There was a line in The Farnsworth Invention yesterday that I have yet to figure out.

Some background… The line was uttered in a description of David Sarnoff, who was the president of RCA/NBC. At first, Sarnoff wanted the airwaves to be free of advertising and profit primarily from the sale of radios. After the company suffered because of the Great Depression, Sarnoff was forced to put ads on the airwaves and his company grew tremendously as a result.

Anyway, the line is this: “Once you’re good at connecting consumers with advertisers, it’s hard to be good at anything else.”

Anybody out there have a take on what it could mean? Maybe that it’s easy to get comfortable with money?

— rickyv

Ricky— I think you’re right. The way I read it, connecting your consumer with your advertisers is the dead end for most entrepeneurs. It’s difficult to say whether this is a cynical statement or not, but given the context of media, I’d say it’s a knock to the jaw of media profiteers. In todays world, none of the giants have gone beyond profiting from their venture by means other than advertising.

Also given the context, he could be referring to the control advertisers are given when the media entrepeneur becomes the middleman. This can be seen largely in television, where the advertisers are the sole reason for censorship and most other content projected to the mainstream media. Content like sitcoms is created for a general audience, because it’s offering a further reach for advertisers. In this case, content is created for and by advertisers.