Detroit Public Television & Digital Content Strategy

Given on-going travails in the newspaper business, Detroit Public Television has an opening to step up its game.

Newspapers are sanctioned in the U.S. constitution as a great search light, a critical check in our democracy on government and other powerful local stake-holders. Yet The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News cut home delivery to three days per week. The Observer & Eccentric Newspapers closed five local editions, including Birmingham, Rochester, Troy, West Bloomfield, and Southfield.

With these institutions battered and weakened by the ‘Net, it is imperative that other institutions emerge to ensure the health of local democracy in new ways. Some of these can and must grow organically out of the creative capacities unleashed by the ‘Net. Nimble old institutions intent on reinvention, though, also have tremendous new opportunities to contribute.

It’s not clear in this topsy turvy media landscape that DPTV can emerge free and healthy. Old institutions in the digital age, with all of their legacy assets and liabilities, can struggle to choose a path free and clear to a prosperous future. The newspaper business has learned this. The Detroit automobile companies, with their vast dealer networks, health plans, and pension funds, also understand how burdensome legacies are.

Some of DPTV's assets are favorable, though. First, DPTV has approximately 1.6 mm viewers; a solid foundation built over decades. Second, DPTV is locally connected, in an era when local content and voices are badly needed; yet they can also draw on strong national resources. Third, DPTV is a non-profit institution. The problem for commercial newspapers and broadcasters is that the ‘Net and digital technology have killed their business models. They are increasingly unviable financially. DPTV’s hurdle to cover costs is less because it doesn’t have to answer to profit-seeking shareholders or equity investors. The metric against which DPTV measures success, how well it fulfills its public mission, is cheaper. Some in Congress are exploring non-profit models for the newspaper industry; but DPTV is already there.

To emerge into the future as a strong and vital organization, it is necessary for leaders at DPTV to focus on two specific short term strategies. These must be coupled with a critical medium to long-term strategy.

First, DPTV must protect and nurture its main asset; the broadcast stream and its 1.6 mm person audience. This is the vital anchor. One problem, however, is that a large percentage of these viewers are older. They aren’t well connected to the ‘Net. As the group ages, it will deteriorate through attrition. The people will be replaced by an audience with consumer usage patterns transformed by social media. If DPTV pursues this as a stand alone strategy, the 1.6 mm person audience will slowly evaporate.

Second, DPTV must invest as heavily as possible in a ‘Net infrastructure tilted to social media. The emphasis should be, first, on the exploitation of free applications such as youtube, google, blogger, facebook and twitter; second, on the purchase of low cost production and distribution technologies; and, third, on investment in a broad array of semi-affiliated content creators, as well as user-generated content.

The users of social media are different than the audience for the TV station. It is a younger demographic, and therefore more culturally progressive. For this reason these efforts should, in the near term, be considered a separate venture. It is a major but necessary investment without an immediate and commensurate return. Such an investment is as critical to the future of DPTV as the Volt is to the future of General Motors.

To emerge in the future as a vital service for local communities, DPTV needs to keep a close eye on medium and long-term strategy. Most young professionals using social media will choose a partner, buy a house, have some kids and become the older audience that has long been served so well by DPTV's Channel 56. A re-christened Detroit Public Media must hustle, as soon as this can be made to happen, to square the circle between the powerful broadcast stream and the new social media ventures. If the station leadership and the Board can maintain the discipline to patiently execute this natural but extended process of convergence over a number of years, than Detroit Public Media can emerge into a radically altered media landscape as a valued service provider for local communities across South-East Michigan