Monday, March 12, 2007
Current TV
YouTube on proper TV? Former American Vice-President Al Gore has launched a TV channel in the UK (Current TV) which will include a high proportion of viewers' productions. He says he hopes to 'democratise' television - I'm sure you've heard me use that word before and it's good to hear someone else use it! You can watch some programme clips on the official website, as well as find out more about the service which is intended to re-engage the 18-34s with TV by embracing the Web2.0 trend towards an active, participatory audience experience. Fingers crossed it doesn't turn into 'You've Been Framed'...
Labels: TV
Thursday, March 08, 2007
TV: #1 case study material?
The amount of news about TV developments (particularly internet delivered TV) means it's perfect for your consideration as a case study. It's getting towards the time for deciding on a case study - you'll need at least one - and TV (digital as well as internet and mobile) seems to be the best bet for a rewarding and fast-developing focus for your research. It also brings in multiple technologies, so means you'll end up probably only needing one case study.
To start you off, Joost is one development worth investigating. The BBC's link to YouTube is another.
To start you off, Joost is one development worth investigating. The BBC's link to YouTube is another.
Labels: TV
Monday, February 26, 2007
Yet more on the end of TV
That's the box in the living room - TV programmes are more pervasive than ever thanks to another download service, this time from BitTorrent.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
You(on the)Tube
The BBC has a useful article gathering some thoughts on the impact of the Web2.0 flagship site YouTube. There was a time when getting on TV was a big deal - now anyone can get on...
Monday, February 12, 2007
Mobile TV: flogging a dead horse?
Do consumers really want TV on their mobiles? Are they willing to put up with high costs and variable quality is a more significant question, it would seem. The signs are promising: YouTube, on-demand content from virtually every channel on the planet and constantly improving technology; such developments should mean we're more receptive to mobile TV. But then again, why bother in an on-demand world? It's not like the old days of handheld TVs so you could watch important programmes away from home. These days, there's no more of the 'miss it miss out' culture of the past. Watch it +1, or in a catch-up slot, or from your Sky+ box, or on YouTube. Mobile TV doesn't look so special in that context.
However: MySpace on your mobile could mean a contract is the only way you'll keep up with your phone costs.
However: MySpace on your mobile could mean a contract is the only way you'll keep up with your phone costs.
Labels: internet, mobile phones, TV
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Give niche a chance
Bob Geldof's production company is to launch a TV channel focused on world peace (You'll need to register to follow the link, but it's free); you see, not all internet and multichannel distributed channels are trash. It's also a useful example of how internet TV 'channels' can challenge our perceptions of what constitutes TV broadcasting.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
BBC's iPlayer: the end of TV as we know it?
There's clearly a bit of a theme developing in my recent posts: TV is doomed. Well, TV as we know it anyway. Plans for the BBC's iPlayer seem to be progressing and ITV, Sky, C4 and Five are all offering downloads of some programmes. All this surely brings into question the chances of SkyHD taking off in the way that Sky Digital did; portability seems to win out over image quality (although the image quality of many downloads is impressive). And, to use some jargon: on-demand downloads are taking audience fragmentation to its furthest extent. It also (as I explored last year, so use the archive links on the right) brings into question the concept of scheduling.
Labels: TV
Monday, January 29, 2007
More on the dinosaur that is TV
Apple's iTV, basically a set top box which will allow video files from an iPod to be played on an HD TV, is further proof that internet distribution (in this case via iTunes) of TV and film content is the future. It's convergent technology (combining two or more technologies), high quality and on-demand, all favoured by audiences.
All isn't rosy in the TV downloading garden, though, if some of the comments on the digitalspy.co.uk forums are true. Even after uninstalling the software needed to use the Channel 4 4OD service, your internet connection will continue to be used as part of 4OD's peer-to-peer network. And if people complain about the current TV licence fee, they're not going to be pleased about the fairly high price when buying per-programme. What's going to take some getting used to is having to use different players for different channels - surely an integrated solution like Apple's iTV will prove attractive, if the content available through iTunes is strong enough.
All isn't rosy in the TV downloading garden, though, if some of the comments on the digitalspy.co.uk forums are true. Even after uninstalling the software needed to use the Channel 4 4OD service, your internet connection will continue to be used as part of 4OD's peer-to-peer network. And if people complain about the current TV licence fee, they're not going to be pleased about the fairly high price when buying per-programme. What's going to take some getting used to is having to use different players for different channels - surely an integrated solution like Apple's iTV will prove attractive, if the content available through iTunes is strong enough.
Labels: convergence, internet, p2p, TV
Friday, January 26, 2007
TV: obsolete before HD has caught on?
With Channel4 and the BBC both advancing steadily into internet distribution of TV content, and with YouTube continuing to provide the moving-image entertainment required by a whole generation, and with the BBC's plans for a virtual world in the style of Second Life (complete with 'TV' programmes), you'd be forgiven for thinking TV as we know it is doomed. And if Joost, a new peer-to-peer TV delivery system takes off, living room layouts all over the world (okay, the western world) will have to be reconsidered... Given that the creators of Joost were involved with KaZaA - which you've probably herd of - and Skype - which you have definitely heard of - it's got more than a good chance of changing the world.
It's true that in the digital world audiences are becoming more and more fragmented; by definition, personalised content can't be delivered to huge audiences, after all. To suggest that TV is not going to last is a fairly daft thing to propose, though. 30% of homes are still watching terrestrial TV, and official statistics suggest in early 2006 almost half of homes didn't have internet access. What do these people do with their time?
It's true that in the digital world audiences are becoming more and more fragmented; by definition, personalised content can't be delivered to huge audiences, after all. To suggest that TV is not going to last is a fairly daft thing to propose, though. 30% of homes are still watching terrestrial TV, and official statistics suggest in early 2006 almost half of homes didn't have internet access. What do these people do with their time?
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