TV in Demand
I now have two accounts for receiving television over the Internet. One from the BBC; another from Channel 4. At the moment, I think this is pretty cool because it is something that I didn’t have before. It feels like progress.
At some point I’m sure another channel (that I want) will make their service available. That will mean three pieces of software in my taskbar, all doing the same thing; downloading stuff. Two is already too many, so I keep the applications closed most the time.
So far both services suck at making me watch much TV. About once a week (if that) I go looking to see if there are any interesting shows, and often come away empty handed. I’m sure some of their programming is good, but I have no way of knowing. I can’t channel surf because that means downloading an entire show. They don’t even bother to do promo videos. It’s pretty impossible to find new shows.
And if I do find a new show, I can’t subscribe to it. Subscription is a no brainer, but that’s not happening yet.
Also, these services are only available to UK residents, I believe. Just like NBC is only available in the US. The world is the biggest market, so it might make sense to target that one.
Remember why YouTube got popular. It made it easy to talk and share the content with everyone in the entire world.
Of course, these corporations have an engrained business model and contracts that keep them moving slowly. I’m not a fan of big corporations, but we shouldn’t be surprised that they move slowly and are scared of change.
The question is: will they figure it out faster than the smaller brave independents? There’s an opportunity here for smaller companies with little to lose. Maybe some new companies.
Here’s a thought: the channel I watch most often is called Ted.com. My TV guide is Google Reader. Not many shows are listed in my TV guide yet.
edit: aha! Quarterlife may be an early sign. Still no RSS feed though. But very interesting. (Quarterlife website and BBC news story)