Anime/Manga
Even with the move to online the industry has taken as of late, it seems traditional distribution isn't completely dead yet: The latest Gundam series, Gundam 00, is making its U.S. debut via the Sci-Fi Channel. Once online distribution like Viz's Naruto release become the norm, though, we predict these big TV debuts will become much more scarce, if they happen at all.
Video Games
Video games look like they might become one of the hot venues for advertising in the future. Following the much-celebrated Barack Obama in-game campaign ads, game publisher THQ has named Microsoft's Massive division, which created the election "billboards," as its exclusive provider for Xbox game ads.
Game industry employees also may find themselves working for very non-traditional end users in the future – like the U.S. Army and the medical industry. The Army is going to invest $50 million in video games that will be used as training simulators, while a modified version of Guitar Hero is being used at Johns Hopkins to help amputees adjust to their prosthetics.
Technology
Contemporary "Mad Men" say that advertising has been changed drastically in recent years by new media – companies now not only have to think print and prime-time network TV, they have to think YouTube and Facebook as well. Definitely must-reading for anyone thinking of working in any kind of media – advertising can show up anywhere and everywhere nowadays (see our item on video game ads above for proof of that).
Twitter and Facebook were considering a merger, but the talks broke down three weeks ago. It's quite interesting that this all happened so quietly and off-the-radar, considering how high-profile Facebook in particular has been lately.
Publishing
The industry continues its march away from traditional print and toward the Web: PC Magazine has become the latest publication to announce that it is going online-only. It's a logical move for them, since their Web site has been drawing more ad revenue than their publication. Book publishers may be inching away from print as well, with Random House increasing its E-book library. We've been saying that people going into newspapers should be sure to be E-technology savvy, but that should be expanded to all print venues as well.
– Bonnie