eddie Murphy action-comedies from the 80's doesn't mean I wanna invest myself fully into these niches, I still love watching the latest "end-of-the-world" movie that has become standard summer fare.  Niches are good, but we all share common interests and fascinations including romance, violence, and human excellence which, when tapped, into can produce The Hit.  If you're skilled at doing this, like a Spielberg, or a Moonves no amount of Podcasts can threaten you.

No doubt there are a lot of challenges for Television in the future like how to sell ads in the day of the DVR, and how to allow people to download content without losing too much to piracy.  Failure to address these problems could be deadly.  But I don't think mass media will ever be replaced by niches.  They'll always be important complements to each other. 

As sentiment against the large media companies continues to grow more negative, it's possible that there'll be good investment opportunities in these categories.  Keep on the lookout.