TV or Internet TV, What’s the Question?

Most recently, I had an opportunity to attend the New York Television Festival, which in synopsis is a genuin who's-who and who-to-know of the New York Television Production Industry. The festival features a little something for everyone showcasing industry pilots, independent shorts, and even some student films. But this year, they added a “Digital Day” to take a look at how the web has not only influenced television, but impacted the lives of creatives’ trying to make it in the industry.

To get a strong understanding of what online video has done to American media consumption, we aught to take a quick look at what television was for Americans back in the day, a highly social medium that had the power to gather families, friends, and neighbors together. But as television has became a more affordable staple of American living, our consumption of the medium has grown. In fact, I remember reading as a kid in my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan club magazine, somewhere between the article about Komodo Dragons and Michelangelo’s favorite pizza toppings, that average daily American television had grown from 2-4 hours a day to about 6-8 hours a day in 1990, and was projected to grow to about 12-14 hours a day by the year 2010.

The web for many of us (on a web video perspective) makes media available at an even more personal level and comes equipped with socializing tools that give audiences a chance to express their sentiments. I can not only watch what I want, when I want, I can navigate through the media almost seamlessly and uninterrupted, I can play infinite libraries of content back to back for as long as I’d like, and after I’m done having my way with this digital concubine, I can tell all my friends what I thought of the experience with as much or as little compassion as I’d like. Of course, one does need to be careful in regards to where they find their videos, or one might catch a virus.

So what does this mean for Television today? With web video increasing in popularity, how has it impacted our society and the way we will watch TV in the future? There’s a lot to cover on that topic, so much so that it would take me an entire day to summarize and a few hours for you all to read. What I will say is that web TV has become and will continue to be a strong, promotional resource for any artist, studio, or network, and though it has been difficult to translate values gained from the web directly into dollars, internet TV is still infamous for growing and develop brands virally. This is primarily because it is slowly replacing television’s role as our personal media provider and has various socialization features and options (tagging, send-to-friend, commenting, instant messaging) that make the experience more interesting as a whole – you’re alone, but you’re not really alone.

For shows that foster interest and attachment to immerse story line like Lost or Battle Star Galactica, providing web access to old content is literally the least you can do. And if you’re worried about resale (DVD and syndication), just schedule cycled programming of series, focusing on particular aspects of the story arc; this way, you maintain high demand for DVD sales and interest in syndication while maintaining low bandwidth and storage costs. And for you artists trying to make it in the scene, I can think of no better alternative to low-attendance, off-broadway plays, highly competitive festivals, and representation that avoids you like you have leprosy than your own mini-series on the web. Do these shows have to be high budget and expensive? NO WAY!! Check out some of the content on Goodie Bag or Barats and Bereta – a lot of it is very simple in production costs, but the former has developed a pilot scheduled to air in Canada this Fall and the later are represented by CAA. Not too shabby for productions that probably ran them about a few hundred dollars at max.

Be sure that I will revisit this topic in later posts, sometime next week most likely. Until then, feel free to comment and ask me any particular questions you may have. Congrats to all the submissions at the NYTVF, you were all amazing and I hope to see some more of your work soon. Here's a link to some trailers (not included in that list for some reason is Hit Factor, Wired City, The Other Highschool, Red Hook High, and The Department) for you all you thesbians out there. And special thanks to the NYTVF for not only putting together an amazing festival, but giving these artists a chance to be seen by some players in the industry.

-Vinayak Ahuja