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wombat_sochoSteve Gillmore gets on his triumphalist horse and pronounces broadcast TV dead. Again. Lots of people in the comments fling well-deserved poo at the pretentious dipstick.
What should be obvious to even the most deluded, self-absorbed geek is that while broadcast TV and cable networks are experiencing shrinking audiences, people are still watching TV shows. They watch them on TiVo, they buy DVDs, they go to AOL Video, they rent them from Blockbuster and Netflix and watch them when they want to, or they hunker down on Sundays to get a good solid fix of NFL action. So the problem isn't so much with the product - all four networks and PBS are still producing hours and hours of unwatchable crap, thankyouverymuch - but with the business models built on the assumption that millions and millions of people across America would sit their asses down in front of the tube and take it all in along with the ads that pay for it. That model is undergoing some serious revision as the execs in New York and LA are beginning to realize that those millions of people have a lot of other stuff to entertain them now.
But to claim TV is dead is just stupid. Even I, who gave up the crack pipe some years ago when I moved out to the 'burbs and decided I didn't need the additional expense of cable or satellite, am not dumb or disconnected enough from the biomass of American pop culture to think that. Hell, what with visits to friends' houses/apartments and the occasional bar, I manage to take in an average fo 3-4 hours of TV a week. Which makes me wonder what kind of bubble Steve Gillmor must be living in - or how awful his analytic skills must be to allow him to write something so incredibly asinine.
I honestly don't know whether to use the "amused" or "appalled" descriptor on this one. Think I'll settle for bitchy.
(Instapundit)
What should be obvious to even the most deluded, self-absorbed geek is that while broadcast TV and cable networks are experiencing shrinking audiences, people are still watching TV shows. They watch them on TiVo, they buy DVDs, they go to AOL Video, they rent them from Blockbuster and Netflix and watch them when they want to, or they hunker down on Sundays to get a good solid fix of NFL action. So the problem isn't so much with the product - all four networks and PBS are still producing hours and hours of unwatchable crap, thankyouverymuch - but with the business models built on the assumption that millions and millions of people across America would sit their asses down in front of the tube and take it all in along with the ads that pay for it. That model is undergoing some serious revision as the execs in New York and LA are beginning to realize that those millions of people have a lot of other stuff to entertain them now.
But to claim TV is dead is just stupid. Even I, who gave up the crack pipe some years ago when I moved out to the 'burbs and decided I didn't need the additional expense of cable or satellite, am not dumb or disconnected enough from the biomass of American pop culture to think that. Hell, what with visits to friends' houses/apartments and the occasional bar, I manage to take in an average fo 3-4 hours of TV a week. Which makes me wonder what kind of bubble Steve Gillmor must be living in - or how awful his analytic skills must be to allow him to write something so incredibly asinine.
I honestly don't know whether to use the "amused" or "appalled" descriptor on this one. Think I'll settle for bitchy.
(Instapundit)
