Communiqué
McCracken takes the E. W. Scripps Company Down New Digital Paths
< < Back toRob McCracken is the director of the Digital Solutions Groups for the E.W. Scripps media company. He heads a team that is cutting-edge in research and design.
McCracken’s team explores the next media innovations that have the potential to be popular in the future in the ever-changing media landscape. The group looks at what might be profitable for Scripps to acquire or what might be important for Scripps to develop.
McCracken talked with WOUB about the company Midroll, that was recently purchased by Scripps and the podcast explosion that media is now experiencing.
Midroll is a company that manages big-named podcasts – places them in the media sphere and sells advertising for the podcast originators. In short, Midroll manages, for a fee, everything about the podcasts except for content.
It has become a highly profitable addition to the Scripps Company that is constantly looking for new products and new markets. Audio storytelling that is available through mobile devices is now highly popular.
McCracken says the next big media boom may be in Artificial Intelligence Assistance similar to the Amazon Echo…a device that can provide music, information, news and sports and is directed by one’s voice.
He sees such devices as being not only available to people in their homes but also in their vehicles. These types of devices provide new markets for content for a company like Scripps.
McCracken’s internal research and design team is still rather unique in the media world. Scripps is on the cutting-edge of exploration by creating such a team.