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No industry maintains its market forever. Ask any farrier or railroad
worker. I think the message to the media industry is: adapt, downsize,
or die.=20
-Tim
On Tue, 2002-07-09 at 15:39, John Hebert wrote:
Interesting essay about the conflict between digital
media giants and consumers. Couch potatoes as
revolutionaries?
=20
John Hebert
=20
--- Mike Stagg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> From Mike Stagg Mon Jul 8 08:52:26 2002
> To: "List, Digital Louisiana"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> From: Mike Stagg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 10:52:26 -0500
> Subject: [digitallouisiana] Media Giants' Contempt
> for Consumers is Evident and Growing
>=20
> Technology changes in the media are driving powerful
> changes in the=20
> media market place. It is proving particularly
> disturbing to those who=20
> held sway in the previously established order -- TV
> networks, record=20
> labels, movie studios.
>=20
> The Internet and digital technology have shifted
> some power away from=20
> those oligarchs and toward consumers. That, combined
> with more=20
> competition resulting in loss of market share by
> those formerly=20
> unchallenged giants, has set off something of a
> panic among them.
>=20
> MIT Technology Review columnist Henry Jenkins has
> some interesting=20
> observations on these developments.
>=20
> Mike Stagg
> digitallouisiana.org
>=20
>=20
> Here's the URL for the MIT Technology Review column
> by Henry Jenkins:
>
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_jenkins070302.asp
>=20
> Treating Viewers as Criminals
>=20
> Networks say watching TV without the ads is theft.
> Will blipverts be next?
>=20
> Digital Renaissance
> By Henry Jenkins
> July 3, 2002
>=20
>=20
> Remember blipverts?
>=20
> The 1980s science fiction series, Max Headroom,
> depicted a society=20
> "twenty minutes into the future" ruled by powerful
> television networks=20
> locked in ruthless competition for viewer eyeballs.
> Concerned by the=20
> growing trend towards channel surfing, the blipvert
> was developed as a=20
> rapid-fire subliminal advertisement which pumped its
> commercial messages=20
> directly into consumers' brains before they had a
> chance to change the=20
> channel.
>=20
> Unfortunately, the blipvert had the unanticipated
> side effect of causing=20
> spontaneous combustion in a certain number of
> overweight and chronically=20
> inactive couch potatoes. This outcome was viewed as
> an acceptable risk=20
> by the networks, even though it potentially
> decreased the number of=20
> viewers for their programs.
>=20
> I could not help but think about blipverts the other
> day when I stumbled=20
> across the recent comments of Turner Broadcasting
> System CEO Jaimie=20
> Kellner, who asserted that television viewers who
> skipped commercials=20
> using their digital video recorders were guilty of
> "stealing" broadcast=20
> content. Kellner told an industry trade press
> reporter that "Your=20
> contract with the network when you get the show is
> you're going to watch=20
> the spots." He conceded that there may be a historic
> loophole allowing=20
> us to take short breaks to go to the bathroom but
> otherwise, we are=20
> expected to be at our post, doing our duties,
> watching every commercial,=20
> and presumably, though he never said it, buying
> every product.
>=20
> Kellner's intemperate rhetoric is, alas,
> characteristic of the ways that=20
> the media industry increasingly thinks about, talks
> about, and addresses=20
> its consumers in the post-Napster era. Napster may =97
> and I stress, may =97=20
> have been legitimately labeled piracy, but now all
> forms of consumerism=20
> are being criminalized with ever-decreasing degrees
> of credibility. Once=20
> going to the bathroom or grabbing a snack on a
> commercial break gets=20
> treated as a form of theft, the media conglomerates
> are going to be hard=20
> pressed to get consumer compliance with their
> expectations, making it=20
> impossible to draw legitimate lines about what is
> and is not appropriate=20
> use of media content.
>=20
> Name-calling is the last resort of once powerful
> institutions that are=20
> finding themselves losing control in the face of
> rapid media change.=20
> Never mind that the same media giants are often the
> manufactures of the=20
> new media technologies we are using to skip their
> commercials or that=20
> some of the advertisements they want us to watch are
> marketing us=20
> features which allow us to skip advertisements.
> Never mind that we now=20
> have many more media options and we need the
> networks frankly far less=20
> than the networks need us.
>=20
> I don't know about you but I want to renegotiate my
> contract! There has=20
> been a significant increase in the number of
> commercials per hour since=20
> I first started watching network programming.
> Consequently, my workload=20
> has doubled or tripled, while my compensation =97 the
> programming =97 has=20
> gone down in quantity, if not in quality. One
> wonders whether it isn't=20
> time for television viewers to form a union, demand
> that people like=20
> Kellner sit down at the negotiating table, and cut a
> better deal with=20
> us, if they continue to expect viewer loyalty. And
> given research=20
> linking extensive television viewing with obesity,
> perhaps we might have=20
> some way of holding the networks accountable for
> their workplace safety=20
> violations as well, before some of us start to
> spontaneously explode.
