The Hollywood Reporter has put Glenn Beck on an elite list of power players in the digital realm, “THR's 2012 Digital Power 50”, as one of their “Content Titans”. Glenn joins the ranks of other digital heavyweights and innovators that have founded or led companies like Facebook, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.
Glenn was named to the list for all he has accomplished in the digital arena, including the founding of the highly successful TheBlaze.com news and information website as well as the founding of Markdown.com, the e-commerce website. Most importantly, however, the article notes the success Glenn has had in launching GBTV, an streaming HD video network that features full slate of daily original programming, most notable Glenn’s two hour “The Glenn Beck Program” at 5pm ET.
What’s even more amazing are some of the names mentioned alongside Glenn in the article. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, and Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook were both recognized along with Glenn. Other people on the list are leaders at companies across the digital realm including Netflix and Hulu.
That’s an impressive group by any measure.
The website describes the people on the list as pioneers in an industry currently gripped by fear of government regulation.
At any time, it seems impossible to know who's got the juice. Right now, the entertainment industry largely is operating out of fear -- witness its attempts to get Congress to back the Stop Online Piracy Act, which in many ways would curtail Internet freedom.Digital revenues remain pennies on each dollar, but if this year's CES -- where the hottest items are web-enabled televisions -- is any indication all that could change overnight.
Which is why, instead of playing defense, Hollywood might do well to pay attention to the innovators listed below. Each has found a way to make digital technology work for them in what still is essentially the Wild West, as in, still yours for the taking.
THR writes that following Glenn’s departure from FOX News, “By September, he had launched GBTV, about which Wall Street analyst Richard Greenfield wrote, ‘Pay attention to Glenn Beck -- he's about to turn the media world upside down.’ Two weeks later, GBTV, which applies the cable model to an online property, boasted 230,000 subscribers, each paying $5 to $10 per month.”
Whether you love Glenn or you hate him, its undeniable that Glenn and his team’s approach to creating and distributing content is cutting edge and revolutionary. After all, the other people named in the list have all revolutionized their fields. Hulu and Netflix have turned brick and mortar video stores into a dying industry, while millions of people use Facebook to connect with their friends in ways never thought possible just a few years ago.
With GBTV still in it’s infancy and already being considered revolutionary, one has to wonder what will happen as it continues to grow.
Glenn has said before that his primary concern is with creating amazing content, not necessarily in how it’s delivered.
“I consider ourselves more a storytelling company and a content company. The way we deliver it is secondary,” he told a digital media conference in November.
While Glenn focuses on creating content, his team of over one hundred employees at Mercury Radio Arts focuses on getting that content out over GBTV, books, radio, live events and numerous websites including Glennbeck.com and The Blaze.com. The Mercury Radio Arts team is based primarily out of New York City, while Glenn and his “experimental creative team” have recently moved to Dallas, TX. In Texas, Glenn and his team plan to create content unlike anything that has ever been seen before.
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