Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Disruptive Forces: The Internet vs. Cable TV













There was a very good article today on gigaOm.com by Robert Young titled "Back To The Future...For Broadcast TV. " Young writes about the disruptive force that cable TV was for the big broadcast networks which is now repeating itself as the Internet disrupts cable TV.

The premise behind his argument is that as on-demand changes viewer habits, both due to the evolution of the Internet and more interactive cable TV services, viewers can more clearly decide what and when they want to watch something. This will place a lot of pressure on the marginally successful cable TV program and on its advertising revenue. Young concludes that there will be a shrinkage of programming, and subsequently cable TV channels, as advertisers continue moving to more targeted advertising platform.

Programming will shift to the Internet as channels like Myspace.com, YouTuBe.com, Veoh and Brightcove begin to gain a bigger audience.

For those of you who do not spend a lot of time on the Internet, it is worth seeing where the future is by looking at these websites. You might not like it, but it is the future.

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