Will Television Become The Next Big Consumer Product To Become Obsolete?

How about the wristwatch (although it is fashion)?

Landlines?

Hardrives (with clouds)?

What is the reason for the diminished number of television viewership?  Is it because there are so many more people turning to other kinds of entertainment? There are various different modes of entertainment available these days and the availability and affordability of internet has made it easier for the masses to view and streamline videos and full TV shows on it. People are also able to download full length movies from the internet.

The number of people who are attached to the internet will increase further as time goes on.  This will further decrease the number of people watching television.  So, the fact that television may become obsolete may be a reality sooner rather than later! It is important for the people to keep pace with the changes in technology, so the loss of television will not be disastrous.

Our group truly believes that somewhere down the road that television itself will become obsolete. People will not sit in front of a television and just watch something anymore. They will want to multi-task, start it now – finish it later, they will want to interact with other people and their closest friends also watching what they are watching from literally all over the globe, and tv channels will probably no longer be there either.  Everything will be streamed so you can search for shows by interest and be able to put them either in your personal ‘cloud’ or local storage etc.  We have already seen laptop sales on a steady decline as tablets and mobile devices gradually start to dominate the market. As these devices become increasingly more robust -they will be able to take over what we currently know as television.

A few stats below are from Broadband Expert, (2011) “Will broadcast TV eventually become obsolete due to TV over broadband”?

Compared to last year the percentage of people who watch broadcast TV at least one a week has dropped 4% since the year before. The percentage of people who watched recorded TV dropped 5%.

Even the percentage of people who watch DVDs or Blu-ray disks dropped 1%. Although the percentages are not that dramatic, it appears to be the start of a trend.

Video delivered by broadband seems to be getting more popular. Downloaded video content for viewing at a later time has grown by 3%.

Streamed on-demand video also gained 3%. Short video clips, like YouTube also increased 3%.

Streamed on-demand movies increased 2%.

So I ask you – television will for sure be one product, but what will be the next consumer product to become obsolete?

The Next (Fully) Digital Election…Which Candidates are Ready for the Media?

“My dad bowled in a league, and I went with him. He was a lefty. We went on league night, it was part of my childhood.”  ~Rick Santorum, Republican Presidential Candidate

This quote seems wholesome enough. This statement by Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum just seems to fit the image that he wants to create. Cameras caught up with him when he stopped at another bowling alley in Wisconsin.  Who knew he had such a love for the sport? Ironically in an interview, Santorum even mentioned the popular book “Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam. Putnam details the decline of America’s social capital. In other words, Putnam believes Americans have disengaged socially from organizations and political involvement. To him, this is problematic to democracy. If more people are bowling but fewer are bowling in leagues, people are not participating in social interaction and civic discussions.

Since “Bowling Alone” is one of our source books for our project and because I have spent time researching television’s impact on politics, I found this particularly interesting. Santorum on camera referencing “Bowling Alone” and the good old days when he used to spend time with his family is perfect timing.  Maybe I’m crazy but isn’t he using the very device that Putnam railed against in the book? Either way, I appreciate Santorum giving us an inside look into his history and his current life even if it was a made-for-TV event. Some voters actually rely on this unnecessary information to help them make a judgment call when they go to the polls.

Obviously, Santorum isn’t alone. All candidates posture for the cameras. But, what about people who aren’t watching television?  How do you get your TV moments and ads in front of people who aren’t watching traditional television? You have to go where they can find you…online.

There appears to be a shift in the way campaigns think about advertising. Like the future of traditional television, the future of political advertisement is going digital. President Obama turned the Web into a political persuasion tool during the last election. It was a sort of throwback to John F. Kennedy. They both used new mediums that forever changed politics. For Mr. Kennedy, it was television. For Mr. Obama, it was the internet. President Obama’s campaign changed the way politicians organized supporters, advertised to voters and communicated with constituents.  He was able to mobilize thousands of people. Instead of turning to television ads, Obama turned to YouTube for free advertising.

