TELEVISION DISRUPTED --a book review by blogger Joyce Schwarz, www.hollywood2020.blogs.com and author and emerging entertainment consultant JCOM, www.joycecom.com.
Beyond the TV SET -- Television 2.0 -- from network to networked TV, June 25, 2006 (Copy of review just written for Amazon.com) AUTHOR OF TELEVISION DISRUPTED: Shelly Palmer, publisher Focal Press an imprint of Elsevier, $29.95. website www.televisiondisrupted.com.
Okay, so I used Shelly's tagline above but I added Television 2.0 because that's what this is about...You've probably heard of Web 2.0 -- well this is the complement to it. Palmer not only walks the talk as chairman of the TV Academy's Advanced Media committee but he's actively involved in the next-gen of television as a speaker and host of his own TV Show -- Media 3.0 in NYC.
Check out his blog www.emmyadvancedmedia.com and his columns on Mediapost.com. He opens his intro with the old chestnut tail of how the railway biz didn't get it when approached by early airline entrepreneurs...after all they were in the railroad biz not the airway biz....of course as Shelly knows and reminds us-- they were/are in the transportation biz. Or I might add an even broader look at it -- they are in the hospitality biz-- not just transportation but you need hotels and you need entertainment at your destination etc...upgrade, upgrade, upsell, upsell....those infomercial people get it better than anyone else...bundle it! But that's another book or column that I'll include in my next book...meanwhile back to Shelly's!
CONVERGENCE --OLD NEWS, NETWORKS --old news....NETWORKED TV --new news.....
TV/Computer convergence-- old news according to Palmer. He starts with the basics (which you may or may not need to know depending on your industry -- from free analog TV to broadcast networks and what a DMA is (Designated Market Area)to digital TV to hybrid subscriptions to cable television to digital cable to satellite. And then moves into the disrupting part-- where the viewer takes control away from the programmers or distributors. He moves into what are called "value added services" like IPTV, VOD and time-shifting and interactive and enhanced TV ETV.
IT AIN"T YOUR DADS INTERNET!
A chapter on the Internet even includes an explanation of the now trendy 'metatagging' --improving search and RSS (really simple syndication -- that you know well if you have a blog). His Chapter 4 on existing wireless networks covers video on mobile and PMD (personal media devices) Although he barely mentions the video iPod, he gets his point across about how video is personal and the rise of genre-specific content.
PEER 2 PEER & BEYOND....but where's user generated content & citizen's journalism?
His peer to peer chapter is exhaustive and thank heavens includes some well-designed charts. It's really the napsterization of content. The content chapter (6) talks about one-to-one storytelling giving way to 2-way TV and the importance of packaging to bring content to market. He asks if Google, Yahoo and MSN are the new networked distribution channels but I can't see coverage of Youtube.com and Ohmynews.com and other user-generated video-related sites leading the way to the next-gen of entertainment like Myspace.com where teens spend an average of 3 hours a day.
LONG TAIL yes...but Youtube.com is missing...
Networked Value Propositions Ch 7 focuses in in DRT (direct response television ) or transactional TV -- but it seems to skip shopping -- maybe that's a chick's arena? The book covers Chris Anderson's Long Tail (just where is Chris's much-touted book on that topic?) and includes a few pages and chart on Zipf's distribution --used to project demand (but even re-reading that I'm not sure how critical it is in a user-generated content environment?) Walled gardens - iTunes and a bit on broadband penetration.
WHERE ARE THE FROGS IN THE BLENDER?
Viral video should be somewhere here-- but I'm not sure I see it in the book-- you know the frogs in the blender videos or the dancing baby or this week the Coke and the Mentos clips that turn up in your mailbox from two or 3 pals after a long weekend. He talks about his AMCI index-- advanced media consumption index but doesn't mention all the teens out there who are 'platform agnostic' just by nature...He mentions the future of the living room...but doesn't cover too much about what I'm charmed by --Public Space TV -- malls, bars, cybercafes..using a mobile phone as a remote control and flat panels everywhere that Minority Report-type pull-out reflectors that cater to the 'screenager' in many of us. (blogger note-- also I didn't see mention of some of the ITV trials like the Time-Warner Full Service Network and Wink and the early interactive 2-way games that let viewers play along with Wheel of Fortune via their set-top boxes? )
FROM DRM to DVR...
