The value on your TV Screen
It’s fall in the USA and American football is back. TV Networks pay around $12 billion this year for rights to broadcast NFL games. College Football is similar. The Big Ten Conference alone receives over $1 Billion a year from TV deals.
TV Network executives aren’t fools. There is a huge appetite for viewing football broadcasts.
The event itself is extremely valuable. Watching the football game live (or very close to live) is the peak experience for viewers that brings in all the advertising dollars and billion-dollar contracts. But, that value quickly expires. While a few viewers want to watch highlights and analysis later, it’s a small percentage of the value available during the 3-4 hour window when the game is live.
Very few fans are interested in rewatching a football game days, weeks or months later. The value is extremely high during the game but with a short lifespan.
Compare that with another form of content on your big screen - a TV series.
The USA Network show Suits originally aired from 2011-2019. The show received only modest attention and it's best described as a niche show from a second-tier network.
However, this summer Suits landed on Netflix and quickly broke streaming records. Industry commentators are scrambling to explain why it’s hit massive mainstream appeal 4 years after its series finale. Some attribute the rise to Megan Merkle (who skyrocketed to fame in 2017-2018 by marrying Prince Harry), starring on the show but that only partially explains the popularity explosion happening now.
The value of a TV series has modest appeal on its initial air date, but the show's full value can extend (and even expand) for decades.
Two types of content on your TV. A football game with immense value clustered around a few hours of air time. And a TV show with substantial potential value spread out over years.
Treating them the same way is foolish.
One offers synchronous and real-time value that has to be maximized and executed on NOW.
The other offers asynchronous value, that can be meticulously mined for a long time.
Your company's data assets follow similar patterns. Massive value expires quickly from your real-time events. Long-term value is available for years from your asynchronous activities.
It’s foolish to treat them the same
It’s foolish to ignore either of them.
I’m here,
Sawyer
