Abundance.

Abundance. This one word describes the number one challenge facing the media industry. Abundance of content, choice, platforms, and advertising affects traditional players, new entrants, consumers, and adjacent industries.

The classic image used to demonstrate how much the world has changed over the last decade is the juxtaposition of a photo of St. Peter’s Square at Pope Benedict XVI’s inauguration in 2005 compared to Pope Francis’ inauguration in 2013. The newer image is dotted with thousands of smartphone and tablet screens capturing the moment. The introduction of the smartphone has completely changed how people, especially young people, consume and share content. Additionally, the Internet has completely changed how content is created. These two changes in combination have revolutionized the industry, subsequently challenging traditional business models and increasing the demand for innovation.

The problem of abundance is not new news — the outstanding issue is no company has truly figured out how to solve abundance. Businesses have not been able to recoup print advertising revenues through other monetization strategies. Consumers are overwhelmed with options of where and how to consume media and have extremely short attention spans. Advertisers have more access to consumers than ever before but still have not perfected targeted, authentic campaigns that resonate with millennials. Looking forward to the next five years of the media industry, successful companies will be those who come up with creative solutions to address abundance. Companies will only be able to generate revenue through premium content that engages deeply with fans, crafts a feeling of exclusivity, creates a personalized experience, and is easily accessed.