Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Is the TV Business Really Going to be Saved by Internet?


Is the television industry in Denial about the impact of the internet on their business? According to the article Sorry, There's No Way to Save the TV Business, this is the case. The article says that the newspaper figured it out the hard way, the business is eventually doomed to fail. The best creators will succeed and the worst are destined to fail. Alternatively, in the Article Water-Cooler Effect, the author thinks that television will be saved by the internet. I do not buy it.

The internet is replacing the traditional television, I have no doubt. When I sit down in the living room, I have several choices of video:

- Basic Cable Television
- Netflix Instant
- Extensive DVD Collection
- Hulu & Other Publisher's Websites
- Comcast On Demand
- Comcast Internet On Demand

Like the article 'Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable' said about the Transition to the printing press: "Chaotic, as it turns out." Advertisers are looking to the internet for better opportunities, better focused ads, and more opportunities. The same article said: "Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism." I believe that this applies equally to the television entertainment industry. It will matter less and less who creates the content, the quality of the entertainment will be the important thing.

Like the transition to the printing press, we do not know what the internet will bring to replace television, but we have a pretty good idea. There are all sorts off startups that bring television and movies to the laptop computer. We can take these as the start to a new generation, pushing traditional television out of the way.

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