http://gawker.com/5265239/the-end-of-television-as-we-know-it , but here's
the good stuff:
You see, with the internet, yes *the internet*, creators of serialized
content can circumvent "the system" and produce their shows independently,
in much the same way that filmmakers began began circumventing the studio
system to develop films a few years backĀ-They raise money on their own,
shoot the film they want to shoot, and then turn around and showcase at film
festivals where, if the moon and the stars align just right, they're able to
sell their film and it goes on to become a huge success. This model birthed
some of the more smart, intelligent and important films of the modern era,
shot from scripts that may have never seen the light of day otherwise in the
traditional system, because they were "too edgy" or some horseshit like
that. The problem, for years, with doing this with television was that
content creators didn't have a way to showcase their product, they couldn't
take it into a screening room and expect prospective buyers of content to
sit there and spend hours watching a full season of television to see if it
was worth a shit or not, but with the internet they now do. More and more
Americans are watching more and more video online for longer and longer
periods of time, so it stands to reason that sooner or later, someone is
going to raise their own money, shoot their own full length show (half hour
to an hour long) without network interference, put it on the internet, and
it will become a cultural phenomenon, something that people, average people
and not just early adapters, talk about around the proverbial water cooler
at work. In fact, it's probably on the verge of happening right now. And
then a network will swoop in and buy the show to bring it to those still not
watching television on the internet, and other shows will be developed
online and other networks will swoop in and buy them too, but eventually
everyone will watch episodic shows online and there won't be a need for the
traditional networks any longer. Hell, right now, Microsoft and Apple are
both developing programs that will capture all of the video you want to
watch by recording it live as it goes up onto the web and saving it for the
user to view later, just like a DVR or TiVo, except for your computer and
handheld electronic devices. These sort of software programs currently being
developed aggregate video content from all over the web so the user can
watch everything in one place instead of surfing around from site to site to
watch the things they want to watch.
In other words, the need for television networks to develop and air shows
will evaporate. They'll still be there, it's a stretch to say they'll die
off altogether, but they will never be the same. And we'll all be better off
for that.
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