Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has announced a plan to strengthen New York Citys media sector. “New York City is the media capital of the world, but with the industry undergoing profound changes its incumbent on us to take steps now to capitalize on growth opportunities and ensure we remain an industry leader,” said Mayor Bloomberg.
The plan is based on eight specific initiatives that range from an annual software development competition (NYC BigApps) to a research center for media companies and universities (NYC Media Lab). Bloomberg announced the initiatives yesterday at the IAC world headquarters in Manhattan. Joining him for the announcement were, among others, Huffington Post CEO Eric Hippeau and blip.tv Co-founder Dina Kaplan.
New York Citys media industry employs more than 300,000 people, nearly 10 percent of the Citys private workforce, and accounts for $30 billion in annual revenue. mall to medium-sized media companies, those with less than 500 employees, account for nearly one-half of all employment in the sector. Clearly Bloomberg sees new media as the sector for growth in the media industry. According to a press release from the city, the new media sub-sector is growing: global mobile entertainment revenues, internet gaming traffic, social networking, and user-generated content are expected to expand significantly in the near term with annual growth rates potentially more than 35 percent. More…