>=20
> But, seriously, the networks do not and never have
> had contracts with=20
> consumers, compensating us for the labor we perform
> in watching=20
> commercials. They do, however, have contracts with
> advertisers,=20
> promising them a certain number of eyeballs in
> return for their=20
> financial support for broadcast content, and in the
> new media age, they=20
> are increasingly failing to make good on those
> agreements.
>=20
> For the better part of the twentieth century, three
> networks dominated=20
> American broadcasting. CBS and NBC ruled network
> radio from the 1920s=20
> forward. The networks sought to provide what David
> Thorburn calls=20
> "consensus narratives" which were calculated to
> attract the interest of=20
> the largest possible share of the American public as
> an incentive for us=20
> to watch commercials and in return, they helped to
> fuel the dramatic=20
> increase in consumer goods in circulation within the
> American economy.
>=20
> Ironically, cable networks, such as those headed by
> Mr. Kellner, were=20
> the first to undermine the economic logic of
> American broadcasting,=20
> though they have been followed by a range of new
> media technologies =97=20
> the VCR, the DVD player, the game console, the
> digital video recorder,=20
> Pay-Per-View, Webcasting, and so on =97 which have
> helped to expand the=20
> range of entertainment options available to
> consumers and thus=20
> dramatically decrease the ratings shares of the
> major networks.
>=20
> As a consequence, the various ways networks measure
> their viewership =97=20
> and make commitments to advertisers =97 are
> increasingly losing their=20
> credibility. The Nielsen Ratings have long been
> discredited as having=20
> little or no social science validity, measuring, by
> design, only those=20
> consumers who are desired by the advertisers
> themselves. Most of us=20
> frankly don't count when it comes time to decide
> which series should be=20
> renewed.
>=20
> These new media technologies, which allow us to mute
> or fast-forward=20
> through advertisements, call into question the
> concept of the=20
> "impression," the basic unit upon which advertising
> buys get made. In=20
> the old model, the number of people who were
> watching the program were=20
> assumed to be roughly the number of people who were
> being accessed by=20
> the advertisers.
>=20
> Those of us who grew up in a television culture know
> that this was=20
> probably never true, but it kept the accounting
> simple for those in the=20
> business of buying and selling spots. Consequently,
> despite a succession=20
> of significant shifts in broadcast technologies and
> consumer behavior,=20
> the same basic vocabulary dominated commercial
> negotiations for decades.
>=20
> Today, those negotiations are reaching a crisis
> point. The networks are=20
> responding not by rethinking how they do business,
> not by developing new=20
> metrics for measuring and accurately reporting
> viewer interactions with=20
> media content, not by adopting new marketing
> strategies which take=20
> advantage of the affordments of the new media
> environment, but by=20
> wagging a finger at consumers and demanding that we
> behave according to=20
> their antiquated dictates.
>=20
> If the networks stopped at name-calling, that would
> be one thing, but=20
> they didn=92t. Last fall, the networks sued SONICBlue,
> the manufacturer of=20
> ReplayTV, and convinced a Federal Magistrate to
> force the company to=20
> collect data on thousands of individual consumers:
> what shows they=20
> watch, what commercials they skip, and what =97 if
> anything =97 they forward=20
> to their friends. Not content to wait and worry, the
> networks are now=20
> invading our privacy to ensure that we make good on
> Kellner's imaginary=20
> contract. Thankfully, the order was subsequently
> stayed by a higher court.
>=20
> Confronting such hostility, consumers are
> increasingly committing acts=20
> of passive resistance (flush often!) and forming
> organizations, such as=20
> DigitalConsumer.org, which is making the case that
> consumers have rights=20
> and interests in the negotiations that occur between
> media producers,=20
> technology companies, and policy-makers. To borrow a
> line from Network,=20
> "we are mad as hell and we aren't going to take it
> anymore."
>=20
> We are now witnessing scorched earth-style warfare
> between consumers and=20
> networks, as the old institutions resist change and
> hold onto old=20
> approaches up until the last possible moment. As the
> battle lines=20
> intensify, we move step by step closer to the
> blipvert era which Max=20
> Headroom predicted not twenty minutes ago but twenty
> years ago. The=20
> future is closer than you think.
>=20
> Henry Jenkins is director of the Program in
> Comparative Media Studies at=20
> MIT.
=20
=20
=20
=20
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free
http://sbc.yahoo.com
=20
_______________________________________________
General mailing list
[email protected]
http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
=20
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No industry maintains its market forever. Ask any farrier or railroad worker. I
think the message to the media industry is: adapt, downsize, or die.
