The Harper’s Island Experiment

There’s no question that the internet, VOD, TiVo and their brethren are changing how we consume our “TV” entertainment.  While some in the industry struggle vainly to bolster the existing ways of doing business, there are some signs of experimentation.

One such example of minor experimenting is ABC’s upcoming show “Harper’s Island.”  In addition to being made in conjunction with Eqal, the team behind LonelyGirl15, meaning significant additional online content, there is another twist ABC hopes will draw in viewers.

Here’s how TVSquad puts it:

I’ve been a little antsy about getting involved in yet another continuing drama (and one that could be canceled at anytime), but this was filmed and is being marketed as a limited-run series. Somewhere between a mini-series and a regular season, and that makes me feel a little better about taking the time to watch it.

The old business model for TV said that real money doesn’t arrive until you complete 100+ episodes and can go into syndication.  While this might still be true for the moment, I think that model is being significantly disrupted.  It seems that fewer and fewer series have the legs or the faith of an audience to last those four seasons and unless the episodes can stand alone (CSI, et. al.) then syndication can prove difficult.

By making a one-season-and-done series there is not only more possibility of an audience sticking around until the definitive end (assuming the show is any good) but there are lots of ways to gain new viewers online over time.

I’ll certainly be watching the numbers on “Harper’s Ferry” but I’m still not sure I can commit to watching the actual show…

Related articles by Zemanta

• Will Harper’s Island usher in a new way of programming television shows? (tvsquad.com)
• Eqal Collaborates with CBS for New Interactive Show, Harper’s Island (beet.tv)
• Miles Beckett From Eqal: Harper’s Globe Premiere (dailymarauder.com)
• Multimedia “Digi Novel” Arrives This Fall (mediabistro.com)

Children’s Hospital, That Guy and Others Try All-You-Can-Eat Distribution

Let’s face it – it is not easy at all to keep an audience coming back for more.  Even major TV programs, complete with critical acclaim and plenty of marketing, can’t make the cut (I’m looking at you “Pushing Daisies“).

For episodic web shows this can be even harder.  Sure, you loved episode one of that new webseries but it was 3 minutes long and now you are suppossed to wait a week or more and then come back and check for episode 2.  Not a very appealing proposition and a major reason, I believe, that many webshows fail to get out of the gate and see massive downturn in viewership after the first episode.

Now, a few of the bigger players in this game, WB.com and Sony’s Crackle.com are both releasing series with “full seasons” available for immediate viewing.  That means, if you dig episode one of “Children’s Hospital” you can sit tight and watch all ten of them.  Same goes for “That Guy” on Crackle.

It will be interesting to see what impact this has on overall viewership.  Knowing all the episodes are there and waiting is a lot like having a good show stacked up on TiVo – you know it’s there waiting when you are ready to watch.  Maybe you will watch just one episode or maybe all ten but either way you know they are there.

Additionally, by releasing multiple episodes at once we get to decide how good the show is, not just the premise, which is all one can really hope to get if there is just one episode to see at launch.  It is, perhaps, too much to ask of your audience to commit to a new episodic program based on one 3-minute episode.

Boxee Looks So Cool… Let Me In!

Boxee is sort of a mashup of AppleTV, DVR and Sling.Box but looks so much cooler:

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.748107&w=425&h=350&fv=]

There are only two problems:

1) It is still in beta and they have yet to send me an invite.

2) It feels a bit like a technological placeholder than an actual evolution.  It is one big step closer to a full integration of web and cable but it is not the final step by any stretch of the imagination.

Still, in the meantime, it looks pretty sweet.

Hey, Boxee, can I please get an invite?

Related articles by Zemanta

• YouTube on TiVo: It’s about time
• Netflix Watch Instantly for the Mac is fast approaching. Will Apple respond?

TBS Doing What It Can to Spead TV’s Demise

Sure, DVR’s have made it tough on advertisers.  When everyone can just fast-forward through that 6-figure spot what’s a brand to do?

Well, TBS thinks it has an answer by one-upping those already annoying “pop-up” ads that litter the lower corners of the screen telling us about other network programming.

According to TVSquad:

“During an episode of Family Guy (video after the jump), Bill Engvall walks out on the screen, much like the Brenda spots for The Closer. The difference is that Bill holds up a remote and actually pauses the episode before heading into his pitch for his show. When he finishes, he unpauses the show, which runs for two more seconds before going to the regular commercial break.”

You can check it out for yourself:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vUtfG9Bkec]

At some point people will either turn completely to ad-free pirated content or TV shows will devolve into a hyperkinetic series of brief moments of original content surrounded by a constant stream of brand messages, animations and loud noises.

Yay!

Related articles

• TBS pauses a show for a commercial – VIDEO [via Zemanta]
• We Interrupt Family Guy To Bring You This Annoying Message [Advertising] [via Zemanta]
• ● TBS and their annoying interstitial commericials [via Zemanta]
• The Bill Engvall Show coming to CBS (for one night anyway) [via Zemanta]
• We Interrupt This DVR Recording … [via Zemanta]

TiVo and Podcasts

I have mentioned before that I think podcasting is a great delivery method, especially for the smaller content distributors.  It is a way for people to subscribe to and receive your content in a consistent and easy to manager manner.

Mashable is all over this podcasting trend.

First, they are reporting that TiVo, in a continued move toward integrating more completely the TV and the internet, has (sort of) incorportated podcasts into their offerings:

“Earlier today, it was announced that TiVo has more tightly added integration with their set-top box and Internet podcasts through the use of their TiVo Desktop for Windows. The program allows TiVo users to synchronize content between their box and their Windows computers and peripheral devices. As Podcasting News notes today, the process is still a bit convoluted, and likely out of reach for the average TiVo user.”

Then they have news on one of the most successful podcasting companies out there:

“Wizzard Media has announced their 2007 fourth quarter and end-of-year earnings, and have broken all records for what is expected of podcasting (the industry that’s full of hippies, remember?). I mean who would have imagined that a company creating podcasts could record gross revenues of over $5 million for one year’s worth of operation?”

While there still doesn’t seem to be a massive market penetration for podcasts I think we are going to see exponential growth in this area over the next few years.

Network’s Desperate Move

In yet another sign that the major networks are is deep doo-doo and just don’t get it, AdFreak (via NYT) is reporting:

“ABC and Cox Communications are developing an on-demand service that would let viewers watch the network’s shows whenever they want, but also disable their ability to skip commercials.”

Of course, there is already a widely used technology called, um, TiVo, that lets people watch whatever/whenever AND skip the commercials (or anything else they choose).

But should that stop ABC from offering their customers completely crippled and out-dated technology that doesn’t give them what they want?  Hell no!

Sweet plan, ABC.