In the 20th century TV transformed entertainment. In the 21st century TV itself is undergoing transformation as it struggles to keep people entertained.
According to a report, Television Networks in the 21st century : Growing critical mass in a fragmenting world (2005), published by business analyst firm Deloitte,“audience fragmentation” is changing the changing perceptions about the very nature of “TV content.”
An introduction to the report states: “What was previously considered ‘television content’ is now being burned onto DVDs, time delayed by Personal Video Recorders, broken into fragments, piped on demand over the Internet, downloaded onto mobile devices and syndicated around the globe …Content is being consumed across an expanding array of media, channels and devices.” What this means for content producers is that content produced for TV must increasingly be able to translate to these other popular platforms for media consumption – it is no longer an option to “produce programs, broadcast them across a national network of owned and affiliated stations to a mass audience, and sell access to that audience to advertisers based on viewership.”
The technology to allow just about any electronic gizmo to become a TV, or ‘digital entertainment device’ as Intel prefers, is already being rolled out. Intel Viiv processors will allow users to download content from the Internet straight into the TV set in their lounge, the one in the kitchen, or the one in their pocket. However, what is likely to shape the uptake of the technology will be the deals struck between content providers and rights agreements between them and Intel.
Waiting in the wings are teams of marketers specialising in products that cross the traditional TV-digital media boundaries, who are ready to convince consumers and advertisers to lap up the new opportunities. In an interview with iMedia Connection, Jonathan Bing, deputy managing editor of Variety magazine, says that in he past year TV companies have made a complete about-turn in their approach to content and new marketing opportunities. He says: “They are now offering a bewildering array of a-la-carte options, and striking deals with internet companies and wireless services that would never have seemed possible a year ago.”
Competitions like the Nokia 15 second short film competition are already winning grassroots support from both creators and consumers of streaming content, whilst bespoke ‘mobisides’ of hit series 24 are driving consumer interest. Interactive TV and online news services are further blurring the lines between old and new TV. It seems likely that producers with skills in a variety of digital and interactive media will be the ones to set trends in future content development. But the future will also open up opportunities for the old school.
Richard Minta writes on MP3 Newswire that iPods could be the cause of a revival of appreciation for shows “…from the 50s and 60s that have been crowded out of the syndication circuit by popular 70s, 80s and 90s television programs.” He says: “Some of these shows are great, some are barely mediocre, but I think all deserve a re-evaluation to see what gems we can uncover.”
But as Variety’s Jonathan Bing says, “…the real challenge as I see it is for entertainment producers: how do you develop content for all these tiny niche markets? What kinds of TV shows and movies actually lend themselves to internet downloads? Can you produce content with high production values that’s designed for broadcasting online or to people’s cell phones? Is it possible to produce interactive TV and movies that actually give consumers more control over the content?”
