When All Content Is Personalized, Who Needs TV Networks

When All Content Is Personalized, Who Needs TV Networks? http://tinyurl.com/4rl3b3r

I think it’s true to assume that the world is moving toward an on-demand world with viewing done on the viewer’s schedule and device of choice. Program growth will come from personal recommendations – by computer-based recommendation engines and human social networks.

So where’s the role for a distribution channel that forces viewers to watch on the broadcaster’s schedule? The whole article is a good read but the core paragraphs are:

We’re already seeing the erosion of programmers’ influence in the way viewers watch TV through DVRs and online, with some shows getting nearly 40 percent of their viewers after a show airs. More than 5.5 million viewers of ABC hit Modern Family, for instance, watch the show on-demand or on their DVRs. It’s not as important today that a show has a particular time slot when so many of its viewers aren’t actually watching it live.

Personalizing recommendations, and allowing for new means of content discovery, takes that one step further. When content is discovered, through recommendation engines or by other means, it doesn’t matter to the user who made the show, what channel it’s on, or even whether it’s new or not. Perhaps the best example of this comes from Netflix’s recommendations engine: its streaming service doesn’t thrive because it offers users the hottest new releases, but because it consistently serves up content that is relevant to the user.

For users, the result is a steady stream of new and fresh content, and also content that’s more relevant and engaging than what one might find by purely channel surfing. And for content creators — especially independent content creators — personalized recommendations serve as a way to level the playing field. No longer does it matter whether a show appeared on broadcast, cable or online; the only factor that matters is whether or not a user might be inclined to watch it.