MEDIA UNIVERSE MAPS 2020-2024
DON'T WORRY, GET MAPPY!
Ready for Map Time?
I started mapping the Media ecosystem in 2020. I think people think it’s been longer. To be honest, it feels like it has. Maybe that’s because I’ve updated my map more than 100 times over the last four years.
I made my first Map for the courses I teach at NYU and Fordham University. Then Deadline published it, and things kind of blew up from there.
This year, I dropped this new map, a cross-section of the original, designed to show the economics and audiences at the heart of the ecosystem.
Think about everything that’s happened in Media just since 2020… I’ll wait.
To take stock of the rate of change in the Media Universe, below are the original Summer 2020 Media Map; the Summer 2021 Media Map; the Summer 2022 Map, the 2023 Universe Map; and the very latest 2024 Media Universe Map (above is low res, below it gets high); as stand-alone high-res images.
My original intent with the original Map was NOT to predict or prognosticate, but rather to announce two important things:
Big Tech has taken over the operating system of our Media ecosystem.
We have entered a new era of Media: The User-Centric Era.
The most important new rule of this new era is to put your users - your audience - at the center of everything you do. By focusing on what the user wants, versus what you need for the next earnings call, you can do more than just survive the User-Centric Era, you can thrive.
Mapping the Media Universe has incredibly illuminating and a true blast.
It’s opened my mind, and kicked opened the door to so much great conversation. I hope the trip across the universe helps you zoom out, gather perspective, see new things and start your wheels spinning for what comes next.
(High res Summer 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 Maps are below the paywall. If you don’t see the paywall, thanks for being a premium subscriber! If you do see it, consider trying a FREE trial to grab the maps.)
Enjoy!
ESHAP
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