As is often the case, it is difficult to evaluate properly the big events and latest trends in our lives because we find ourselves in the middle of the history being written. Social media certainly qualifies. Its global reach and nearly universal appeal has reduced most geographic borders to mere imaginary lines on a map. It has provided billions of individuals with a forum to share their lives,

As much media coverage and hype e-commerce receives, its 2013 revenue total of $262.3 billion was still only 5.8 percent of total US retail sales, which was $4.533 trillion. Although e-commerce sales will increase 87 percent from 2013 to 2018, it will account for just less than 9 percent of all US retail sales, forecasted to reach $5.552 trillion.

When you’re “King of the Hill,” challengers, pretenders and wannabes come at you from all sides. For “traditional” TV, it started with videocassettes and videodiscs, then cable and satellite, DVD/Blu-Ray, game consoles, the DVR, PCs, smartphones and tablets, and now streaming media services: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube and an ever growing list of even newer players.

It’s time to take a deep breath and stop all the hand wringing about the demise of TV, as a content and advertising medium, and the ascendancy of digital, as TV’s replacement. It hasn’t happened and is unlikely to occur like the “sky-is-falling” advocates claim it will. A good place to start is THE MEDIACENTER’s August 2016 Online Newsletter.

What is the role of advertising? Aside from helping to sell a product or service, advertising has several key benefits in terms of reinforcing a company’s marketing efforts, providing information to customers and the marketplace, and creating and enhancing a company’s identity and image. Advertising helps create awareness for a business, reach new customers and different demographics, keep loyal customers and stay ahead of competition.

Multinational corporations and the tech giants may receive most of the headlines, the adulation and vilification of consumers and attract intense scrutiny from governments, but more of the nation’s business occurs in Main Street shops, two-person service companies and on the dining room tables of budding entrepreneurs and freelancers.

The headlines often tout that many parts of the US economy have returned, or even exceed, pre-Recession levels – GDP, employment, wage growth, housing, the stock market, etc. The majority of the US population that lives in urban and suburban communities has been enjoying this renewed prosperity for a number of years.

Where is TV? Like so much of our 21st-century world, it is constantly in motion –evolving, metamorphosing, mutating.  As Tom Goodwin, EVP, head of innovation at Zenith, a part of Publicis Media, succinctly described it in a March 2017 opinion piece on Digiday: “Twitter is now broadcasting live sports. Apple has a radio station; YouTube has 2,000 channels with more than a million subscribers;

Radio and music listeners and advertisers have more choices, which has led to industry consolidation and renewed efforts at the federal level to de-regulate ownership rules. A major consolidation announced during February 2017 was the proposed merger of Entercom and CBS Radio, which would make the combined company more competitive with #1 iHeartMedia. These consolidations will affect local markets

It’s long been a tradition and badge of honor among journalists to accept their role as the targets of the slings and arrows of the public, politicians and the business community. Journalists have willingly crashed the gates of propriety and power to reveal the facts we all deserve to know and to shine a light of truth on those who would mislead or use their position to exploit or to seek gain unfairly, unethically and/or illegally.

Local TV news is certainly not perfect. Complaints include too much focus on traffic accidents, fires, crime, etc. that affect too few citizens; not enough in-depth reporting on local government and issues; and over-dressed, over-manicured and over-coiffed announcers/personalities. Despite these and other shortcomings, a number of recent studies found that local TV news is trusted and believed more than all other news sources.

Many journalists, bloggers, scientists and futurists have described artificial intelligence and robotics as “The Third Industrial Revolution.” It may be more accurate to call it “The Everything Revolution,” because their use has already impacted many industries – and for decades. What AI and robotics are about to impact is virtually every other sector of society and everyone’s life.

US manufacturers allocate approximately $36 billion to $70 billion, annually, as co-op funds for which many (if not most) local SMBs, dealers, retailers and advertisers qualify to add to their advertising budgets. Some brains are obviously not so clear about the value and availability of co-op dollars, and how to use them, because approximately $14 billion to $35 billion are never used.

The media has been filled with stories about a so-called “retail apocalypse,” citing the large number of store closings, abandoned and eerily quiet shopping malls and the explosion of the Amazon phenomenon (and online shopping in general) as some of the primary reasons. It’s true that retail has been battered and bruised during the past years, especially 2017, but just as life must evolve to sustain itself, so must retail.

The future never waits for anyone or anything. It is eager and enthusiastic, even obsessed, with becoming the present. The future is an express train through history – and we’re all on board. The future never waits for anyone or anything. It is eager and enthusiastic, even obsessed, with becoming the present. The future is an express train through history – and we’re all on board.