Sea Change in TV

First it was Gates with his memo about the sea change in software, now it’s TV.

I think this is awesome. The first steps toward a complete redefinition of “television”, a new distribution model for TV shows, and a new added value of the Internet.

I predict it will only be 1-2 years after the launch of this (putting old series online) that you will start to see new series as well.

Strategically, as long as there’s viewership, and as long as that viewership is monetized through advertising, the broadcast networks will have too much of an incentive to broadcast online.

They probably will balk at putting their content onto the distribution network of a competitor and will make some attempt to all build their own competing on-demand TV websites, but that’s only natural.

The problem they will face is how to market themselves as an online service to people who don’t watch their network. The huge advantage they will have is that they have a huge installed client base that they can migrate online.

Whatever happens, it will be interesting, and ultimately consumers will benefit.