American Onslaught

I saw something today that makes me think there is at least one old media company that will survive this New Media Revolution. 

So we all know that many television networks are slowly making the transition online, allowing full episodes of show to be watch, fans to join groups, etc. But there all have yet to really do some out of the box thinking and promotion, at least until today. 

Last night I tweeted my intentions about watching the show Damages on FX. So nothing new there. But to my surprise this morning I was notified that I was being followed @PattyHewes on Twitter. For those of you who do not watch the show, Patty Hewes is Glenn Close’s character on the show. Now obviously Glenn Close, or Patty Hewes for that matter, was not following me (probably some poor film student intern) but you have to love the idea.

And what @PattyHewes was tweeting about was not just a shameless promotion of the show. It was as if the character was real and really using twitter. In fact, all the characters from the show (at least the main ones) are on twitter, truly embodying the characters.

Other than the fact that this is pretty cool, step back for a minute and really think about it. FX, or really News Corp., is really grasping what the change is that is happening within media. As far as I can tell, they are the only company I have seen that has realized what is going on and decided to change with the times rather than resist. This is what will make them survive, where others will fail.

All media companies, new and old, should consider the innovative thinking of News Corp., at least in this capacity. Use social media and develop your characters on the screen and in the real world.