<BR>
<BR>
-Tim
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On Tue, 2002-07-09 at 15:39, John Hebert wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<PRE><FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>Interesting essay about the
conflict between digital</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>media giants and consumers. Couch
potatoes as</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>revolutionaries?</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>John Hebert</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>--- Mike Stagg <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]> wrote:</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> From Mike Stagg Mon Jul 8
08:52:26 2002</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> To: "List, Digital
Louisiana"</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> From: Mike Stagg <[EMAIL
PROTECTED]></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 10:52:26
-0500</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Subject: [digitallouisiana] Media
Giants' Contempt</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> for Consumers is Evident and
Growing</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Technology changes in the media
are driving powerful</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> changes in the </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> media market place. It is proving
particularly</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> disturbing to those who
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> held sway in the previously
established order -- TV</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> networks, record </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> labels, movie
studios.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> The Internet and digital
technology have shifted</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> some power away from
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> those oligarchs and toward
consumers. That, combined</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> with more </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> competition resulting in loss of
market share by</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> those formerly </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> unchallenged giants, has set off
something of a</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> panic among them.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> MIT Technology Review columnist
Henry Jenkins has</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> some interesting </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> observations on these
developments.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Mike Stagg</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>>
digitallouisiana.org</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Here's the URL for the MIT
Technology Review column</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> by Henry Jenkins:</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT
SIZE="3"><I>http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_jenkins070302.asp</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Treating Viewers as
Criminals</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Networks say watching TV without
the ads is theft.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Will blipverts be
next?</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Digital
Renaissance</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> By Henry Jenkins</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> July 3, 2002</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Remember
blipverts?</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> The 1980s science fiction series,
Max Headroom,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> depicted a society
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> "twenty minutes into the
future" ruled by powerful</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> television networks
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> locked in ruthless competition for
viewer eyeballs.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Concerned by the </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> growing trend towards channel
surfing, the blipvert</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> was developed as a
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> rapid-fire subliminal
advertisement which pumped its</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> commercial messages
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> directly into consumers' brains
before they had a</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> chance to change the
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> channel.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Unfortunately, the blipvert had
the unanticipated</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> side effect of causing
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> spontaneous combustion in a
certain number of</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> overweight and chronically
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> inactive couch potatoes. This
outcome was viewed as</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> an acceptable risk
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> by the networks, even though it
potentially</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> decreased the number of
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> viewers for their
programs.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> I could not help but think about
blipverts the other</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> day when I stumbled
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> across the recent comments of
Turner Broadcasting</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> System CEO Jaimie
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Kellner, who asserted that
television viewers who</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> skipped commercials
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> using their digital video
recorders were guilty of</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> "stealing" broadcast
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> content. Kellner told an industry
trade press</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> reporter that "Your
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> contract with the network when you
get the show is</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> you're going to watch
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the spots." He conceded that
there may be a historic</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> loophole allowing
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> us to take short breaks to go to
the bathroom but</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> otherwise, we are
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> expected to be at our post, doing
our duties,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> watching every commercial,
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> and presumably, though he never
said it, buying</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> every product.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Kellner's intemperate rhetoric is,
alas,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> characteristic of the ways that
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the media industry increasingly
thinks about, talks</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> about, and addresses
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> its consumers in the post-Napster
era. Napster may —</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> and I stress, may —
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> have been legitimately labeled
piracy, but now all</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> forms of consumerism
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> are being criminalized with
ever-decreasing degrees</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> of credibility. Once
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> going to the bathroom or grabbing
a snack on a</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> commercial break gets
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> treated as a form of theft, the
media conglomerates</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> are going to be hard
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> pressed to get consumer compliance
with their</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> expectations, making it
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> impossible to draw legitimate
lines about what is</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> and is not appropriate
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> use of media
content.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Name-calling is the last resort of
once powerful</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> institutions that are
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> finding themselves losing control
in the face of</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> rapid media change.
