MagneticMediaFed

When I first moved to New York City I had few possessions. I was sleeping on the floor by night and playing solitaire and listening to internet radio courtesy or an errant wifi signal by day. It was also the dead of winter, and I had no job. I would have killed to have had cable, let alone an actual television in which to watch the cable programming. At the time, my day was spent online going from media outlet to media outlet looking for whatever content had been uploaded for streaming the night before. I watched everything The Daily Show posted (which amounts to most of the good bits from the show), listened to just about every Terry Gross interview of the 21st century (and many of the 20th’s as well), and checked out whatever video-of-the-day was popular at CNN. There was enough content to keep me from going crazy, but hardy enough to stay entertained (that’s why I’d go to Barnes and Noble and read graphic novels without paying for them — devilish!).

Today, things have shifted in favor of the poor-kid with broadband. Even without cable television, there’s enough video online right now to completely pass as a TV junkie, and I’m not just talking about YouTube. There’s more on internet TV (and cartoons) by clicking below…

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Actually, not so much Redwood as ‘The UK.’ Either way, Microsoft (a company I once loathed because of its fascist monopolization of the computer world until I realized that Apple has started to do the same thing) commisioned two internal training videos from Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant (names I will always associate with The Office over that of Steve Carrell and the like). In them Ricky plays David Brent for the first time since the Christmas Special that aired over three years ago.

I’m not going to say its Office-UK caliber, but its still damn funny– and great to see the character alive and well. The second part is available after the jump…

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Today CBS issued a press release saying that it would be airing several episodes of new and returning programs on the internet for free through their InnerTube video service. The online shows will be streamed and have commercials embedded that cannot be skipped (though considerably fewer commercials than when the shows air on television). ABC began offering more or less the same system last spring via their website. Both network’s only offer a handful of shows to be featured in their entirety. NBC and FOX have yet to put anything comparable on the table (though NBC did strike a deal with YouTube recently, which has yet to produce anything of note).

I really like this model, though I can imagine its driving the affiliates crazy. They need the networks to survive. The opposite used to be true, but now that there is iTunes (whose video impact has yet to be measured), and these new programs that give viewers what they want (whole shows) and keep the finance department happy (unskippable advertising) the local affiliate is becoming less and less important in that happy circle of broadcast television life.

The big problem, as I see it, is that the type of people who don’t have a problem watching video online (people like me), aren’t going to be using these services to get new content. If I want to see the new Lost, then by-God I’m going to see the new Lost when it airs (or DVR it, or anything that will let me watch it as soon as possible with the fewest distractions). The rest of the television populace doesn’t care. Casual viewers aren’t going to seek out a website so they can see a new show glorious, grainy, streamed video. So where’s the win/win? Click below and I’ll tell you…

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