NY Times: In the Age of TiVo and Web Video, What Is Prime Time?
Article from today's NY Times: In the Age of TiVo and Web Video, What Is Prime Time?:
This article states the obvious: the practice of "time shifting" via DVR is growing ever more popular; prime time television is losing some cache but TV advertising remains a $9B business; young viewers networks are willing to absorb their favorite shows via the web or iTunes, etc. No surprises here. (Well, except for the fact the author does not mention MythTV in this context, though perhaps that's more disappointing than surprising.)
In any event, what is surprising is that neither the author nor the executives quoted in the article perceive the threat that bittorrent and sites that illegally stream television shows (e.g., Surf the Channel, WatchTVSitcoms, ChannelSurfing.net, etc.) pose to the traditional TV advertising model. And even for the emerging DVR model: there is always that show that you wanted to see but forgot to record.)
It seems that any popular show (or song or movie or book) is bound, to some degree, to suffer from something similar to the Streisand effect where attempts to censor or remove a piece of information backfires, causing the information to be widely publicized. Understanding how the S.E. affects DRM and digital media should hasten networks to place more content online cede more control to users over when, where and how content is consumed. It's a classic case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Though it should be noted that TV execs have at least one ace up their sleeve: if viewers watch fewer commercials, then the ones they do watch become more valuable. It's so easy to become immune to a multitude of advertisements. But with fewer ads, the ones that come through are more meaningful to the viewer. This could increase the cost networks charge per ad and possibly offset some losses wrought by the shift to DVR and give the consumer more content for his or her time.
Who stole six million viewers?...Some of the six million are still watching, but on their own terms, thanks to TiVos and other digital video recorders, streaming video on the Internet, and cable video on demand offerings. So while overall usage of television is steady, the linear broadcasts favored by advertisers are in decline.
This article states the obvious: the practice of "time shifting" via DVR is growing ever more popular; prime time television is losing some cache but TV advertising remains a $9B business; young viewers networks are willing to absorb their favorite shows via the web or iTunes, etc. No surprises here. (Well, except for the fact the author does not mention MythTV in this context, though perhaps that's more disappointing than surprising.)
In any event, what is surprising is that neither the author nor the executives quoted in the article perceive the threat that bittorrent and sites that illegally stream television shows (e.g., Surf the Channel, WatchTVSitcoms, ChannelSurfing.net, etc.) pose to the traditional TV advertising model. And even for the emerging DVR model: there is always that show that you wanted to see but forgot to record.)
It seems that any popular show (or song or movie or book) is bound, to some degree, to suffer from something similar to the Streisand effect where attempts to censor or remove a piece of information backfires, causing the information to be widely publicized. Understanding how the S.E. affects DRM and digital media should hasten networks to place more content online cede more control to users over when, where and how content is consumed. It's a classic case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Though it should be noted that TV execs have at least one ace up their sleeve: if viewers watch fewer commercials, then the ones they do watch become more valuable. It's so easy to become immune to a multitude of advertisements. But with fewer ads, the ones that come through are more meaningful to the viewer. This could increase the cost networks charge per ad and possibly offset some losses wrought by the shift to DVR and give the consumer more content for his or her time.
posted by Mike Wilt at
9:14 AM
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