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Facing the TV future

Shrinking ad revenue, IPTV, illegal downloads, disaffected viewers -there's a lot that TV is facing right now.

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Shrinking ad revenue, IPTV, illegal downloads, disaffected viewers -there’s a lot that TV is facing right now.

And yet numbers for big ticket events, and heavily promoted dramas are stronger than ever.

Is broadcast TV booming or dying? Truth is, there’s no clear-cut answer. There is room for optimism, and cause for deep concern.

The Weekend Australian features an article on that very question under the aptly titled headline “Adapt or Die.”

Arul Baskaran, the controller of iView, says “I meet a lot of people who watch a lot of TV and they just don’t watch it on their TV set.

“The university crowd these days use iView on WiFi in their shared houses and they love it. I don’t think the internet is replacing TV; I think it’s enhancing it. The most popular content on BitTorrent and download sites is still TV shows. People want high-end, long-form television, not short YouTube clips.”

FremantleMedia Australia’s head of production Tim Clucas says, “I don’t believe our younger audience is any different from our older audience in wanting to be part of a big moment

“Good television is a moment that brings the tribe together, whether it be a football game, an eviction on Big Brother or a stellar performance on The X-Factor. Television still has the ability to be the tribal campfire that brings everybody together.”

You can read the article here.

11 Responses

  1. “A lot of television is live and you can’t always predict when a program is going to end.” – Julie Flynn, CEO Free TV Australia.

    That is simply not true. By far the majority of TV is not live at all. Even the earlier eps of something such as The X-Factor, were pre-recorded and edited prior to broadcast, so the fact that they ran over-time was not only predictable but deliberate.

    @Carly2383 – haha, def some irony there.

  2. @ TM I agree with your comments. The executive comment clearly demonstrates the disconnect with those that decide what we see on TV and those that watch. David recently put up an article about Australian drama being aimed at women over 30. When it comes to Australian reality TV I’d suggest that in the main it’s aimed at teens, so to suggest that a reality show is going to bring the “tribe” together seems unlikely to me. Agree also regarding good investigative journalism and documentaries and for me SBS leads in this area.

  3. @nik c and anyone else trying to read the full article:

    Copy and paste the link into Google then click to the article from there. You’ll get around the paywall like that…

    (hope this is ok to comment, just trying to help ;))

  4. Good television is a moment that brings the tribe together, whether it be a football game, an eviction on Big Brother or a stellar performance on The X-Factor.”

    I don’t agree with this completely. Maybe for sport, but good tv to me is not reality tv or event tv, it’s great drama or comedy, documentary and investigative journalism. Maybe this stuff doesn’t rate as well but these comments above been said for years and clearly do reflect tv exec speak and it’s very narrow. I don’t watch tv to ‘come together’ with the ‘tribe’, I watch it to be entertained and thought-provoked.

  5. IPTV means we get the shows earlier.We have a Two Broke Girls that just came out in the US the other day that doesn’t hit our screens till Tuesday same thing 2.5 men.I was just reading it today that a modern day Mother and Son meets Everybody Loves Raymond British Sitcom featuring a Guy dressed up like an old Grandma Women and his real life wife Mrs Brown’s Boys can out do most of the rubbish that passes for Home Grown Stuff It’s a Sad Day.

  6. I think Australian Networks need to finally ditch the current ratings survey calendar and do as America does.

    This idea that people don’t watch TV during Summer is ridiculous!

  7. Pot calling the kettle black anyone?

    A newspaper telling television stations that they must adapt or die. Last time I looked, newspaper circulations were dropping faster than the number of people watching tv, and mainly for the same reasons.

    Both tv & press are facing the similar pressures with people going online for other alternatives, demanding more instant entertainment. TV stations have attempted to adapt by providing online catch up sites (which I love and use regularly), while newspapers have started putting paywalls on their sites (which I don’t love and completely avoid).

    Personally I think more fast tracking, more stable schedules and more starting shows on time would do a lot to improve things for tv.

  8. This has been coming for ages, the big issue here is both the response and reaction time of the execs who run the networks. Gone are the days when you can pump out turgid tripe at any old time and still get an audience. In this digital age the power is with the viewer and viewing habits are evolving rapidly. Case in point channel 10….where has your demo gone guys?

    Ya dunno do ya?

    There is no place for arrogant-know-it-all execs any more

  9. Networks do not help themselves by delaying content that will attract viewers. A case in point nine choosing to delay T20 cricket (tonight Aus vs. South Africa) rather than showing it on one of 3 available channels. Why do they think people will wait to watch a game near midnight when it starts at 8pm??? Not putting the cricket on is not going to make me watch house husbands. Demographics wise wouldn’t it be smart counter programming.

  11. Local content and live content will still be an attraction on FTA TV. When you add the two together, even better.

    The issue here is that pirating effects mainly newer shows (who are usually watched by younger people) – which is why Ten is facing a problem. They either need to embrace a wider audience like Nine or Seven, or ditch the “minimum Australian quota requirements only” strategy.

    As you’ve said previously David, local content has been king for Australian TV this year. People will still watch overseas shows, but people are impatient. Whereas, “world premiere” Australian content will bring viewers in.

    Now, let’s hope Underground gets 1 million+ so Ten can start pumping money into Australian content (drama, comedy, a talk show, anything!) – because they’ve got nothing else right now.

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