You are here: Home Page » viewpoint » Who's watching you?

Who's watching you?

Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BY CRAIG BIRKMAIER

Getting close to your customers is critical for broadcast TV survival.

Use it or lose it

This year we are going to see an acceleration of the convergence of television and the Internet. It will occur on two fronts:

Watch more TV on your computer

This includes additional content that cannot be seen when the show is broadcast. And let's not forget about the ability to build communities of interest around a program via the program's Web site.
Use your TV like a computer

More devices will connect to new big screen TVs, making them more akin to computer monitors than the old analog TV receivers.

When using a Web browser, you probably do not notice that modern Web sites pull content from multiple servers to create the page you are viewing. The ads may come from a company that specializes in selling and inserting ads in the Web sites of its customers. The search engine is probably linked to Google or Yahoo. If you play a media file, it may come from Google, YouTube or the hosting services of Akamai or Digital Island.

The Internet is a network-of-networks, and there is no reason that your TV station cannot become part of the information superhighway. With your digital transmitter, you can broadcast all kinds of bits, not just TV. And with a set-top box that is connected to the Internet, you can close the loop with your customers. The same applies for PCs and notebook computers that incorporate a DTV tuner and a broadband connection.

My son got a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. It has built-in WiFi, and when connected, it has several information services, including a weather channel that you can watch on the TV. Microsoft and Sony are trying to go a step further with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, adding HD-DVD playback capabilities. (See “Lean back media redefined.”)

The time has come for local broadcasters to connect to modern realities. You are in the communications business and have the unique competency to create content and connect advertisers and potential customers in your market in compelling new ways.

Traveling down the fork in the road that leads to the future won't be easy, and it may not be profitable for years. But for broadcasters who are trying to eke the most out of their markets, the time is coming to an end. Wouldn't you rather know who's watching, rather than who's not?

Craig Birkmaier is a technology consultant at Pcube Labs, and he hosts and moderates the OpenDTV forum.

Send questions and comments to: craig.birkmaier@penton.com

Web links

“All Web sites are alike,” David Kirkpatrick, Fortune senior editor http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/08/technology/fastforward_fortune/index.htm
The Ultimate Tail-Gator Contest - WSKY Radio www.thesky973.com/videos.htm
Apple iPhoto overview www.apple.com/iphone

Lean back media redefined

“We are shifting content experience from a lean-forward PC exercise to the comfort of the big screen TV in your living room.”

If you think that this is a quote from Steve Jobs' Macworld announcement of Apple TV, think again. It was delivered by Randy Waynick, senior vice president of the home products division for Sony Electronics. He went on to say: “Internet video will clearly be the next step in the evolution of high-definition television, giving users more control over the content they view.”

Welcome to the world of Internet video, Sony style. At the 2007 International CES show in Las Vegas, Sony announced the BRAVIA Internet Video Link, which will allow most of its new televisions to access free Internet video content, even in HD, from providers including AOL, Grouper and Yahoo, as well as Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony BMG Music.

The product is a module that will attach to the rear of Sony Internet video-ready televisions. It will link the television set directly to a user's broadband Internet service provider via an Ethernet connection. Viewers will use Sony's Xross Media Bar icon-based interface to access content via their remote control.

The notion that the Internet and the big screen TV in the family room are on a collision course was echoed across the expansive halls of the CES exhibits, even as the press and analysts kept an eye on Apple's Macworld announcements. Microsoft's Bill Gates took things a step further, announcing the Windows Home Server, which is intended to store both computer data and media that can be shared by computers and a Media Center PC attached to the big screen.

Once again, Jobs stole some of the thunder from CES. The expected announcement of Apple TV, which Jobs previewed last fall, seemed almost anticlimactic, just a warm-up act for the main event — the announcement of Apple's iPhone. (See “Web links” on page 16.) The iPhone combines the functionality of a cellular phone, widescreen video iPod, e-mail and text messaging center, and a full-functioned Web browser that fits in the palm of your hand.

Powered by Apple's OS X and an innovative touch-screen interface, Jobs claimed that the iPhone is five years ahead of the competition. His optimism is well founded, and we will likely see many of the core technologies developed for the iPhone appear in a wide range of consumer electronics products. One can easily imagine the touch-screen interface being used as a remote control for TV users to surf the Web and navigate through the media stored on an Apple TV, PCs, iPods and other devices with wireless interfaces.