Now Romney is taking a page from his book.  Mitt Romney’s campaign has spent the last year and a half watching the browsing habits of millions of computer users. Digital is the new wave. It’s no longer an add-on for traditional media. In some instances, digital advertising has become a replacement.

I think Putnam would agree. The digital age and social media are different than the social decay he warned about. Facebook actually brings people together. Emerging media creates an increase in social capital. Romney and Obama get the impact of digital media. I wonder if the other hopefuls will catch on before it’s too late.

How Television Advertisement Affects the Economy

While taking a stroll down memory lane I began to think about how television advertisement affects the economy.  Television advertisement affects the economy in both positive and negative ways.  No matter how much we may think advertisement does not have a negative effect on the economy it does.  Most people may think of advertisement as being positive and it is to a certain point.  According to research television advertisement plays a huge role in our everyday lives.  It is said people do certain things because they have seen an advertisement on television.  Without seeing certain commercials most people probably would not imagine themselves doing certain things because they have not seen anyone else do it or have not heard anyone talking about doing it.  The wonders of advertisement can persuade someone to try something that they have not tried before.

Thinking back a few years ago, while watching television a commercial advertising the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas came on.  The advertisement had the beautiful blue ocean water, lavishing rooms, restaurants, dolphins, water park, casino, golf, fitness center, bars, and more. The commercial was so impressive it persuaded me to plan a trip to the Bahamas.  It is funny how I saw an advertisement that was so appealing it took my breath away and had me eager to go.  While on the plane flying to the Bahamas the airline television was showing commercials about what to do while you are in the Bahamas; another one was advertising the best places to shop.  One commercial in particular caught my attention when they were advertising the designer clothes, shoes and purses at a reasonable price.  Once again, the commercial sold me and of course I had to check it out.  Advertisement is meant to entertain, persuade, sell, solicit, promote, a way of spending money and to inform. Guess what happens people fall for advertisement every time.

Have you ever asked do people pay too much for advertisement?  Have you wondered if advertisement is overrated?   Have you wondered if advertisement is an effective means of communication?  Have you wondered what will happen if advertisement lose its ratings to online viewing?  If you have wondered about any of these questions you are not alone because this is a concern that people should have.

Let’s pause and take a look at advertisement from a negative point of view for a moment.  When children see commercials on television advertising candy, fast foods, alcoholic beverages, and condoms are a few examples of negative advertisement.  When children see certain advertisements they become curious of what it is and want to try it.  Knowing the sponsors of the commercials are not meaning any harm by the advertisement but they are promoting their product and it is having a negative impact on children.

Advertisement affects the economy in many different ways.  It is nearly impossible not to see advertising because everywhere you go you will see some form of advertisement.  Without advertisement people would not know about the new products, goods, or services that are coming out.  Even though television advertisement ratings have dropped due to online viewing advertising is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Future of Television

Looking forward to the future of media, where will television be in the future? Currently we are seeing an influx of television viewing over streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, etc… Based on recent findings online video buying has increased 40% this year. So clearly there is an increase in both viewing and advertising buying of online video services. Coupled with the recent announcement from Forrester that by 2016 112.5 million or one third of the adult population will own a tablet. This is a revision from their previous estimates of 82.1 million.

Based on this information it is no far fetched to assume that the future of television will be focused towards online viewing. In a recent episode of New Media Minute host, Daisy Whitney, takes a look at the current trends of social media as it relates to social activity. In a previous post I brought forward information from Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. In Bowling Alone, Putnam asserts that television is responsible for a decrease in social activity and civic involvement.

Recent findings have uncovered that the future of television may take a turn towards a more socially active audience. According to Whitney, “A study by social TV tracking service Trendrr.TV… Growth of social activity in conversations and check-ins around TV programming has grown by about 91% year over year.”

