Five predictions on the future of TV

Scheduled broadcast television will always constitute the majority of viewing
The majority of viewing will always be passive
Simultaneous social media activity will remain niche – it will primarily be a substitute for when people aren’t physically in the room with you
A form of modified Pareto principle will persist (maybe not 80% of viewing on 20% of [...]

Links – 22nd February 2009

Some of the things I’ve read over the past week and would recommend:

There have been some interesting events occurring in London over the past week: John Griffiths went to the NESTA workshop, and Anjali Ramachandran and Eaon Pritchard both went to see Seth Godin speak

A thought-provoking article in the Atlantic on the future of TV. [...]

Online video working with TV

Far from being a replacement to the traditional broadcast model, online video acts as a strong complement. Online video can be used to increase both reach and frequency, and the highly immersive environment offers multiple benefits.
2008 was a watershed year for online video. Ever faster and more reliable broadband connections are improving the online experience, [...]

Links – 31st January 2009

As Des’ree once bemoaned, “Life, oh life, oh life, oh life”. A hectic few weeks are *fingers crossed* finally over. Rather than just watching the evening news and eating toast in that time, I also managed to read and bookmark some interesting things posted on the internet. Here is part 1 of a two-part collection [...]

Could targeted ads work on TV?

I’ve been exploring the concept of targeted advertising on television. Loosely defined, it is the ability to purchase advertising space against a diverse array of groups that go beyond the traditional trading audiences.
This post accumulates the background information I’ve collected on the topic and speculation (mostly mine) on how theory may become reality.
Because it is [...]

Why advertise around online video?

I was recently asked to summarise the reasons to advertise around online video. I came up with four broad factors:
1. User Experience

Users are actively choosing to watch a clip
Adverts generally can’t be fast-forwarded
Ads can be interactive
Ad breaks are shorter than TV and so spots have a greater chance of standing out
Online is a [...]

Keeping up with catch-up

I don’t own a DTR (it is a heritage from working with Digital UK in the past that I persist with that name, even though most people I speak to use PVR) or DVD Recorder, and my VCR only works when the TV is turned on (it is a combo). I also happen to spend [...]

Buying online advertising alongside TV

Over the last few months, I’ve visited a lot of media agencies (nearly all of the bigger ones) with my presentation on online video on demand.
The overwhelming theme that has emerged from the presentations is that there is very little information on VOD out in the market, and that agencies are desperate for knowledge on [...]

Links – 30th November 2008

This list is both later and longer than recent posts, but the quality of thought and writing is extremely high
Changing industries
Seth Godin on things the New York Times could have done to stay ahead in the digital environment. While hindsight is a wonderful thing, and while every successful online venture is greeted by many more [...]

Why original video content doesn’t perform as well as TV show webisodes

Newteevee have reported that ABC are finding that their original online video content does not perform nearly as well as webisodes of shows such as Ugly Betty.
This isn’t a fair comparison. Ugly Betty is one of the biggest shows on ABC; how does traffic for smaller programmes compare to original web content?
A clear distinction should [...]