Diane Mermigas

Social media and interactive consumers will take the lead in transforming the multi-screen media landscape in 2010.

Advertising is not a big part of the proposed Comcast NBCU merger -- yet.

Broadcasters are about to experience the equivalent of the Big Bang.

A case can be made just a month into the new TV season that the Big 4 networks are not taking enough strategic risk to ameliorate the continuing erosion of ad revenues, audiences and content economics.

Comcast's bid to co-own NBC Universal is a grab for digital content dominance that will trigger influential paid models, force a revamp of broadcast television and spawn a new wave of media deals. The time has come for major change.

Local news, interests and connections between consumers and advertisers are at the heart of both the failing traditional media saddled with legacy costs and the nimble Web-based contenders. The value of all things local has been woefully underestimated.

The explosion of Netflix's unlimited, flat-fee instant home video demonstrates how rapidly a recession can transform a living room TV into a digital hub that threatens big guns like Blockbuster, cable and other pay services.

Mermigas offers proactive moves TV broadcasters can make: 1) Go direct for Internet-based download, time-shift and pay TV (including day-and-date) to soften recessionary blows, 2) Invest in quality--not quantity--while reducing overall content production, distribution and marketing costs, 3) Launch dynamic ubiquitous mechanisms to create, effectively price, sell and coordinate cross-platform advertising, 4) Make "local" a star.

Although 2009 is expected to be as difficult an economic year as companies and individuals have experienced, the continuing entrenchment and endearment of digital interactivity suggests a glass half-full future.

The recession is prompting massive layoffs in all media sectors, even at the biggest players. The sheer magnitude denotes a scramble for survival that masks the urgent need for major restructuring. However, the intense focus on cutting rather than building is unlikely to leave media players as they prepare for digital growth.