In the past five years, music companies, newspapers, book publishers and others have seen their revenues plunge as they’ve lost control of their content. Now television broadcasters are fighting the same bloody, ugly and ultimately losing battle for control.
Network executives and advertisers have been tearing their hair out trying to understand what to do about TiVo and Cable DVRs. And, clearly they’ve had reason to be worried. According to Nielsen, 74 million Americans now watch some of their TV using these timeshifting technologies.
Is TiVo really the danger? But while the Networks have been worried about TiVo, Americans have been making an even more dramatic shift in their viewing habits. In the last quarter, nearly half of all TV watchers caught some of their videos online. And while many legitimate sites split advertising revenue with content creators, the money is a pittance compared to the price of a traditional TV ad. And that’s not to mention all the video that generates no revenue for broadcasters.
Just like the music companies, broadcasters have tried all kinds of absurd models to maintain control. But even when they try to enter the 21st century, they can’t quite make the leap. For example, CBS and HULU are now in a pitched battle for content control.
Networks and the web. Now networks are trying to join forces to put their content online under a subscription model. But this is just another attempt to create a wall around content to maintain control. And, we all know how well that subscription strategy has worked. Remember Rhapsody and all the other subscription based music sites?
What is the answer? What should they do to make money and protect their content? That remains unclear. But as our ability to watch TV content moves away from the physical limits of a TV box - the meaning of a “Network” becomes lost. Networks used to own a valuable slice of the very limited airwaves, and because they had those exclusive rights they could deliver an audience. It was as if they were a beach club on a private late. If you wanted to swim, you had to go to their beach. But now, we all live on the beach. There is content everywhere and the ownership walls are crumbling.
Is Family Guy the new model? Is this why Google commissioned Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) to create content directly for Google? Are they skipping the whole network created content model? Is Google the new TV network? Why should a producer work for HBO when they can create for Yahoo?
It used to be, if you had the content the people would come. The new model may be: if you have people, the content will come.
