NY Times OpEd: "New technologies breed new genres."
In its own little away, an amazing realization by the New
York Times today. -M
TV Beyond the Tried and True
What were they waiting for? It's just over a month since the Apple chief executive, Steven Jobs, and Robert Iger, head of Disney, announced that they would be selling hit shows like ABC's "Lost" for viewing on the new iPod. Now it seems like every big company in the industry has come up with a nontraditional twist on delivering television shows - a quantum leap in barely six weeks.
CBS plans to sell reruns of shows like "CSI" on Comcast. NBC Universal will do the same for the likes of "Law & Order: SVU" over DirecTV. Warner Brothers will offer reruns of "Wonder Woman" and "Welcome Back, Kotter" over a new Internet service to those whose nostalgia overcomes their critical faculties. And TiVo just announced that its digital recorders will soon be able to download any show onto Apple's little iPods. The networks and production companies apparently were huddled at the edge of the precipice, waiting for one of them - in this case, the brave Mr. Iger - to jump first.
Piracy was a motivation. Savvy computer users are already using file-sharing technologies like BitTorrent to download illegal copies of shows. The television industry had to come up with a legitimate alternative before too many consumers grew too accustomed to stealing copyrighted material. (Paging the music industry.)
But this is what they came up with? ... ...Reruns of second-rate sitcoms from the 70's and a chance to buy the same shows you can already watch on TV? If the American entertainment conglomerates want to remain among the world leaders, their programmers need to peer over the cubicles of half-hour situation comedies, hourlong police procedurals and two-hour films and explore the unlimited opportunities of the new formats. In the days of Pac-Man and Space Invaders, few would have guessed that a game offering a chance to play out a fake life (the Sims) could ever be a hit. Ten years ago it would have seemed preposterous that cellphone ring tones would be a $5 billion industry. New technologies breed new genres.
Perhaps the future of TV is in brief video clips, the kind workers enjoy e-mailing around the office. These might seem ideal for the atrophied attention spans of young people. (On the other hand, these same young people can lock themselves away for days and even weeks trying to beat a video game.)
Fans could gravitate to watching more of a single program - comfort and consistency in a world of bewildering choices. Loyal viewers certainly would have taken more doses of "Friends" at the show's peak than one half-hour each Thursday.
Ultimately, it will all turn on the willingness of executives to invest in different approaches and greenlight untried ideas. If not, someone else will.
TV Beyond the Tried and True
What were they waiting for? It's just over a month since the Apple chief executive, Steven Jobs, and Robert Iger, head of Disney, announced that they would be selling hit shows like ABC's "Lost" for viewing on the new iPod. Now it seems like every big company in the industry has come up with a nontraditional twist on delivering television shows - a quantum leap in barely six weeks.
CBS plans to sell reruns of shows like "CSI" on Comcast. NBC Universal will do the same for the likes of "Law & Order: SVU" over DirecTV. Warner Brothers will offer reruns of "Wonder Woman" and "Welcome Back, Kotter" over a new Internet service to those whose nostalgia overcomes their critical faculties. And TiVo just announced that its digital recorders will soon be able to download any show onto Apple's little iPods. The networks and production companies apparently were huddled at the edge of the precipice, waiting for one of them - in this case, the brave Mr. Iger - to jump first.
Piracy was a motivation. Savvy computer users are already using file-sharing technologies like BitTorrent to download illegal copies of shows. The television industry had to come up with a legitimate alternative before too many consumers grew too accustomed to stealing copyrighted material. (Paging the music industry.)
But this is what they came up with? ... ...Reruns of second-rate sitcoms from the 70's and a chance to buy the same shows you can already watch on TV? If the American entertainment conglomerates want to remain among the world leaders, their programmers need to peer over the cubicles of half-hour situation comedies, hourlong police procedurals and two-hour films and explore the unlimited opportunities of the new formats. In the days of Pac-Man and Space Invaders, few would have guessed that a game offering a chance to play out a fake life (the Sims) could ever be a hit. Ten years ago it would have seemed preposterous that cellphone ring tones would be a $5 billion industry. New technologies breed new genres.
Perhaps the future of TV is in brief video clips, the kind workers enjoy e-mailing around the office. These might seem ideal for the atrophied attention spans of young people. (On the other hand, these same young people can lock themselves away for days and even weeks trying to beat a video game.)
Fans could gravitate to watching more of a single program - comfort and consistency in a world of bewildering choices. Loyal viewers certainly would have taken more doses of "Friends" at the show's peak than one half-hour each Thursday.
Ultimately, it will all turn on the willingness of executives to invest in different approaches and greenlight untried ideas. If not, someone else will.
