topfield in the house - why watch realtime tv?

Well the actual Topfield is in the house. The PVR continues to change the way in which we spend our evenings. I’m reading more, specifically Dee Hock’s Birth of the Chaordic Ageat the moment, and the list of recorded programmes is beginning to silt up the 80Gig drive. Might even watch some TV tonight…

Working in the bowels of the dinosaur industry broadcasting you can’t help but think about the impact of PVRs. It’s pretty obvious that some programming will continue to be watched in realtime and therefore the advertising associated with it less impacted by the fast forward button.

Sport is the obvious live programme magnet, as people have strong emotional desires to watch their team as they play, to be part of the shared experience. But just because something is broadcast live doesn’t guarantee that people will perceive that there is emotional benefit in watching it live. Conversely prerecorded programmes can generate a desire to watch them in realtime, soaps such as Coronation Street and Eastenders earn this sort of respect from some of their viewers.

At the US National Cable Television Association (NCTA) conference media heavy weights have spoken about the impact and possible mitigation from PVRs. (From Advanced Television), including thoughts from Peter Chernin, President of News Corp, that reinforce my view.

“Chernin told the NCTA that the acquisition of live event programming will be one of the keys in coping with the emergence of the digital video recorder.

Chernin, describing News Corp.’s strategy, said giving consumers sports and other shows they want to see live gives them an incentive to tune in when the programme airs, making them more likely to view commercials.” – Advanced Television

At the same conference the new head of Disney, Bob Iger, commented that compared to multi-revenue stream companies such as Disney’s broadcasters with one revenue stream (advertising) are more vulnerable because of new technologies.