A terrific presentation that may just help us better understand where TV and the web are headed. The one adage that continues to play out is that "History repeats itself". We try to learn from it, we try to avoid the same pitfalls, but we continue to be faced with the same results. In business, that is seen as a disruptive influence on the mature model, causing a change in purchase behavior.
The music industry has watched sales of albums be replaced with single song downloads. In cable, networks have been bundled and sold together while the web enables single streams of video. And that, according to the presenter, is how TV will change. "My analogy is that 'cable & satellite bundles are the album. and given choice consumers prefer either singles or to make their own bundles.'” It is what consumers are already clamoring for, a la carte network choices as opposed to tiers, all to pay only for what you eat, and not ordering the whole buffet.
The web already enables a la carte and web viewership continues to grow while TV viewership declines. TV manufacturers are embracing this change by building connected TV sets, offering direct to internet connections along with a plug for a cable box. But their hope may be that the cable box will just go away.
And as our presenter acknowledges, the need for more content will only be greater. Content remains king in this changed model although how much more people can earn is subject for debate. What the web does do is to lower the barrier to entry so that more creative folks are able to produce and distribute content. The long tail lengthens and more people will earn money from creating content.
That's true and useful
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