A CO-CREATOR OF THE television hit Lost wrote an op/ed in today's New York Times. He says that television is dying.The culprit? Video on demand, specifically TiVo, says Damon Lindelof. (I love it when people make me sound like I know what I'm talking about ... like when Sweeney mentioned that Craigslist is killing newspapers).
"It (TiVo) enables you to ignore the commercials that keep the whole system running," Lindelof writes. "Twenty percent of American homes now contain hard drives that store movies and television shows indefinitely and allows you to fast-forward through commercials. These devices will probably proliferate at a significant rate and soon, almost everyone will have them."
The writer is on strike with other members of the Writers Guild of America, the people behind the lines your favorite actors recite.
And one of the major issues in the strike is whether the writers will make any money from programs broadcast via video on demand and over the Internet.
The Internet is changing everything. The way television generates money is changing. What impact will this have on you and the future of communicating?
5 comments:
Although TiVo is a great concept for consumers, I can see how it is really destroying the entire entertainment system. I think of this system as being similar to the food chain, once one species becomes extinct the enitre chain is thrown off. With commercials and advertising being lost, and writers not recieving due credit for their work, the entertainment world will greatly be effected.
-M. Murtaugh
I don't even have basic cable at home. It makes me a dinosaur but I don't really care. TV doesn't really do it for me. The girls in my hall go nuts every few days and practically shut down to watch The Hills--which makes me uncomfortable.
TV is more of a distraction from the world, rather than an open door to it. I don't especially learn anything from TV unless I'm watching the history channel..
From what I've read, the Writers Guild aren't really going to affect anything except for Soaps. Most TV stations are just hiring non-unionized writers or writing the scripts themselves.
The FCC is taking over cable anyway. Too bad. Well at least Comcast can't continue to take over the world:
http://www.newser.com/story/11386.html
Instead of complaining about the situation with TiVo people should be actively trying to figure out ways to change the system.
Amen. So what kind of solutions do you have?
- George (the teacher)
There are a bunch of writers on strike from Jay Leno's show who are from Philadelphia, just FYI. I saw it on NBC the other day and thought it was kind of interesting.
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