[opendtv] Re: Commentary: Is Internet TV yet another would-be wedding?

  • From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:30:42 -0400

The only connection I know between Whedon and "I know what you did last summer" was Sara Michelle Geller, also from Buffy. And we've already agreed on this list that I really liked Buffy and you didn't.


(you curmudgeon ;-) )

As far as the local news I think it mostly should be produced as now but should also be available on the Internet. It would seem the advantage of the local news is the stations could likely own it, maybe not needing to purchase other national IP rights to show it in different venues. It would occasionally get a surge of eyeballs and advertising appeal when something local had national interest. I wouldn't even be surprised to see click thru retrans agreements with it so any other station anywhere could shop for interesting tidbits.

Though I do also think phone-cams can add a lot to it in many situations. The damn things are pretty ubiquitous these days. I even have one myself if I could only figure out how to use it properly.

And yes, I also enjoyed that sing-along blog, at least a little.

- Tom



John Willkie wrote:
Wow.  Are you sure that a sing-along-blog really qualifies as a TV show?
Methinks this is a sure loser, one that shouldn't have left the development
lab.

Some people were surprised when producers started putting out low-quality
work that exhibitors wouldn't pay for, and stared putting out direct to
video (I assume that you didn't think this crap only started coming out
after DVDs came around.)

OF COURSE you think that local tv news should be distributed over the
internet primarily; and it should be done by 'neighborhood kids" using their
cell phones (and without thinking or critical analysys.)

Maybe prison inmates should be doing tv newscasts as a public service, no?

Yes, Tom, I am ridiculing these anhistoric, absurd notions.

I know crap when I see it, and Joss Wheedon is a master of the genre.  Only
kids or childlike folk watch his stuff.  "I know what you did last summer."

John Willkie



-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Tom Barry
Enviado el: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:10 AM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Re: Commentary: Is Internet TV yet another would-be
wedding?

John Willkie wrote:

 > Might even happen in my life.

He may or may not have pitched it to the networks but Joss Whedon's latest effort is a net only TV show, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. <http://www.drhorrible.com/>

I also seem to recall some people were surprised when Disney and others started doing some movies direct to video and bypassing the theaters. If there is an economically justified distribution channel it will eventually get used by somebody. Of course the theaters are still in business but they have had to move over and make room. So will TV and cable.

And I actually think local news is a good example of a show that should also be on the Internet (both as text and video). I already get all my local weather news there.

- Tom


I've got no problem with the concept, until it kills TV news.  Let's see;
we
won't have local newspapers, we won't have local tv, we will have all
sorts
of people commenting on things.  Sounds very bad to me.

The trend is a long, long, long way from a tipping point.  Keep me
informed
when a producer decides to forego pitching to the networks and decides to
"go nude on the internet."

Might even happen in my life.

John Willkie

-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Tom Barry
Enviado el: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 8:43 PM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Re: Commentary: Is Internet TV yet another would-be
wedding?



John Willkie wrote:
Pretty close to a whine.
Probably not, but I like that phrase. ;-)

My bread these days is buttered a bit more on the side of OTA broadcasting so I'm not completely dismayed.

However if you forget the content ownership for a moment and just count the relative price and capabilities of getting pixels to consumers I think the trend is pretty obvious.

- Tom

The better way of saying it: mostly, Internet TV
is crap, since high-quality producers tend to be more interested in
high-quality distribution systems.

Aren't you glad that "the Blair Witch Project" changed everything.  I
once
had an investor on the line who wanted to invest in "something like that"
but not a "movie" or media project.  I hope he used the money on
something
more worthwhile, like illegal drugs.

John Willkie

-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Tom Barry
Enviado el: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 5:39 PM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Re: Commentary: Is Internet TV yet another would-be
wedding?

Much of the problem with Internet TV is most of the prime content is controlled by folks that don't really want Internet TV yet.

- Tom


Kon Wilms wrote:
On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 7:57 AM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Very timely article. I'll stick with my previous comments on the
subject, i.e. that Internet TV can work fine as long as it's TV, and
not
the sort of heavily interactive experience people prefer doing, and
have
become accustomed doing, sitting up to a PC, with keyboard, and
typically alone.

"In contrast, the Widget Channel uses a thin bar along the bottom as a
default. It's not about browsing -- it's about pushing content."
A thin bar with pushed content? This is something new? Yawn!

The problem with internet television on a television is not the fact
that it is interactive -- it's the fact that the input mechanisms
(mouse and keyboard) are antiquated. We need gesture control for one
thing. Until the CE industry realizes this, they will just continue to
flounder and push nonsense like 'push widgets' as newfangled
technologies.

Cheers
Kon
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Tom Barry                  trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx  



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