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Never mind that the same media
giants are often the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> manufactures of the
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> new media technologies we are
using to skip their</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> commercials or that
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> some of the advertisements they
want us to watch are</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> marketing us </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> features which allow us to skip
advertisements.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Never mind that we now
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> have many more media options and
we need the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> networks frankly far less
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> than the networks need
us.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> I don't know about you but I want
to renegotiate my</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> contract! There has
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> been a significant increase in the
number of</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> commercials per hour since
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> I first started watching network
programming.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Consequently, my workload
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> has doubled or tripled, while my
compensation — the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> programming — has
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> gone down in quantity, if not in
quality. One</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> wonders whether it isn't
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> time for television viewers to
form a union, demand</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> that people like </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Kellner sit down at the
negotiating table, and cut a</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> better deal with </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> us, if they continue to expect
viewer loyalty. And</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> given research </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> linking extensive television
viewing with obesity,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> perhaps we might have
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> some way of holding the networks
accountable for</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> their workplace safety
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> violations as well, before some of
us start to</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> spontaneously
explode.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> But, seriously, the networks do
not and never have</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> had contracts with
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> consumers, compensating us for the
labor we perform</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> in watching </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> commercials. They do, however,
have contracts with</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> advertisers, </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> promising them a certain number of
eyeballs in</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> return for their </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> financial support for broadcast
content, and in the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> new media age, they
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> are increasingly failing to make
good on those</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> agreements.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> For the better part of the
twentieth century, three</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> networks dominated
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> American broadcasting. CBS and NBC
ruled network</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> radio from the 1920s
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> forward. The networks sought to
provide what David</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Thorburn calls </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> "consensus narratives"
which were calculated to</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> attract the interest of
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the largest possible share of the
American public as</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> an incentive for us
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> to watch commercials and in
return, they helped to</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> fuel the dramatic
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> increase in consumer goods in
circulation within the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> American economy.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Ironically, cable networks, such
as those headed by</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Mr. Kellner, were
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the first to undermine the
economic logic of</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> American broadcasting,
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> though they have been followed by
a range of new</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> media technologies —
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the VCR, the DVD player, the game
console, the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> digital video recorder,
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Pay-Per-View, Webcasting, and so
on — which have</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> helped to expand the
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> range of entertainment options
available to</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> consumers and thus
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> dramatically decrease the ratings
shares of the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> major networks.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> As a consequence, the various ways
networks measure</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> their viewership —
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> and make commitments to
advertisers — are</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> increasingly losing their
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> credibility. The Nielsen Ratings
have long been</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> discredited as having
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> little or no social science
validity, measuring, by</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> design, only those
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> consumers who are desired by the
advertisers</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> themselves. Most of us
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> frankly don't count when it comes
time to decide</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> which series should be
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> renewed.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> These new media technologies,
which allow us to mute</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> or fast-forward </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> through advertisements, call into
question the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> concept of the </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> "impression," the basic
unit upon which advertising</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> buys get made. In
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the old model, the number of
people who were</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> watching the program were
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> assumed to be roughly the number
of people who were</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> being accessed by
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the advertisers.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Those of us who grew up in a
television culture know</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> that this was </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> probably never true, but it kept
the accounting</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> simple for those in the
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> business of buying and selling
spots. Consequently,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> despite a succession
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> of significant shifts in broadcast
technologies and</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> consumer behavior,
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the same basic vocabulary
dominated commercial</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> negotiations for
decades.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Today, those negotiations are
reaching a crisis</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> point. The networks are
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> responding not by rethinking how
they do business,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> not by developing new
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> metrics for measuring and
accurately reporting</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> viewer interactions with
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> media content, not by adopting new
marketing</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> strategies which take
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> advantage of the affordments of
the new media</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> environment, but by
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> wagging a finger at consumers and
demanding that we</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> behave according to
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> their antiquated
dictates.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> If the networks stopped at
name-calling, that would</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> be one thing, but
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> they didn’t. Last fall, the
networks sued SONICBlue,</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> the manufacturer of
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> ReplayTV, and convinced a Federal
Magistrate to</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> force the company to
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> collect data on thousands of
individual consumers:</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> what shows they </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> watch, what commercials they skip,
and what — if</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> anything — they forward
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> to their friends. Not content to
wait and worry, the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> networks are now </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> invading our privacy to ensure
that we make good on</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Kellner's imaginary
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> contract. Thankfully, the order
was subsequently</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> stayed by a higher
court.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Confronting such hostility,
consumers are</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> increasingly committing acts
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> of passive resistance (flush
often!) and forming</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> organizations, such as
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> DigitalConsumer.org, which is
making the case that</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> consumers have rights
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> and interests in the negotiations
that occur between</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> media producers, </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> technology companies, and
policy-makers. To borrow a</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> line from Network,
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> "we are mad as hell and we
aren't going to take it</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> anymore."</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> We are now witnessing scorched
earth-style warfare</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> between consumers and
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> networks, as the old institutions
resist change and</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> hold onto old </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> approaches up until the last
possible moment. As the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> battle lines </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> intensify, we move step by step
closer to the</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> blipvert era which Max
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Headroom predicted not twenty
minutes ago but twenty</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> years ago. The </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> future is closer than you
think.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> </FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Henry Jenkins is director of the
Program in</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> Comparative Media Studies at
</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>> MIT.</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT
SIZE="3"><I>__________________________________________________</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>Do You Yahoo!?</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First
Month Free</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>http://sbc.yahoo.com</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I></FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT
SIZE="3"><I>_______________________________________________</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT SIZE="3"><I>General mailing list</FONT></FONT></I>
<FONT COLOR="#737373"><FONT
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