15 May
2007

The Next Big Thing in Television?

I don't know what it will be....do you?
[Television] 

Had an interesting conversation lately on the future of television programming.  With the advent of time shifting digital recording devices and downloadable television shows, it seems like the old standard of running your typical programming schedule is going the way of the dinosaur.  However, what will the next big thing be? 

Some people think that content that you can download to your computer is the next logical step.  But I do not think that people want to watch programs from their computers.  Even converting said downloads to something for your television seems like one too many steps for the average viewer. 

While I do not know what the answer will be, I think that DVRs will be involved.  DVRs are taking the emphasis off of prime time television due to viewers watching shows when they want, as opposed to schedules the networks dictate.  Could we see extra programming due to this?  With more and more people recording shows, where is the importance on prime time?  Why not broadcast shows during off-peak times for the purpose of recording?  I'll tell you why not.  Advertising revenue.  Someone needs to figure out how to get programming on demand to make money.  Until that happens, expect the status quo of hour long shows broken down into 40 minutes of "show" and 20 minutes of commercials during prime time.


Posted by steve at 13:26 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)
Comments
Re: The Next Big Thing in Television?

I don't know what the next step in programming is, but I'd imagine that if network execs want to keep the status quo (without DVRs) they're going to air more sporting events and (to a lesser extent) reality shows.

Both of these have an "expiration date". It's like subscribing to a newspaper that comes a week later.

A DVR loses a lot of value with this type of programming.

Posted by: Daniel Fisher at May 17,2007 08:52
Re: The Next Big Thing in Television?

I think that as more people watch television shows recorded by DVRs and similar devices, advertisers should take a page from the World Cup. In the world cup there are no time-outs or commercials (except at halftime) and so the little scoreboard in the corner of the screen is presented by various companies (it may have "Gatorade" beside the scoreboard for the 1st 10 minutes, and then change to "Coca-Cola" for example). Advertisers could buy 5 minutes of time during the actual show, since we all fast-forward through commercial breaks anyway.
Or maybe they could just have the actors display items like toasters and Kool-Aid during the show kind of like on "The Truman Show".

Posted by: Dwight Barnes at May 17,2007 14:29
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