Internet To Become Primary Medium For Distribution Of All Content

The internet will become the primary medium for the distribution of all content, according to the chairman of the IAB, Richard Eyre, who was speaking at the company’s Engage 2006 conference in London yesterday.

“As we enter a phase where true convergence begins to take place, the internet will become the primary distribution for content,” he predicted.

“The reason is because no other form of distribution will ever offer the consumer such easy search, so many sources, such immediate response or the personalisation and participation available online. In short, engagement in a way that’s impossible to conceive through any other form of transmission or distribution.”

He added: “We could argue about how long it will be before homes are equipped with central servers, but I don’t think there is much value in debating whether it is coming, the internet will in time be that preferred route and the unification will be complete.

“The time for advertisers and marketers to build a better house is before the storm hits, not when the wind starts blowing.”

Eyre added that he was delighted that the digital media opportunity had moved in in the past year, and that consumer behaviour was changing at an incredible speed, with consumer expectations adapting at an unprecedented rate.

Last year Eyre warned that brands could not afford to not be online. “This year you know that now,” he said. “This year the digital world is not peripheral or optional, it’s centre stage.”

The IAB boss admitted that a great deal had changed in the past year, saying there was a consumer driven change in behaviour and that what is happening to people’s media usage is “seismic” in its proportions.

“The internet is no longer a tricky newcomer with annoying jargon and new trading rules,” he said. “The mass migration of the public online and their pursuit by every serious media owner has made the position of the refusenik ridiculous.”

Eyre also added that the new era of IPTV will “change forever the way we select and watch TV programmes. This will be huge‌ for advertisers it’s the Holy Grail.”

IAB: 020 8683 955 www.iabuk.net