[opendtv] Re: Business Week: The Future of TV
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 12:08:28 -0400
Craig Birkmaier posted:
> Just stumbled across this special report from Business Week.
>
> Lot's of stuff here!
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/special_reports/20090422the_
future_of_tv.htm
I continue to be underwhelmed with these articles about how networks
"will reinvent themselves." Not so much by what is said in them, but
because what is stated is so obvious, and has been happening for such a
long time, that it makes me wonder why anyone would find it newsworthy.
For instance, the fact that UPN, and now CW, caters to pre-teen girls,
that ABC caters to women, that Fox and CBS probably have more of an
adult audience, that CBS has cop shows, has been true for years and
years. So already broadcasters have looked to find their own, almost
niche audience, rather than trying to appeal to absolutely everyone. If
this trend continues, it's hardly something revolutionary.
The bit about the networks emulating cable networks is also overblown,
from my perspective as a viewer and not one in the broadcast community.
More choice fragments the audience, but at the same time, each network
now has more programming pipes at its disposal. Not just on cable, but
also OTA. So they can each offer more choice to their audience, if they
choose to do so. They can still garner a high percentage of the total
audience, but they may need to do so with two or three program streams
rather than just one at a time.
Prime time? Who cares? The best thing about prime time is that I have an
easier time looking at the listings in order to set up my recording
device. I only have to search over a rather short time slot. That aside,
how many decades has it been since anyone was tied to a schedule, for
heaven's sake, before the trade press will finally get it?
The trend to buy lower cost shows, a perfect example being Flash Point,
is a huge "who cares" to me, and likely to other viewers. You don't need
all the high-cost glitz to make a show good. Flash Point is fine by me.
If more shows are produced in Canada, or wherever the costs are lower,
it doesn't automatically make them less good. There are any number of
examples like this, or like shows from BBC. I have to believe this "big
innovation" only matters to those within the industry.
I see only evolutionary changes continuing. People are not going to give
up on story-telling. People have been enjoying story-telling a lot
longer than radio and TV have been around. Even if teens and college age
kids are texting furiously while watching TV.
Bert
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