Apple Looks to Embrace Live TV

The Tech Giant’s Forey Into Cable Highlights Importance of Live TV

8.16.2012—It was reported by the Wall Street Journal today that Apple is making its way into the pay-TV world, seeking out a deal with cable service providers to expand content options on the next iteration of Apple TV. Techcrunch’s MG Siegler had a great take on it here. 

Moving away from the stream-only model displays one important aspect that, initially, those that wanted to “disrupt” TV content  with their set-top boxes didn’t consider…live TV matters. 

While the argument for live breaking news or sports is there, the same can be argued for shows as well. Sure, streaming services are great, how else do you get to power through season after season of a TV show, commercial free at the press of a button? But you are watching that show after the fact. 

In keeping up with the show, especially a show you like, there is no service that lets you watch it when it first airs…except for TV. Keeping viewers completely current with mainstream visual media is an integral part of getting into the TV space.

Apple gets it and in doing so is making the move to working with cable and content providers. The same motivation can be said about the creation of Google Fiber. As Siegler put it, “that’s where the content is.”

TOMORROW, BOXFISH ARRIVES TO TABLETS

Countdown: Just One More Day Until Boxfish is Available in the App Store

8.13.2012—Tomorrow, August 14th marks the day we’ve been working hard to get to, when you can experience Boxfish ON THE SECOND SCREEN! Details for how to get the app will be on here and spread through every means possible as soon as it’s available for download.

It’s the end of the beginning , essentially, but we are just getting started on what the potential that the index of television can provide to you, the user. There will be some exciting in development in the months to come, so stay tuned and thanks for sticking with us. 

Convenient Monopoly Vs. Live TV Reality

People Still Want Live Olympic Coverage, Despite Tape-Delay Success

8.6.2012—NBC started off the Olympics with a rude awakening via social media when they announced that they would show the Olympic opening ceremony on tape delay. Twitter and Facebook was awash with negativity toward the event being postponed to air on primetime in the US, hours after the rest of the world watched it live. Many, including us, saw it as a sign that NBC was out of touch with the reality of TV viewing in the digital age.

However, since the negative tweets have subsided a bit, the opinions have been split. While criticism of NBC’s handling of the olympics, from commercial-heavy broadcasts to reporting the results of events they plan to show later on primetime, there ratings continue to skyrocket. 

Critics were later lambasted when the numbers came back, showing that NBC’s tape-delayed airing of the opening ceremony earned higher ratings than any opening ceremony the network aired in the past. 

Even from a social media aspect, apart from the PR nightmare of #NBCfail, the splash that a live event makes is just as much as NBC’s tape-delayed airing seems to be the same. Yesterday, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt solidified his title of “fastest man in the world” when he won the gold in the 100m track event. Lost remote reported that Bluefin Labs’ social TV data clocked the live event as generating nearly the same amount of social comments per minute.

So the question remains, is NBC doing it right in an age when the old model of TV is seen as something of a dinosaur? The network’s executive producer, Jim Bell, seems to think so, as Bell told the Hollywood Reporter that “the numbers speak for themselves” regarding ratings vs. the negative rhetoric surrounding their tape-delay. However, it should also be stated that NBC has exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympics in the US. 

Had there been live coverage of the events on another network, while NBC stuck to its tape-delayed method, would Jim Bell and NBC be so confident in their decisions? Maybe it is a hurried assumption that they would stick to that plan in the face of direct competition, but NBC’s handling of the Olympics is an Old Media way of providing content in the new age. While the monopoly on Olympic content lends itself to giving NBC these high ratings and $1 billion plus of ad revenue (even though they may only just break even), as the next wave of tech brings TV into a new age, this approach to content in the future may backfire in the face of old media.

Google Wants to Put Fiber Into Your TV

The Web Giant is Looking to Take TV, Internet By Storm

7.26.2012—The newfound potential that is being seen in television with the onset of new tech has both Old Tech and New Tech scrambling to seize on what will no doubt be a monstrous wealth generator. However, the method by which to capitalize on this budding opportunity is where you see people differ. Google is in the camp of boosting connected TV solutions and just announced Google Fiber and Fiber Television, Mashable reports. 

Google Fiber is their new high-speed network, boasted to run 100 times faster than what current broadband providers are offering. Integrated into Fiber TV, the user is able to record 8 shows at once and store a whopping 500 hours of that recorded content, all of which Fiber TV makes searchable through its system. Fiber also integrates with streaming services like Netflix.

If the positive comments circulating around Google Fiber is an indication, their entry into the internet-providing business would no doubt ruffle some Old Media feathers and reinvent a space that is already in the midst of change—TV. 

TV For the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Screen

One Network Makes a Move Toward The Future of TV

7.19.2012—Yesterday’s Pew research report showing that over 50 percent of TV watching adults do so while on a mobile device is a glimpse into what the future holds for TV/2nd screen interaction. While I am sure that broadcasters took notice, Mashable published a piece by Brian Solis about how cable network USA has already announced their plan to provide viewers a with a TV experience that spans multiple screens, from TV to laptop to tablet to smart phone. Each screen will have content tailored to that viewing platform.

It’s a very ambitious undertaking, being that everyone’s interaction with 2nd screens and TV is still a budding relationship, but maybe USA’s move is something that may soon be required by all networks to consider as TV becomes more connected.

Old Media Ideas vs. New Media Reality

TV Networks Can’t Agree on How to Provide Web Content

7.17.2012—The LA Times has an article about the impasse cable networks are coming to about providing television content to online users. While some, like TNT, require you to disclose your cable provider and account number before you can stream their content online, A&E, on the other hand, gives you content at the click of a button.

While this is a minor conflict, it is a great glimpse into the struggle that is happening in the TV world as it moves toward what phones and tablets have become…smart. Even the row between DirecTV and Viacom that has left 20 million satellite subscribers without Viacom’s channels stems from  the argument that the cost to carry those channels shouldn’t increase because more of that content being viewed online than before.

The disruption of TV has begun. Dramatics aside, the coming years will yield a lot of debate and dispute over how TV as a whole needs to move forward. 

American Eyes Turn Away From TV News

Broadcast News Sees Lowest Confidence Numbers Ever

7.10.2012—Gallup released a poll showing that Americans’ confidence in TV news is at it’s lowest point since the organization started tracking TV news confidence in 1993. This comes at a time when recent reports are showing that cable news channels are hemorrhaging viewers with their current news format. 

In contrast, confidence in print journalism has taken a 4-percent leap this year, accord to Gallup. Likewise, a Pew research poll shows that the internet has become the main news source among young adults since 2008. 

With the diversity of information on the web, it is easier to tailor an information stream to match one’s interest. However, the flip-side to that is the sheer volume of raw information available online is a lot to process. Journalists are supposed to be the information curators, combing through all aspects of communication to relay the news. 

On the web, you see it in all forms, from citizen journalist channels on Youtube to long-form, written pieces featured on a publication’s website. With the resources available regarding TV content, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that coverage can improve, thus regaining the confidence of the public. 

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