Increasingly, cable television has been threatened by alternative outlets like Hulu, NetFlix, and Apple TV for viewership and advertising. Hulu’s freemium and the ease of use of Netflix are far more engaging than channel surfing on Cabletown ever could be (not to mention cheaper).
In his most recent post on Econsultancy, Gabe Zichermann argues that games represent the next step in this evolution of entertainment. Usually, when we talk about games, we don’t mention the business model, but just like Hulu, many of today’s top games use a freemium model that treat even unpaying visitors as customers. In the end, games are more engaging, more interactive, and more entertaining, and Gabe concludes that just like the downward spiral that killed newspapers, advertising will follow the viewers from TV to games.
Gabe- I just posted an item on my blog that was inspired by your work. “Should you gamify your sales org?” is the topic I explore. You can check it out here: http://www.lingonomics.com/. Thanks for the inspiration!