Intro to New Media Midterm
The Cyber Boob Tube
Ironically, online streaming videos are becoming immensely popular at a time when televisions are becoming increasingly sophisticated with clearer pictures and more options. Videos uploaded on websites sacrifice this quality for convenience. Our immediate gratification generation demands news and entertainment to be available at any time and any place. The growing popularity of streaming videos will inevitably affect the role of television, advertising, and regulation in our fast-paced society.
With the widespread usage of broadband internet connections in the US, more and more viewers are going online and using peer-to-peer downloading software to access the latest television shows.
The internet has revolutionized viewing television in terms of space. Streaming videos from a website does not require downloading because they are transmitted “in segments piece-by-piece, but rapidly enough that the information streaming is continuous.”[9] Instead of a plethora of DVD sets sitting on your bookshelves, it is more efficient to have episodes at your immediate disposal without taking up nearly the amount of space. The amount of memory a computer has is irrelevant because there is no need to download anything. Also, the technological requirements to view the videos are not hard to meet. Nowadays most computers (even Macs) can play videos, it simply depends on the connection speed.
[9]
There have been recent technological advancements that allow videos to be streamed live over the internet or for subsequent viewing. As the amount of video streams increase significantly so do the viewers (some who originally would not be able to view the program due to time conflicts). Now television shows are available whenever it is convenient for the consumer.
[9]
“The Conference Board, a research company that tracks consumer internet habits reported that 1 in 10 online users now watches television on a computer.” [1] Television’s 18 to 35 year-old demographic is making the switch from skipping commercials through TiVo to downloading shows to file sharing sites in order to stream online videos. "It's not convenient for me to watch television anymore, or wait around for something good to come on," said Jonathan Chee, a freshman at UC Davis. "It's a little easier just to go on YouTube and watch something you heard about or catch up on something you missed." [1]
Video Streaming vs Television
The viewing of shows online has become more of a searching process rather than channel surfing. There have been an endless amount of blog posts-- complaining and praising the new technology that allows online television. While videos online increase the availability and exposure of a TV program, there are some setbacks. Many of my friends complain that streaming videos cannot be enlarged to full screen and are somewhat choppy. “The No. 1 complaint against online television watching was that a computer is not a television.” [9] The ability to watch streaming videos on a laptop with wireless broadband internet anytime anywhere will definitely create competition with television. On the other hand, a few of my friends said that watching a television show with other people is part of the entertainment and experience. Rita Stankeviciute’s online article, Streaming Video, defines the reasons why the computer will not immediately replace the television:
The total amount of information on television so far outnumbers video streams available online. Secondly, TV viewing habits are entrenched into the modern culture and as yet only some people are willing to substitute their enormous TV screens for a computer screen. Finally, internet is still “far from providing the required quality of service for video streaming”.[9]
Although online television shows do pose a threat to the role of television, they will not replace it entirely. Larry Gerbrandt, senior vice president of Nielsen Analytics, talks about the growing popularity of streaming online videos in a San Francisco Chronicle article; "What's happening now is the net result of TiVo and broadband penetration into half of the American homes. TiVo taught this generation you no longer have to watch television when someone tells you to watch it. You should be able to get it whenever, wherever, just like music."[3] With the development of programs like Napster, Limewire, and even iTunes, people were able to download music at their will instead of waiting for the radio to broadcast a particular song or buying an entire album. Because the internet is adapting some of the functions of television, a similar effect will take place on traditional television. Some analysts believe this transition has the potential to seriously influence the way viewers watch television and disrupt the industry, while others aren’t convinced that there will be really any impact.
Networks
NBC and CBS have monopolized broadcasting since the introduction of radio. ABC is the former NBC Blue radio network created out of an anti-trust litigation in the 1940’s. [7] Congress demanded that NBC divided its network because NBC was too big. The creation of three networks sparked competition and now ABC is leading the television world into uncharted territory… the internet.
Recently television networks have been posting deleted scenes, bloopers, behind the scenes, “webisodes” and other extras online to expand their fan base. In late 2005 Apple provided downloads of prime time television shows on iTunes for $1.99. ABC signed the deal and NBC later followed, while CBS chose to align with Google Video. [5]
ABC has decided for a two-month trial period to post television shows on its website at two a.m. day after they air on television. For free, any time anywhere (as long as you are connected to the internet and you are in the United States). “The shows are viewable in 400x700 Flash format. On the plus side, ABC’s offering is browser and platform agnostic.” [3]
It is hard to predict whether ABC's experiment could deter fans from purchasing the shows through iTunes. Episodes on iTunes do not include commercials and they can also be downloaded to an iPod; on the other hand, it is hard to resistfree episodes are available on a network’s website. I believe that ABC will actually be more successful than the networks that operate solely through iTunes. Even though iTunes rakes in millions of dollars, NBC will only get a chunk of that profit. Instead of competing with iTunes, Google Video, or YouTube it seems beneficial to keep viewers on the network’s webpage. The audience may be less willing to cipher through pages and pages of search results and would rather just view the episode from the archive provided on the network’s website.
