Market's Media Melt-Down - Exhibit A

Media stocks drop again.  Shock and awe?  Really?  Some will brush it off as being a market over-reaction.  But, Viacom's shareholders apparently don't think so.  Its stock has plummeted more than any other major media company (about 45% in the past six months).  And, the company is amongst those that have moved most slowly to address the new transformative market forces of voracious OTT and mobile consumption.  After all, just look at any young person around you.  What do they have in their hands and where are they looking?  Down, that's where -- at that thing in the picture to the right.  So, big media, that's where you need to be.  And not timidly either.

But, are you?  Are you boldly going ... or going, boldly?  Make no mistake -- it's "go" time.  In fact, it has been "go" time -- as in, all-in "go time" -- for a long time.  That's why Disney's Maker move 18 months ago was both bold and smart (very smart) (as I discussed in my recent Variety article "It's OK to be Bullish on MCNs").  Disney recognized that it needed a jolt of new DNA and immediate mobile reach to thrive in media's new world order.   But many are still just waking up to that fact.  Many more continue to reject it.

Mobile is Exhibit A in this fundamental media transformation.  It's absolutely the first screen for millennials (and increasingly for non-millennials).  It's not the only ingredient -- after all, let's not forget that this is a MULTI-platform world that is hungry for the most powerful stories told by the most compelling story-tellers who know how to play in it -- but it is absolutely vital.

So, media companies, which ones of you are going shopping for the multi-platform ingredients you need?  

I'd grab a cart now while the shelves are still relatively well stocked and some gourmet brands exist ....