With the convergence of television going digital, and the rising costs of cable television, people are starting to use a different alternative to watching their favorite shows, without paying an arm and a leg for cable. Now, people are starting to use the Internet to watch their favorite programs. With sites such as www.hulu.com, people turning to the Internet to watch their favorite program just got much easier.
Before I go into specific details about the future of television, I'll first talk about the "Five Cs of the Post-Network Era, by Amanda Lotz from her book, "The Television Will Be Revolutionized". The five Cs are choice, control, convenience, customization, and community. Lotz explains that choice and control deal with the expectations and adjusted use of networks on television. Convenience and customization resulted from choice and control after network-era norms "eroded and conventions of the multi-channel transition started to dominate". Lotz also explained what Beth Comstock, president of digital media and market development at NBC Universal, said about community. Comstock mentioned that "in the digital age, community is all about gathering people with shared interests and giving them a platform to interact with each other, to engage in relevant content and to create something new".
That last point made by Comstock on community is very true. Blog sites and social networking sites enable what is called "water-cooler" conversation about certain television shows or live events on television. One good example of this would be during the MTV Video Music Awards when Kanye West took the microphone from Taylor Swift during the acceptance of an award she received. This was definitely the hottest topic on Twitter and Facebook. I was involved in this "water-cooler" conversation too because I was debating with many people on Facebook about how West shouldn't have gone on stage to interrupt Taylor Swift the way he did. This shows that television and the Internet work together positively because people can watch shows live, and react with others online about what's going on. Also, people who aren't watching something on television can look on Facebook or Twitter and see that something significant happened during a certain program, and that may prompt them to watch that program.
Most television executives see the Internet as another means of television as a good thing, and not as a big threat. Leslie Moonves, chief executive of the CBS Corporation, says that "The Internet is our friend, not our enemy." He also mentions that "people want to be attached to each other", relating to the water-cooler effect. Maureen Huff, spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable, says that "we don't consider it a threat to our business". It may not seem like a major threat now, but if the cost of cable and satelitte television continues to rise, will it eventually be a threat in the future?
Of course, everyone wants to know what television would be like in the next 10 years. I believe that television and the Internet will be able to interact together completely. I think that people will not only be able to watch programs on their television set, but they may be able to surf the web and interact with people around the world on their television as well. Here's a video that will help to explain this:
Information used in this blog can be found at the following links:
Changing Channels, From Cable to the Web, Douglas Quenqua, N. T. Times, 10 March 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/garden/11tv.html?scp=14&sq=web%20television&st=cse
Water-Cooler Effect: Internet Can Be TV's Friend, Brian Stelter, N.Y. Times, February 23, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/business/media/24cooler.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Images taken from the following websites:
Family Guy photo:
http://www.hulu.com/family-guy
Kanye West and Taylor Swift MTV VMAs photo:
http://www.mtv.co.uk/files/imagecache/gallery_wide/2009/09/14/kanye_west_taylor_swift_getty16951150.jpg
Great example using Kanye West and Taylor Swift, I never thought about that example and I also liked how your future of television in the next ten years included communicating with people around the world. Good, short, quick to the point explanations of the 5 c's.
ReplyDeleteThe "Water Cooler" effect is awesome. I get motivated by these blog sites, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. The community part of the 5 C's is something we all engage in everyday as we use the internet and talk about movies, independent films and all sorts of other things. Check out my post for this assignment about my experience with an online MySpace event. Very cool and fun way to spend a couple of hours one evening.
ReplyDeleteI tried to check out TVAlley.com and it took me to a Collections site of the same name. I liked the video very much so I am going to try to find TVAlley.com later again.
Good article terrone, very interesting to know. Im sitting writing my blogspot and i realize my point of view is a lil pessimistic, but you help me to consider some positive outcomes to this whole thing.
ReplyDeleteThanx :o)
Cierra.
Engage is a word that has been popping up everywhere around me these days and its because it is what people want. They want something that they can interact with, something that gives them a voice. By combing television and the internet and social media it gives the people just what they want.
ReplyDeleteWho is to say the phone, internet, and television can't all work together for the benefits of their users. You this happening today. A person has their favorite TV show that they like to watch on TV. If they miss it for some reason they can watch it online. This helps them stay connected to the show and to the network. The phone and social media come in with updates and discussions about the shows characters, plot lines, and drama. They all can work together!