Until the Web came along, the media business was easy to understand. It made content and sold advertising that either interrupted or sat alongside that content.
It was such an easy model to understand, and fortunes were made upon its back. Since the Web, however, media companies have come to discover that what they really sell is audience. It's actually always been that way, but they didn't have to deal with its ramifications until after the disintermediation that technology produced.
Source:
http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/30085/media-biz-must-rethink-its-infrastructure
