Cord cutters, aka, the death of TV.

This article from Business Insider provides a clear and fact-based analysis of the upheaval in the TV/cable industry as more and more Americans cut the cord and instead get their video fix via broadband, through services such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, Aereo, ABC.com, et al.  This massive change in media consumption patterns is the bi-product of new generational trends, broadband, economics and, of course, the declining quality of network television programming.  (As the great poet Springsteen sang, "57 channels and nothin' on.")

Here are Business Insider's major conclusions:

1. People are unplugging.
2. Cable TV ratings are sinking.
3. Fewer people are watching TV.
4. Ratings for some major TV events are in decline.
5. For the first time ever, the number of cable TV subscribers at major providers is about to dip below 40 million.
6. Cable and broadband companies are increasingly unable to retain customers.
7. For the first time ever, less than half of subscribers at major broadband companies now subscribe to cable TV.
8. Fewer households actually have TV.
9. Few households have TV because they are watching video on mobile devices instead.
10. Mobile video is booming.
11. Tablets are stealing prime time, the period we used to devote to TV.
12. Ad dollars are following eyeballs, shifting from TV to digital media of all kinds.
13. Ad revenue increases are masking the macro decline in TV.
14. People who are unplugging from both Cable TV and broadband internet are likely going to free wifi.

The power of the first follower.

I've always loved this lesson in leadership.  It's not the leader that sets movements in motion.  It is the first follower that shows the courage to be the first person to stand up and embrace change.  The organization tends to model this behavior, not that of the so called "leader."

Beautiful storytelling.

This online film series from Intel and Toshiba brings together so many powerful elements – the power of storytelling, the acknowledgement that digital media is a powerful branding platform, and the energy and momentum we can create when we let the audience own, personalize and share the message.

Ideas like "The Beauty Inside" are what inspire me to work in this business.