Surprises

Surprises

by Mike Masnick




No Channels, But Plenty To Watch

from the shifting-way-of-thinking-about-content... dept

For years, the joke has been that we kept getting more television channels, but there was consistently less on TV. It used to be that the idea of having 100 channels was amazing, but now people have a few hundred channels to choose from on many TV systems. However, the latest report from Nielsen says that, for the first time ever, the average number of channels available has dropped. TV execs are freaking out and want a recount. Some are blaming things like TiVos for the mess, but Ernest Miller (at the link above) makes the argument that the concept of "channels" is going away thanks to the internet. People don't want more "channels" -- they want more interactivity and control, and you just don't find that with TV these days.

4 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

    Jul 5th, 2004 @ 7:15am
  • No Subject Given

    by Anonymous Coward

    Think his conclusion that people want control is incorrect.

    I believe CONTENT is what they are after and currently, IMHO, the internet is offering better content than the boob tube.

    How many reality shows (and losers who watch them) can you possibly air ?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jul 5th, 2004 @ 8:53am
  • Bullshit

    by Anonymous Coward

    All I want is loads of content both on demand and to tune-in.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Jul 5th, 2004 @ 6:26pm
  • No Subject Given

    by Me

    You mean people don't like watching 45 minutes of commercials to get 15 minutes of a show? Odd that...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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