Tarah's Digital Voice

It’s a sad, but unsurprising day: Comcast has decided to kill the group that I helped to launch back in 2005, the NBCU Digital Studio (http://bit.ly/lbAMaC). This was an innovative, forward-looking vision, initiated as MySpace was being bought by NewsCorp and YouTube by Google; a time that, I would argue, was the beginning of mainstream digital content.

When I was there, the group was filled with immensely talented folks, from video, design and interactive, and I can say that we created some really game-changing work...that rarely saw the light of day. The tragedy, and the reason I left, was that the NBCU brass didn’t buy into the vision that they had approved and funded. The bureaucracy moved too slowly and various execs didn’t want to rock the boat, as they were comfortable with the ancient model. I’m not surprised that the support didn’t increase over the years, leading to this ultimate demise.

Since I left, several of my former colleagues, such as Ryan Noggle, have continued to produce great video series, all for brands, nonetheless. However, these projects were few and far between, as they only greenlit projects that were fully sold through to brands, who would underwrite the production and an interactive experience around the series. This makes sense, from a business standpoint, but I assume that their hands were tied by the restrictions of network television advertising – an old-school approach to the pairing of brands and content – and were, largely not supported by the rest of the network. Once in a while, a digital series would receive an on-air mention or be featured on NBC.com, but largely, these initiatives seemed to be treated as isolated digital brand campaigns, disconnected from the NBC Entertainment entity. I am sure that the pitches heavily played on the sexiness of making a show with NBC, but as a consumer, I believe that they weren’t given the prominence or context they needed to truly succeed.

To me, this means that the Digital Studio was essentially a creative digital agency, yet it was being run by entertainment professionals, not advertising professionals. That’s not all bad (heck, I started out as an entertainment guy), but to succeed in our business, an organization needs leaders and team members with deep expertise and understanding of the advertising business and the way that marketers think, along with the talented storytellers and entertainment pros. Even more importantly, it needs real, long-term commitment from the company's executives, which comes from an understanding that this is still an emerging business; one that requires time, innovation and experimentation to develop a profitable business unit.

When Comcast acquired NBC Universal, I’m sure they had to take a hard look at every department, analyzing it for its profitability and value. Even more than that, I’m sure the NBCU execs had to think about which initiatives they were willing to fight for, an even bigger risk than normal in the face of such a massive acquisition. I’m not surprised that they didn’t fight for the Digital Studio; they never did. Honestly, I’m surprised that it lasted this long.

Fortunately, there are other companies that are fully committed to this mission and to finding that appropriate balance between content and marketing. There's one in particular that I'll be speaking about very soon. Stay tuned.

What do you think about this decision? What do you think killed the promise of the NBCU Digital Studio? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.