Today's posting is about creating a business model about the seemingly impossible internet tv "issue." I think that we are creating a bigger issue that it really needs to be. Rather than posting videos after they have aired on TV much like a blogger reviews a new product after it releases, these shows need to be shown online at the
same time as the TV broadcast. How can this be profitable? There are a plethora of options, especially in this decade of technology. First off, if a person has a TV subscription and internet connection, both sources have gotten paid for the work being done. So showing it online, on the TV station's website is a form of over-the-air broadcasting. Since the show is essentially paid for, the station benefits by letting the viewer watch it online for free because they get to watch it on time and the piracy to get the show elsewhere disappears because there is no desire to get it from some other source. If the person does not have a means to get the TV show or station currently, charging a nominal fee for the show (charged through the ISP) allows the person to watch the show and piracy is again averted. Basically, approached the Pay-per-View and Apple hybrid model of watching TV shows live online brings the niche market of internet TV viewing into the mainstream because people now have a means of watching TV in more than one location than just the family room. Showing ads like regular TV still occurs much like Hulu does now but can be interactive moreso than TV can ever be, especially since it can be better catered to the viewer. Commentary can be done live, or afterwords but provides feedback to the show owners to get a better feel for how viewers enjoyed the show. In short, showing shows on TV at the same time as on the internet, with ads, is the business model that needs to be adopted. Allowing people to get the shows through Zune and iTunes simply allows for additional revenue and less work since the show has already been made available digitally.
Podcast Link:
Episode 3.0