Since 2000, technological progress and the development of the Internet have led to competitive TV alternatives from telephone companies, satellite providers, and online video providers, as well as the creation of hundreds of TV channels.
Media Metrics uses data and analysis to reveal the dynamism and innovation in media, technology, and communications markets.
What Internet “Speed” Does $85 per Month Buy?
The Internet-based economy is a United States success story, and regulators generally have had a hands-off policy regarding the Internet since the 1990s.
Legacy Regulations Hinder Newspapers as Newsrooms Struggle to Adapt
The decline of traditional newspapers in recent decades has received significant public attention and concern. The rate of this decline accelerated around 1980, coinciding with the launch of the first 24-hour cable news channel, CNN.
Digital Media Distribution Accelerates Technological Adoption
This chart uses government and industry data to display household penetration rates for various technologies reported from 1970 to 2012.
The Growing Importance of Social Media Ad Spending
The recipients and origin of advertisement spending constantly change in response to consumer behavior. As more people join social networks, these intermediaries offer additional news and entertainment sources for consumers and, therefore, are a growing recipient of global advertising.
Broadcast Radio Remains Tightly Regulated
Commercial broadcast radio, which began the 1920s in the United States, has millions of daily listeners today. Broadcast radio was the first nationwide mass medium Congress chose to license and regulate.
Beneficial Regulatory Regimes Spur Internet Advertising Boom
Competition for these increasing ad dollars is intense, and many traditional newspapers have had a difficult time adapting to Internet news distribution and the loss of revenue from classified ads. The increasing importance of mobile applications makes advertising markets even more competitive and less predictable.
Deregulation Spurs Variety in TV Content and Price
It is common for tech journalists and media scholars to decry so-called cable monopolies. Few, however, acknowledge the source of competitive problems for TV and Internet service: poor government policy.
Competition and Choice Spur Advertising Diversification
Today, the Internet attracts around 16 percent of advertising, and may soon overtake broadcast TV and direct mail. The primary loser has been the newspaper industry. Newspapers captured nearly 30 percent of ad dollars in 1980, but the medium is down to under 7 percent in 2013.
About Media Metrics
Media Metrics is a data research project from the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. All too often, regulators’ assessment about US technology industries embraces incomplete, misleading, and gloomy narratives about the role of markets, which in turn fuels demand for regulation of our most innovative sectors. The project uses a variety of proprietary and public data sources to convey an optimistic story about competition and innovation in US communications, technology, and media.
The project is ongoing and charts will be updated periodically as new data arrive. Further, new charts will be added, and we will soon add downloadable data for the Media Metrics charts so that other researchers can use the data.
Media Metrics is derived (with permission) from a 2008 publication by that name. Adam Thierer and Grant Eskelsen, “Media Metrics: The True State of the Modern Media Marketplace” (Special Report, Progress & Freedom Foundation, Washington, DC, Summer 2008).
Learn more about the latest tech policy research from the Mercatus Center.
Contact the creator, Brent Skorup, at bskorup@mercatus.gmu.edu.