Stewart CohenDirector/DP/Photographer, Stewart Cohen Pictures · Director/DP/Photographer @ Stewart Cohen Pictures | Film Production

Why Advertising Feels Like the Wild West Right Now

18 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker (Stewart Cohen) describes the current advertising environment as a chaotic "Wild West" due to rapid changes in media consumption. He notes that traditional channels like network TV and magazines are losing audiences, which creates a downstream effect on advertisers and, ultimately, the creators who rely on those ad revenues. The speaker worries that as consumption patterns shift, creators may find themselves at the bottom of a declining hill, prompting a need to rethink career strategies and adapt to the new landscape.

Chapters

I shouldn't even let this cat out of the bag, but what's going on in advertising, like, it's really the Wild West currently. I will just— Yeah. At least from where I sit, and I read all the trades and I'm in it every day. If they're not consuming it the way that I've made my living or my career dishing it out, well, I gotta start thinking about that. I don't have to wait because if I see, say, nobody's watching network TV, or if I see nobody's buying a magazine, You know, that rolls downhill and I'm at the bottom of the hill. You know, we're, yeah, we're the creators. So where is that going?