Looking towards my project on the future of television, I feel that these recent findings are pointing towards a future that is definitely online, but also includes a social capacity. Now that mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular and with the advances in mobile technologies reliability, there seems to be a clear progression towards mobile viewing.

To recap research is showing that three things are currently happening that will affect the future of television:

1. Online video viewing is increasing.
2. Online video advertising is becoming more effective.
3. Tablet and mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular.

Early I attested online viewing would be the future of television, however; the evidence may be pointing more towards mobile viewing. With media companies adapting to the differences between online viewing and mobile viewing, the connectedness of mobile viewing will gain more market share.

Currently, there are media companies experimenting with how to include more social buzz into their programming. Through building in different services such as recommendations, sharing, and conversation capabilities into media viewing, real-time buzz is created.

It is commonplace to find shows advertising a Twitter hashtag for their show. Fox has begun to place hashtags at the start of their animated series. In the 1950s television was responsible for creating a more isolated community. Today with the integration of social

MOD.tv

TV and the Future Economy

TV shows are not just TV shows. They are t-shirts, potential movies, lunchboxes and lifestyles. The TV show is not an island, it does not exist in a vacuum. So, then, what might the future economy of TV look like?

If TV adopts the YouTube model, and relies on more collaboration by abandoning the hierarchical model of producer, director, actor (the new model means that the cameraman man might be the writer, the actor might direct the writer’s next production), then the economic model of TV could very well follow suit.

Advertising and product promotion might account for revenue still, but the advertisers won’t necessarily be targeting big corporations. Their ad placement might based on entirely different criteria, like “most views this week.”

Will the fluctuating model of Youtube allow for advertisers and t-shirt makers to predict accurately which shows will create the most revenue though? Some videos on Youtube become popular, and then fade into obscurity, others might have a continuous following. The approach of marketing teams becomes radically different in this model. No longer can the name Disney conjure a whole set of associations – rather, the Youtube production companies remain less known, and characters and events become more popular.

For example, someone might recognize this:

But do they know who the Gregory brothers are?

The product is no longer a company, but the object of the video at hand. Mickey Mouse becomes an independent character devoid of associations and the implied altruism of Disney Corp. We are forced to look at Mickey solely based on his own actions.

TV And Its Future

With Internet taking a more prominent role in our everyday life, we see television being quite static and the need for transformation of television very real. TV will not miss its chance for change – it will be just like every other form of media. Sure – music and newspapers might have already seen a significant change but slowly and most definitely it is and will happen to television.

Software hasnt been all that good for televisions. If you think about it, your TV is just a big screen computer. The way we consume it is going to change and it’s the software that is going to help change it. Consumers today want to watch what they watch, when they want to watch it and wherever they want to watch it. Currently there is free and pay content available on YouTube, Netfix, Hulu etc.

Not only are some experts saying that most every single part of TV is being transformed but also how we interact with each other while watching television, our connection or relationship with the content and how that content is formed, paid for and packaged.

Since I am in the marketing communications field – the way one advertises and the changes that are about to come along with the change of mainstream TV is definitely on my radar. More and more advertisers believe that their ad spending is not effective, with the new platforms that potentially could be launched one can be assured they are also looking to reach customers in ways that were not previously possible. Just like we can with the internet, advertising can be so much more targeted. Data can be targeted down to the individual set-top box level which is the lowest metric of measurement. The direct targeting of customers leads to higher than average response rates to produce leads or sell products and services. This is just one of the ways that TV will transform consumers viewing experience.

Interactive advertising has a world of new potential possibilities. Can you imagine viewing an ad and then having the ability to touch the screen and up pops a coupon for that product? This truly could prove to be revolutionary for advertisers and viewers alike.

This is a new field, and nobody has all the answers. We don’t even know all of the questions….yet! But Internet TV (just one solution) is here – I would say we are definitely past its infant stages but not quite ready for mainstream! I am confident that we can expect that the televisions we have in our living room today are soon to look quite different in the very near future.