Tech Talk: Death of cable TV?

-
This article was first published by dmcityview.com

Just as television networks kick off another season of reality shows, sitcoms and dramas, a deluge of media outlets are pondering the future of TV. With advertising dollars being spread thin between cable television and the rise of online video, will TV follow the path of the daily newspaper industry? It might be too early to forecast TV’s demise, but just for kicks, I’d like to throw out one idea that could potentially throw the TV world into disarray. What if Google gained exclusive rights to livestreaming NFL games online?

On its face, the idea sounds preposterous: Why would a tech giant possibly want the rights to streaming NFL games? Well the answer is quite simple. Google is much more than Web searches and smartphones. In recent years, it has quietly turned into a media giant. YouTube, which is owned by Google and is the fourth-most heavily trafficked website, is arguably the place for online entertainment. It streams Hollywood movies, music videos and original content produced by YouTube-funded partners, plus much more. So imagine if YouTube was the online destination to stream professional football games.

It’s no secret that the hardest part of cutting the cord and leaving cable television is sports. While the NFL is the uncontested king of TV ratings, its games are virtually nonexistent online. Websites such as ESPN, Yahoo and countless others more than cover fans’ unquenchable thirst for sports analysis, but to actually stream a game in real time requires either an expensive DirecTV subscription or the use of not-so-legal streaming sites.

In 2011, ESPN renewed its broadcast rights to NFL games for $1.5 billion a year for 10 years. If Google, a company with a yearly revenue exceeding $50 billion, made a similar bid to stream games on YouTube, that would be a game changer. Suddenly the most popular entertainment website would allow football fans to watch any game they want, while producing mountains of NFL viewer data — everything from demographics to viewing habits. It would just be bad business to spend advertising dollars on TV.

Television may not be in immediate trouble, but once the NFL gets into the webcasting game, all bets are off. CV

Patrick Boberg is a central Iowa creative media specialist. For more tech insights, follow him on Twitter @PatBoBomb.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FCC to the net neutrality rescue

-
This article was first published by  dmcityview.com In case you haven’t heard, the last couple of weeks have been pretty big concerning the future of the Internet. Net Neutrality, a term that means everything and nothing, depending on your web literacy, was for all intents and purposes cemented in the Federal Communications Commission’s book of regulations. The simple explanation on what this means to you is that the Internet will continue to be the fast-moving, cat meme-filled, pornography-laden super highway it has always been — i.e., no changes. The complicated explanation takes much concentration, so grab a cup of coffee and maybe a protractor because, seriously, this is important. At this point there’s no way around it — we all take the Internet for granted. It is the most important and intricate communication tool ever invented, and every time you turn on a web-enabled device you expect it to be there. Well, truthfully there is no “there” to it. The Internet isn’t a place,...
Read more

Tech Talk: Tune in to network TV, but for a fee

-
This article was first published by  dmcityview.com The rise of high-speed Internet and online streaming video over the last decade has definitely shaken the broadcast and pay TV business. While burgeoning Web technology has contributed to lower ratings and dipping revenues, it appears what the TV industry is most afraid of is a tool older than the medium itself, the antenna. Aereo , an online streaming video service, leases customers dime-sized antennas that retransmit locally broadcasted TV content over the Internet. This means someone living in Oregon can lease an Aereo antenna deployed in New York City and watch TV content hours before its broadcast in his or her actual time zone. The streaming video start-up has upset the broadcast TV industry so much, it’s scheduled to defend its legality before the United States Supreme Court in April. Broadcasters are challenging Aereo’s legal right to stream their content online without paying providers retransmission fees. Cable pro...
Read more

Continuing Education and the ISU Futures Forum

-
Image
Last Friday I had the unexpected pleasure of taking pictures for the Iowa State University Greenlee School of Journalism's Future's Forum. A couple week's earlier I was given the photog assignment, but few details except for a handful of choice people to photograph. It wasn't until I showed up that I found out it was a Greenlee event (a school I have a little history with). It turns out the "Futures Forum" is a chance for current journalism students to hear from industry execs, ISU grads in the field and  current  students with unique intern experience. This year's panel was made of a senior editor at Better Homes & Gardens, an Ag magazine exec, an graduate who now works at ESPN and a student who recently interned for Rolling Stone and Maxim. For the majority of the forum I was looking for different photography angles, but after the M.C. held a cheer for the recently deceased and beloved professor, Barbara Mack, and announced the topic, my interes...
Read more