While we’d heard many networks were unhappy with Time Warner’s decision to release its live TV streaming iPad app and there have even been whispers of cease-and-desist letters in the offing, Fox has put a request to have its channels excluded in writing. At issue is whether or not their agreement allows Time Warner to provide the channel on devices other than the TV — while TWC is confident it does since it only works within the customer’s home, the networks would apparently like to renegotiate before conceding anything. Senior VP of Fox Networks Group Scott Grogin confirmed the letter was sent but did not reveal any details about its contents. Following the battle plan of its last battle with Fox, Time Warner Cable has preemptively put up a IWantMyTWCableTVApp site asking customers to show support for the TWCable TV app against the networks. We’ll wait to see who blinks first and remember that Dish is already slinging channels to tablets with wild abandon while Comcast and Cablevision have plans for similar implementations on the way.
A nice little study to prove the increasingly obvious: TV isn't enough anymore. No, one screen is pitifully lacking—instead, we need to be in constant communication with our pals (and strangers) while tuning in. Eight out of ten respondents to a recent British survey said they use some form of social networking (Twitter, mostly) while watching their favorite programmes. That's a lot! And the trend is certainly more than just a Brit thing—a Nielsen and Yahoo study from last year showed similar findings for Yanks. More »
TV socializing is something of an oxymoron to begin with. When we sit down to watch the tube together, we're mostly together in the strictest technical sense—couch proximity. We might share popcorn, or laugh in unison, or murmur something about how so-and-so got fat—but it ain't exactly a meeting of the minds. Our eyes—and brains—are focused on the screen. So is adding a tablet to reach thousands estranging us from the actual people we're with? More »
Loyal readers know of my generally bullish, optimisticoutlook regarding the Internet’s impact on society, economy, and even politics. On that last front, columnist Peggy Noonan has a nice piece in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Internet Helps Us Get Serious.” Serious about politics and political rhetoric, she means. Speaking about how politicians are addressing the current fiscal crisis in the U.S., Noonan argues:
One way to change minds about the current crisis is through information. We all know this, and we all know about the marvelous changes in technology that allow for the spreading of messages that are not necessarily popular with gatekeepers and establishments. But there’s something new happening in the realm of political communication that must be noted. Speeches are back. They have been rescued and restored as a political force by the Internet.
She then makes the point that I always stress when debating Net pessimists: You have to measure progress against the yardstick of the past and ask yourself if we really better off in a world of information scarcity. Noonan does that beautifully when she notes:
In the past quarter-century or so, the speech as a vehicle of sustained political argument was killed by television and radio. Rhetoric was reduced to the TV producer’s 10-second soundbite, the correspondent’s eight-second insert. The makers of speeches (even the ones capable of sustained argument) saw what was happening and promptly gave up. Why give your brain and soul to a serious, substantive statement when it will all be reduced to a snip of sound? They turned their speeches into soundbite after soundbite, applause line after applause line, and a great political tradition was traduced.
But the Internet is changing all that. It is restoring rhetoric as a force. When Gov. Mitch Daniels made his big speech—a serious, substantive one—two weeks ago, Drudge had the transcript and video up in a few hours. Gov. Chris Christie’s big speech was quickly on the net in its entirety. All the CPAC speeches were up. TED conference speeches are all over the net, as are people making speeches at town-hall meetings. I get links to full speeches every day in my inbox and you probably do too.
People in politics think it’s all Facebook and Twitter now, but it’s not. Not everything is fractured and in pieces, some things are becoming more whole. People hunger for serious, fleshed-out ideas about what is happening in our country. …
A funny thing about politicians is that they’re all obsessed with “messaging” and “breaking through” and “getting people to listen.” They’re convinced that some special kind of cleverness is needed, that some magical communications formula exists and can be harnessed if only discovered. They should settle down, survey the technological field and get serious. They should give pertinent, truthful, sophisticated and sober-minded speeches. Everyone will listen. They’ll be all over the interwebs.