The "Vast Wasteland" Gets Vaster: The Future of Television in the Online Revolution

Disney can be seen as an exemplar for the transition in question. This company has been a household name for decades and through generations, and its movies are often the first thing children around the world see with respect to media and entertainment. From 1928’s short Steamboat Willie to 1937’s feature Snow White to the theme parks that span from Florida to Paris, when one thinks of Walt Disney, the concept of traditionalism might spring to mind (Vivian 157). Disney currently plays a role in the idea of ownership melds—which complicates the over-air network versus cable network binary—as ABC was subsumed into Disney’s ownership (with ABC Family Channel, ESPN, and SoapNet coming along with it) (Vivian 216). The company has withstood the test of time and evolved at a quick pace, from its animation origins to cable TV.

If one views this prediction as too far out or futuristic, one only needs to log onto his or her iTunes library, which contains music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and radio stations. Disney is in the process of attempting to move a significant amount of content to the Internet, even threatening the movie-house industry with the idea of releasing films to both the theater and the internet on the same day (Vivian 43). Apple and Disney reveal a crossover between almost every form of modern communication outside the written word (though it should be noted all of the aforementioned media begin with a writer). Their businesses further show how the internet is not simply challenging the necessity of a TV box, but also the movie theater, the radio, the CD, or the DVD (records, VHS, and audio cassettes do not even appear to be in the mix anymore).

On the subject of Disney, it is interesting to see that former CEO Michael Eisner left the company and created Tornante Company, which merged with the Canadian media conglomerate Rogers Communications to form a studio called Vuguru (Lieberman). Vuguru will buy and develop a form of media that complicates and combines the TV show and the internet: the web-series. Web-series show how communication fields and professions overlap; for one show, Vuguru has teamed up with Big Fantastic (a production company) and United Talent Agency (a PR firm) (Lieberman). Sponsors and advertisers are also vital for web-series. Ads will not only appear on that show’s website, but also on their sponsor Ellegirl.com. Furthermore, ads will run before and after each segment (which will reportedly contain product placement) from Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful juices, and Telflora florists (Lieberman). Web-series can perhaps be seen as a culmination of all this convergence of media relations, as they are becoming increasingly popular and will most likely continue at that rate. Eisner’s shows will also be on user-generated sharing websites like YouTube.com and Veoh.com, sites he claims have “won the short-term sprint” to reach audiences but will eventually lose the “marathon” to “professionally produced, emotionally driven story content” (Lieberman). As webisodes receive hundreds of thousands of views, it is a safe bet to predict the web-series could be a huge piece, if not the crux, of the future of television, entertainment, and communication.

Nielsen, the most famous tracker of television viewing, seems to be aware of this online vitality in the industry they observe. By August of 2010, Nielsen will begin measuring internet usage in America (Li). The decision has been made in response to a variety of network clients (TV networks like News Corp’s Fox and Disney’s ABC as well as advertising companies Proctor & Gamble and Unilever) who have “demanded better accounting of television and internet viewing” (Li). Advertising is further incorporated into the scenario, as seen in September of 2009 when 14 of the world’s largest TV networks, advertisers, and ad agencies formed the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement to research tracking methods of TV and online viewing (Li).

Nielsen’s Three Screen Report covers Television, Internet and Mobile Usage in the U.S. In its third quarter report, it is revealed that 99% of video in America is viewed on traditional TV (Nielsen). That said, DVR viewing shot up a drastic 21.1% while online video viewing significantly increased 34.9% (Nielsen). Trends observed by the company include American consumption of media at a “record pace” with 129 hours of TV, 27 hours of internet, and 3 hours of mobile video each month (Nielsen). The report also sees 57% of Americans practicing what Vivian would call “media multi-tasking,” as they use TV and the internet simultaneously at least once a month (Nielsen, Vivian 41). While an older demographic was perceived as “embrac[ing]” new media (with 63% of internet users and 39% of mobile video users being over 35), the heaviest users of mobile video are teenagers (over seven hours per month viewing and 45-54 users actually logging almost three hours per month) (Nielsen). This suggests that if young people sway in this particular direction it could be a sign of things to come; the trends will only continue, and the future users of communication and media will be well acquainted with its mobile and online form.

The history of television has yet to be completely written, and each year a new chapter unfolds in its evolution. What is most unique about the current state of television is that a great deal of its programming is becoming popular when it is not actually on television. With time shifts and space shifts, New Television is also shifting and merging forms. With roots in theater and radio, with assistance from advertisers and PR firms, with reviews from journalists, and its current appearance on the web and mobile devices, the transition of television reveals the increasingly intertwined methods of modern communcation.

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