WILD CARDS

We discussed “wild cards” in the scenario planning process and the way they can disrupt what appear to be the assumed and most likely directions and timing for trends and events.
As Stephen Bartholomeusz discusses, the wild card to projections about the longevity of the commercial “free to airs” in Australia is the nascent National Broadband [...]

the rule is you watch it on the best screen available

viewing in transition.
Do you watch TV and use the  Internet at the same time? I often do, but not when I seriously want to get absorbed in the content, like a great television drama (although I’ll often rewatch it on the net)
Nielsen says that over 50% of viewers in the US use both mediums at [...]

Public Service Broadcasting commitments on Commercial TV

Like the Australian system, in the UK the Commercial Free to Air ITV has a s et of Public Service Commitments which they are now cosidering jettisioning.   Media Guardian has published a couple of eye-opening articles based on a speech made by Michael Grade the MD of ITV.    The first outlines the potential, the second [...]

“Migrant Watch”????

As part of our project on what Australian television and its society will look like in 2018, we also need to consider the broader global outlook and how it interplays with models for governance, communication technologies and the needs of transforming cultures.
Will we, in Australia, be using our advanced communication systems in 2019 for a [...]

Debunking “Net Neutrality” fears

Here is an article (thank you Slashdot) where the “boys from down under” – the OZZY ISPs – argue that the concerns surrounding Net Neutrality (or lack of it), are a result of a problematic American Business model regarding access to the internet. They argue there is no shortage of bandwidth now or in the [...]

Live road shows – the future of television, or only for the petrolheads?

Top Gear’s big guns to take live show on £20m world tour | Media | The Guardian
This story from The Guardian takes further an idea that has cropped up a couple of times, that of ‘live presence’ and live performance.
Top Gear is described as the first of BBC Worldwide’s ’superbrands’, and a template for [...]

End of the American Internet?

Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S. – NYTimes.com
Article by John Markoff in The New York Times 29 August noting that due substantially to concerns about surveillance by the US government, internet traffic is increasingly being routed around rather than through the US.
“Since passage of the Patriot Act, many companies based outside of the United [...]

BitTorrent building its future

How do you convert a popular service built largely on the appeal of illicit file sharing into a legitimate business?   Great article from Wired last October, introducing a new CEO and a new business model.

Television advertising futures

Lara Sinclair in the Australian reports on FTA tv networks’ and subscription tv’s views of the future of TV advertising. Key points:

‘commercial television industry’ is worth $3.8 billion
Channel Seven (national sales director James Warburton) see tv advertising market as “a ‘week-to-week’ proposition”
… but likely to grow by 5% in second half of 2008
‘TV market’ grown [...]

Value of the vacant spectrum to Google

And here’s a new twist on the digital switch overs.
Google wants the old television airwaves.
At least in the US it has these desires
Its got plans for mobile devices that would use local wireless airwaves to “access ‘white spaces’ between television channels”.
“Consumers could watch movies on wireless devices and do other things that are currently [...]