DRM (Digital Rights Management and Copyright Laws" rightly delves into the new area of Creative Commons. The Evolution of Advertising and Audience Measurement captures of the challenge of DVRs (TIVO-type devices) in an ad-skipping and time-shifting era. Maybe a closer look at Google and ITV could have been added to this section but it covers the basics well. Addressable dynamic ads are a focus-- but Palmer doesn't get into profiling and personalization that may be where this is all heading and has been heading since the early days of cable when the set-top boxes started to record our preferences...not unlike Amazon.com of course.
FROM GAME CONSOLES TO CENSUS BASED METRICS -- but where is the red button?
The last chapter on Consumer media choices touches on the importance of game consoles as disruptors in the future and consumer electronics versus television. In addition to the user-generated content revolution -- and more information on the role of the RED BUTTON on the remote in Europe...
NO TELETEXTING OR AMERICAN IDOL STATS...
I don't see info on teletexting --yes in Europe you can text on one side of the screen while you watch TV. Also innovations like the Indy 500 split screen that allows ads on one side and race coverage on the other side of the screen would have been nice additions. BUT he covers a lot of great stuff. And he knows what he talks about.
TWO WAY TV -- BIG BROTHER -- 24/7
He mentions 2-way TV but never gives examples like American Idol voting or Big Brother on Broadband or cross platform campaigns like this summer's ARG for LOST TV. (I realize this was written before that development but I think the importance of fan involvement -- even on message boards or on fan sites has turned TV into more popular culture experiences.)
YOU GOTTA CONSIDER HOW REALITY TV CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OR VIEWING PATTERNS....
Reality TV changed the way we watch....SURVIVOR house parties, Dancing with the stars-- video viewing along with your favorite cocktail shaker 'highball' create not only new cross-generation cultural experiences but popular culture itself. What about the StarTrek fans who have brought back that show even when it was cancelled?....the power of the fan ....product placement and branded entertainment from the days of the Sgt Bilko's SMOKES AND JOKES segments to Millionaire's phone call options. UNLESS I'm wrong and missed those topics.
TELEVISIONDISRUPTED.com -- check out the book's website too!
Alas, there is no index...really I can't believe it...on a book like this you MUST have an index! And where are the pictures (TV is a visual medium) and the screen grabs of the websites for the TV shows...BUT the glossary is excellent...maybe there's more at www.televisiondisrupted.com.
Full disclosure-- I just met the author Shelly at the NAB where I bought the book and he signed it for me. I'd heard about him for eons from his NYC pals and others. And I've followed this area of ITV/ETV and next-gen TV and emerging entertainment platforms for the past 15 (yes 15 years) so I may know the arena a bit too well and may be over-demanding of the book. It's a landmark tome and heads in all the right directions.
WHERE ARE THE PIX? SCREEN GRABS?
Lots of detail...but I'd have loved to see (yes, more pictures PLEASE) examples and less emphasis on stats and more on the role of TV in popular culture in the past. From the toilets flushing during the Milton Berle TV breaks to live TV with Sid Caesar and the launch of CNN -- taking TV worldwide and the rise of the screenager weaned on Sesame Street, raised on PBS and charmed by WB (or whatever it is now called) to the phenom of worldwide sports and ESPN who now services 11 alternate platforms-- yes 11 ....to live TV on mobiles at Wimbledon and the World Cup....yes, consumers rule and networked TV is hotter than Network TV but...never underestimate the power of popular culture in crafting the next-generation of anything... hmm maybe they are CREATING THE NEXT GEN OF ENTERTAINMENT AFTER ALL....POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
