Broadcast Television - Why?!!

Why is television programming still linked to the clock?

There are very few broadcasts on offer in today's television industry that require being linked to the clock. News (Events, Politics and Financial news for example) is the most obvious one that has value as a real-time streaming medium - the rest of the video entertainment on offer is only connected to the clock by the inherent limitations of the traditional broadcast model: Viewers can only watch one channel at a time, and the most popular show in any given "time-slot" will receive the lion's share of advertising revenues. This model is already failing with the proliferation of choice in the marketplace - there are so many channels now, the viewer is being forced to use VCR/DVR/PVR technology to manage all the content they want to view.

Given the fact that most households in the "cable/satellite ownership category" also have broadband IP connections, wouldn't it make more sense to publish episodic and other programming as discrete downloadable files? Viewers could set up automated downloads for episodic content, browse and flag events and other aperiodic content for download and could also download "trailer files" to view trailers for new programming and events coming soon, etc.

Using current/future P2P mesh network models would significantly reduce bottlenecks and bandwidth charges to the producers, and creation of a highly optimised UI applet for users and a supporting back end database engine, would make finding and flagging shows much simpler than any current technology.

This would obviously flip the existing industry on its head. The existing advertising model has been to "force" viewers to intermittently sit through ads that interrupt their desired viewing in order to get their capitive attention. The initial model worked because viewers were too "lazy" to get up and change the channel. Then we got the remote control - and networks responded by (to a degree) synchronising their advertising slots - so surfing to avoid commercials became pointless. Then we got VCRs, and we could record our shows (commercials and all) and then fast forward past the commercials. Finally, we now have PVRs, with software that can actually auto-skip over commercials, so that we view the program uninterrupted. All this has eroded the "value" of broadcast television airtime for advertisers. The new model would need to provide some way for advertisers to benefit while allowing viewers to view the content they want when they want.

I would propose something along the lines of the following;

A easy to use client application with rich searching and flagging utilities that allows a viewer/user to select the shows they want to see, flag "missed" episodes for immediate download, and flag future ones for download upon release. This could include existing formats such as sitcoms, serials, and movies, as well as new content forms yet to be invented. Microsoft is already heading in this direction with their "set-top" PC Media Center technology on the front end. The back end needs to be P2P.

Revenue models would include advertising space available in the client application, 1 or 2 short advertising spots at the beginning of a program (potentially), product placement within the medium, pay-per-view, pay per product, as well as subscription revenue to specific programs or production company's libraries.

Under this system, viewers would be able to flag their desired programming and watch it at their leisure, including being able to watch "trailer sets" which would allow them to discover new programs that might be of interest.

Production of programming would be funded by production houses that feel they have programs that will attract many viewers (world wide distribution is free afterall) and therefore be valuable vehicles for product placement and/or able to command significant viewer revenue through viewer payment models.

Piracy (which occurs today) would still occur, however, a useful point of pricing analysis would occur here, since overpriced programs would show up on pirate networks with high volume, while properly priced programs might not even show up at all. - In the former case though, product placement advertisers are still getting their value.

As an extension, we may revert to an older model of TV production, where the advertiser owns the program and outsources production. Coca Cola may buy the rights to CSI, lock in product placements and exclusivity and find it cheaper than current advertising methods simply because there is no need for distribution costs or advertising fees.

I do not have all the answers, primarily because I haven't asked all the questions yet. Please ask any that occur to you in the comments section!