"Each of the major networks are incrementally upping the ante. Everyone is trying to make sure they are driving viewer growth faster than their competitors," said Brian Wieser, vice president and director of industry analysis with MAGNA Global USA, a media buying firm. [4]
CBS is staying with downloads through CBS On Demand. I have to admit I was quite disappointed when I visited their website. NBC provides many of their shows through iTunes, and has recently joined ABC in streaming videos off their website, but only with a few shows. “NBC recently claimed 5 million individual episodes have been streamed off its site so far.” [1] The problem with NBC’s reluctance to post streaming videos of their most popular shows creates problems with pirated videos. Pandora’s box has been opened and if NBC will not provide their episodes directly on their webpage, the videos will be circulated some other way. Networks are not losing money on streaming episodes since viewers are paying for an internet connection instead of cable or satellite.
Advertising
Online television shows will have a serious impact on advertising. ABC features three breaks of thirty second segments of ads from one company during the show. NBC shows a ten second advertisement by one of their sponsors at the beginning of every clip. This reminds me of the days when there was a message at the end of a show saying, “provided by” or “sponsored by” a single company and all of the commercials throughout the duration of the show would be by that company.
Advertisers are willing to pay more for internet exposure because of the growing online audience. Therefore, it seems inevitable that smaller businesses will go under or be bought out by bigger corporations because online advertising will be so limited and expensive. The smaller companies will not be able to compete with the amount of advertising a multimillion-dollar corporation can afford.
Since uploaded television shows are no longer interrupted by eight minutes of commercials, it might change how television shows are filmed. Television shows often recap after a commercial break in order redirect the audience’s attention back to the show; however, it will not be necessary to waste time reiterating circumstances to online viewers after a thirty second advertisement.
"The Internet is a place where advertising dollars are beginning to move over from traditional media," said Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at media and advertising consulting company Horizon Media. "ABC is trying to be ahead of the curve. (It's saying), 'If this is where the eyeballs are going, then I should be there as well.'”[5] Although there isn’t nearly as much commercial time “some advertisers may be willing to accept a smaller audience if they know viewers are not being bombarded with other commercials and can't fast forward through ads.” [4]
Regulatory problems
The peer-to-peer trend has become extremely popular so quickly, there is just one problem with it - a large proportion of the downloading is illegal. The internet piracy laws will change as new technologies and services surface. Although it is almost impossible to catch everyone who is uploading material illegally, users can be tracked by their individual IP address. The Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) tracks down people who distribute the pirated videos and presses charges.[2]
Streaming video is a promising business but still has to solve many regulatory problems. Copyright laws are not suited for webcasters that want to access the programming owned by others. They are required to negotiate with each individual copyright holder before retransmitting TV broadcast signals over the internet. Under U.S. Copyright law, even broadcasters, who transmit their own original programming that includes copyrighted sound recordings, should pay extra royalty. [2]
Websites for example alluc, Tweekerville, or peekvid, do not upload these videos but rather provide lists of links to other websites that have streams. Recently these websites have been shut down or altered to act in accordance with piracy laws.
“Viacom Inc. on Friday [Feb. 2, 2007] demanded that Google Inc.'s online video service YouTube remove more than 100,000 video clips after they failed to reach a distribution agreement.” [6]
Although there have been many lawsuits companies are still pressing on to develop a program that will allow legal sharing of these streaming videos. When considering how to go about regulating the excessive redistribution and pirating that occurs with streaming videos, it might be appropriate to look to the pornography industry's transition online. The amount of pornographic websites, pages, and downloads is 4.2 million (12% of total websites), 372 million, and 1.5 billion (35% of downloads) respectively. [8] It seems that streaming television shows will also become more directed towards an online audience. TV networks are finally listening to the consumers.
References:
1. Berton, Justin. "That Soft Blue Glow At Night May Not Be a TV Anymore." San Francisco Chronicle 5 Nov. 2006. 4 Mar. 2007 .
2. Cieslak, Marc. "TV Battles Peer-to-Peer Pirates." BBC News 26 Jan. 2007. 4 Mar. 2007 .
3. Kjeldsen, Neil. "Download Your TV - the Current Options." TechCrunch. 22 May 2006. 2 Mar. 2007 .
4. La Monica, Paul R. "Online Video: Must-Free TV." CNNmoney.com 10 Apr. 2006. 3 Mar. 2007 .
5. Lee, Ellen. "ANALYSIS 'Desperate' on Desktop ABC Tests Streaming Video of Popular Series." San Francisco Chronicle 11 Apr. 2006. 3 Mar. 2007 .
6. Li, Kenneth. "Viacom Demands YouTube Remove Videos." Reuters.com 2 Feb. 2007. 3 Mar. 2007 .
7. McConnell, Stuart. Personal interview. 6 Mar. 2007.
8. Ropelato, Jerry. "Internet Pornography Statistics." TopTenReviews. 7 Mar. 2007 .
9. Stankeviciute, Rita. "Streaming Video." Institute for Telecommmunications Studies: Ohio University. 6 Jan. 2005. 3 Mar. 2007 .
Watch the video that inspired "deadmother" the screen name