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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Death (Rebirth) of Television

Fox and NBC have bypassed You Tube to give TV lovers what they want: Web-based, full-length programming that can be embedded in social networking site profiles and easily shared with friends.

When Hulu opens to the public on March 12, viewers will have access to streaming video of television shows and feature films produced by FOX, NBC, Sony Pictures, MGM and about 50 other media companies, according to the New York Times. The Times also reported that sports fans will be able to watch highlights from NBA and NHL games, as well full-length NCAA men's basketball games from the past 25 years.

Like traditional television, Hulu programming will be subsidized by advertisers. But Hulu CEO Jason Kilar told the Times his company will experiment with advertising models to limit distractions. In one model, the viewer will be able to watch a show without interruption after a 2-minute commercial.

ABC and CBS have resisted Hulu so far, preferring to reserve full-length show streams for their own Web sites.

Because the Internet allows marketers to trace consumers' Webprints, Hulu commercials will be more appealing to individual viewers than traditional TV ads. Whether the commercials will be any less annoying is another question.

Still, the networks will have a tough time keeping clips of their shows off of You Tube. If they order one user to take down the clips, others will upload more in protest. But that's hardly their biggest problem.

For Hulu to compete with You Tube it will have to feature user-generated mash-ups of multimedia content.

The Web 2.0 generation is not passive. Its members aren't content to watch videos. They want to interact with multimedia content. They want to play with context and add new layers of meaning through parody.

A good example of this is a recontextualized trailer for "The Shining." Watch the clip before reading on.



Did the music and voiceover change the way your mind processed the clip? Did the film feel more like a lighthearted, coming-of-age drama?

Open source editing software and You Tube allow Web users to play with the conventions of genre and give us a fresh perspective on even the most overplayed clips. Some of the best clips double as subtle social commentary.

There is plenty of mindless entertainment on You Tube, and much of it isn't very good. But You Tube is also a playground for the brilliant, a place where artists can redefine the ways we learn about the world and ourselves.

If the networks ignore this fact, they will fall behind the curve yet again.

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