PricewaterhouseCoopers Recommends 'Lifestyle Media' as a Key Growth Driver for Media Companies in the Digital Convergence Era

PricewaterhouseCoopers Recommends 'Lifestyle Media' as a Key Growth Driver for Media Companies in the Digital Convergence Era

PwC Report Discusses Achieving Revenue Growth through Media-Based Social Networks and On-Demand Content

NEW YORK and LAS VEGAS, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- NATPE 2006 -- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today released a report titled, "The Rise of Lifestyle Media: Achieving Success in the Digital Convergence Era," at the NATPE 2006 Conference & Exhibition at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The report reveals the challenges and opportunities that convergence brings to the video content, distribution, advertising, and audience measurement industries in the U.S. It also provides recommendations for how content owners, advertising agencies, and measurement companies can engage consumers to develop and achieve new revenue streams by deploying "Lifestyle Media."

PricewaterhouseCoopers introduces "Lifestyle Media" as an approach that combines personalized media experiences within a social context for consumer participation. It provides a bridge between ever-increasing content choices and limited consumer time and attention, helping consumers experience a rich, personalized and social media environment. To facilitate "Lifestyle Media," companies need to create and deploy a "media marketplace" that lets consumers search, research, share, and configure their media experiences. The media marketplace is a platform that supports many-to-many interaction by bringing together content, tools and consumer behavior information.

"This digital convergence era allows content to be used across a variety of different platforms. The rules are radically changing in a world where video content is no longer bound to a specific access network or device," said Deborah Bothun, U.S. Entertainment & Media Advisory Practice Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "While media companies -- both incumbents and new entrants -- are competing for consumer loyalty, those that figure out the model to maximize value and revenue in the next year or two will have a larger piece of the content revenue pie in the long run."

The report's primary findings reveal the challenges and opportunities that convergence brings to the video content, distribution, and advertising industries in the U.S., including:

-- Consumer needs are expanding beyond mass and segmented media to
"Lifestyle Media."
-- Knowledge of consumer behavior will become the basis for competition.
-- The media marketplace provides a platform structure to capitalize on
"Lifestyle Media."
-- Early movers in establishing media marketplaces will build sustainable
advantage over late entrants.
-- Media marketplaces will be economically viable only if operational
efficiencies can be realized through consumer behavior measurement
capabilities and supporting systems.
-- Convergence will require increased collaboration between value chain
partners to drive new products and services to consumers.

"PricewaterhouseCoopers is helping companies explore new ways to leverage their content across a broader spectrum of media by capturing consumer activity information," said Randy Browning, Technology, InfoComm, Entertainment & Media Advisory Services Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Companies should take inventory of their current libraries before spending capital to digitize them. They should make choices about what video content is best and then engage in discussions with consumers, advertisers and advertising agencies."

PwC's key recommendations for companies competing to succeed in the converged future include:

-- Understand and serve consumers' "Lifestyle Media" desires by
researching behaviors and needs. Assess readiness for the converged
future.
-- Develop strategies for owning social networks to capture consumer
activity information, while meeting privacy requirements. Assess and
build competence in alliances, partnerships and joint ventures.
-- As video consumption expands to many devices, understand the impact of
one outlet on another and know the complexities of content security
controls, and incorporate them into systems and processes.
-- Build advertising models for new consumer behaviors, especially video
browsing, and establish standards for advertising and audience
measurement metrics.

The report's findings incorporate analyses and viewpoints from senior executives at NBC Universal, VNU, Yahoo!, Ogilvy, Rentrak, Gemstar-TV Guide International, erinMedia, Yahoo!, and others.

For an electronic copy of the complete PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "The Rise of Lifestyle Media: Achieving Success in the Digital Convergence Era," visit the "publications" section at http://www.pwc.com/e&m. Other convergence-related reports produced by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Center including, "Big Bets for the U.S. Cable Industry," are also available.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media (E&M) practice is comprised of a network of more than 3,000 practitioners providing audit, advisory and tax services to help clients manage risk, maximize shareholder value and support M&A activities. It addresses business challenges for its clients, including developing strategies to leverage digital technology; marketplace positioning in industries characterized by consolidation and convergence; and identifying new sources of financing. Known as an industry thought leader, the E&M practice publishes the annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook and other surveys and white papers, including those based upon analysis from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Center, highlighting current and future trends in the industry. PricewaterhouseCoopers' Technology Center provides research and analysis of technology trends and their effects on companies, industries, and markets. For more information, please visit http://www.pwc.com/techcenter.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://www.pwc.com/) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 130,000 people in 148 countries work collaboratively using Connected Thinking to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. "PricewaterhouseCoopers" refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

CONTACT: Laura Schooler, PricewaterhouseCoopers, +1-646-471-3229,
laura.schooler@us.pwc.com; Suzanne Dawson, Linden Alschuler & Kaplan,
+1-212-329-1420, sdawson@lakpr.com

Web site: http://www.pwc.com/e&m
http://www.pwc.com/techcenter
http://www.pwc.com/

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