The globalization of locality

I recently had opportunity to browse a copy of the Scout report. This is a fascinating weekly publication that is produced by Relegence for AOL. It looks at industry news, trends and product updates from across the web. This little snippet caught my eye:

This news is interesting from a number of perspectives:

1. The Long Tail is in effect.
2. De-construction of Television is underway
3. The Web is positioned to become an other route to the living room

The Hearst-Argyle YouTube deal is a potential Long Tail play. Localized content has, up to now, been largely consumed locally Only highly newsworthy items have reached the national airwaves. There is however a massive market of ex-patriots that have an interest in hometown news and events. As a "Brit" living abroad I am fully aware of the desire to stay in touch with one's roots. The emergence of the Internet as a media delivery channel has created a situation where local and regional content can be monetized. The economics of traditional television require a significant market of potential viewers in order to justify the costs of creating a custom channel for distribution on cable or satellite.

The Internet has made it easier to aggregate a market from across the globe. This is already gaining real traction with specialist sports delivering content via the net. The economics of content distribution and market aggregation have been, and continue to be re-written by the Internet. The trend will only accelerate. I believe we will see more localized content re-purposed for global distribution and monetization via the Internet. This raises the fascinating prospect that while national broadcasters are witnessing the fragmentation of their audience, making the economics of their business harder. Localized and specialist content providers face a more promising future because it has become dramatically easier to build a viable audience.

As a kid, my father used to take me to watch the crazy sport of Speedway (Four guys on ethanol powered 500cc motorbikes with no brakes racing at 70 mph on a shale track, going round corners sideways - its worth watching!). In the UK the sport makes it on to TV. In the US it may make a rare fleeting appearance on Speed channel when there is nothing else worth showing - or so it seems. However, it is easy to go to YouTube and watch videos of races. This is an example of a sport that could benefit from Internet distribution.

Another reason that we will see this trend continue is Apple. AppleTV is a breakthrough product that makes it easy to deliver internet content to your TV. Google and Apple have announced the ability for AppleTV to stream content from YouTube. Suddenly, the ability to reach a mass audience, scattered across the world became a whole lot easier.

Can you think of examples where AOL could leverage the long tail effects for media? Should AOL leverage the Google connection to get uncut videos delivered to AppleTV? The globalization of local content is a fascinating issue with major ramifications for the content industry. Let's hear your views! Post a comment below.