By Robert Wheatley

Time to re-think the future of the media mix

Forever and a day in the PR business, print media has played a major role in the media tactics employed within corporate and brand campaigns. Now, according to the New York Times, the paper reports its own media category is witnessing the shift in consumer preference. A sort of “tipping point” has been reached and surpassed in the balance of power between media platforms.

All hail video in all of its forms, varieties and channels? We forecasted here that video would become a primary medium for our agency’s work with client campaigns within the next five years. And our prediction of this shift is gaining traction. Consider this:

According to comScore, nearly 100 million American viewers watched 5.9 billion YouTube videos last December.

Looking at overall TV viewership, however, it is clear that YouTube and its kind are not cannibalizing TV viewership, rather taking greater share of available time for media consumption. The loser is print.

Neilsen tells us that as of September 30, Americans watched an average of 142 hours monthly of television – up more than five hours from 2007.

Hulu, the Internet site created by NBC and FOX that operates much like a TV channel, saw its viewership jump by 57 percent over the last half of 2008.

Add to this, there are now over 100 million mobile phone handsets out there that are video capable.

And this — Neilsen also reveals that Internet use on average has increased to 27 hours monthly, and 31 percent of that time is spent on-line while we’re in front of a television.