I'm interested in the effect of TV shows being available online at the consumer's discretion. Networks like NBC offers their shows by purchasing through ITunes but not on their website. Instead on NBC's The Office Website you will find supplements such as "webisodes", bloopers, deleted scenes..etc - skits that you might see in a DVD set but not a broadcast. In class we discussed how these extras provide an even bigger fan base to develop online, especially with the development of sites like fanpop for example. Is it better to upload your TV shows directly on to a network site so viewers will stay on ABC's site for example instead of purchasing Grey's Anatomy through ITunes? I intend to explore how streaming videos online effects the influence of television and the success of networks.
I find this fascinating -- the ways that television is responding to the ostensible 'threat' represented by the internet. Some of the readings coming up in the next couple of weeks -- esp. McLuhan and Bolter & Grusin -- will be of help in this analysis. In what ways do the networks have to work to make television and the web compatible forms? What gets changed in the process? I'll look forward to seeing where this takes you...
Try checking out articles on JOOST, a new company trying to take tv to the internet. It's on its way to contracts with some big networks like Viacom, and it's headed by the founders of Skype and Kazaa.
Supposedly, it's not really a competitor to user generated video sites like YouTube, however, Viacom seems to have chosen JOOST over YouTube.
You might also want to check out MobiTV, MyWaves and Orb Networks. They are mobile TV companies trying to get TV to cell phones and through other wireless devices.
I bet the networks are interested in this too. How do you think this is impacting the business model of the TV networks? And I have heard, although I don't know if this is true, that internet advertising is becoming increasingly ineffectual as a means of reaching consumers. As ads are a major source of revenue for TV networks, I wonder if internet distribution for TV shows and the like will have to evolve to generate revenue in new ways?