The television industry continues to see a drop in its overall viewership numbers. Some media industry experts argue that TV's viewership decline is the result of the tremendous growth in the online space over the last year. This leads to the enduring question: Will the Internet and online video cause the downfall of the television industry?
Strong growth trends in online video don't appear to favor a positive outlook for TV viewership. Online videos were watched by a total of 138,576,000 million unique viewers, according to comScore (March 2008). This was up over 11 million unique views from March 2007.
Even more disturbing to some is the thought that online video may potentially spell the end of television broadcast dollars. But it’s a little premature to talk about the television’s demise, and I do not believe that online video will be the end of broadcast television.
We should look at the online space as complementary, one that is adding value to both new and existing (television) properties by offering additional touch points with the consumer. The single caveat is the content’s "uniqueness."
As long as we continue to simply move the existing experience of television and its programming to the online space, it will continue to cannibalize. When we embrace the “uniqueness” of the online medium (the interactive unit on which you are viewing the content) and create content that is actually different from its offline counterpart, then we will meet the complementary status.
On the Web today, there remains an infinite amount of content choices, including long and short form content, exclusive interviews, behind the scene footage, and deleted scenes. In the near future, the online space will eventually add a new kind of content that utilizes the interactive power of the unit it is viewed on, and find new fans by exposing the brand outside of the broadcast medium.
It's surprising to learn that the BBC, which will celebrate its centenary fourteen years from now is leading the way in online video despite the popularity of online video sharing sites like Youtube and Dailymotion. What makes this old-age traditional media outlet, which even the Brits fondly called "Auntie" now a powerful force in online content distribution, should be enough to tell those prophet of doom who have already written the obituary of Broadcast TV!!!
NBC just annouced that they will not make televised events online until after thay have been seen on TV!!So it seems they are only using these Webcasts to drive online audience to the TV as you rightly mentioned.
With the flagrant copyright violations on the internet and the huge cost involve in securing eclusive rights to broadvast these games, i believe Broadcast TV will continue to be the single most dominat force in carrying these games!!!
TVs aren't going anywhere but I do think broadcast TV networks will disappear - not now, or 10 years from now but sometime in the future.
Right now? I think they have a tough competition. As with a lot of services, they provide the medium (broadband access) and others piggy back on that to offer their own services (Skype, Hulu, etc.)
And if Hulu, who is owned by the same company that owns NBC, can manage to keep growing and delivering high-quality content. Why not change? I'll get the broadband connection and after that I'll get my own content.
One problem is the difficulties in using your own TV to see the content - after we are passed that, I'll kiss cable TV good bye.
Internet TV could be such a complement to cable broadcasters in many ways. Where you can buy cable TV, you can often buy internet. Even from the same provider. If the cable TV company would offer internet and streaming to their TV customers (or the other way around) and would somehow meld the media offerings from each of these unique sources, the consumer could experience tremendous informational and entertainment value, and would likely feel a loyalty to the provider of such a service, even if this blended media were at a premium cost.
Too often from where I sit, I see the IP side compete for the same dollars the TV side has and vice versa, thus eliminating this opportunity to win a loyal customer.
I too agree that TV isn't going to go away just because of Internet TV in the same way that Internet TV won't be irrelevant just because cable and or broadcast TV exists.
In any case, my belief is that the internet and its increasing speed, agility and flexibility has forever changed the way broadcast TV works in the American household, and that broadcast will have to roll with those changes to some degree whether they are ready to or not.
The cable industry has an opportunity to erode their audience directly to their high speed offering, or just watch the levy break and see them disappear over the horizon. Ready on demand broadcast services hold an appeal for the future as well.
I tend to agree that Internet TV isn't going to do away with broadcast television -- but there's potential for damage with same-day Webcasts.
On the one hand, they could mayyybeee drive the online audience to television -- but on the other, they could usurp the cable audience with promises of convenience and limited commercial interruptions.
I don't think it'll happen soon, but down the line the cable industry is going to erode.
I think that if it's being considered complementary is because the user doesn't have enough bandwidth.
The days of only watching videos of cats are over - today there's an article on TechCrunch about coverage of the Wimbledon tournament and how the US Open was streamed over 2.5 million times.
Another report by Cisco, posted on Contentinople, mentions how IPTV will lead the way of the internet traffic growth. Internet data is supposed to grow 63% in 2008, and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 46% over the next 5 years.
According toi the report "IP video grew from 12 percent of consumer IP traffic in 2006 to 22 percent in 2007, and is forecast to make up 32 percent of all consumer IP traffic by the end of this year."
Cable companies have seen this trend and should start making changes to their business models, to fit in this changing World.
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