Strike captain Seth MacFarlane made a multimillion $ deal recently to provide scripted programing to google. This should keep the money flowing in while he works the PR side for the WGA from the sidewalk.

And if this doesn’t show you where the showrunners really stand, he’s not planning on using WGA writers on this project. In fact I doubt anybody on this project will get union wages or benefits. And we are supposed to believe this strike is for future generations? Seems like young Hollywood has already figured out how to have their cake and eat it too.

The porn industry.

Without their driving force, the home VCR won’t have exploded like it did. One unforeseen outcome for one of their own money making venues — the death of porn theaters.

Then along came Internet Porn, putting a spike in many an adult or gentleman’s type of magazine.

Plus the DVD surplanted the VCR and opened a whole new level of “viewers” pleasure. I have yet to use the multi-angle feature of a DVD, but it’s there for a reason. The porn industry.

And porn in all too many ways, is still the big engine driving many parts of the Internet, all around the world no matter what Google might think.

So what’s next? USB slots for Flash Drive porn via the Net?

Wi/Fi HD movies due to radical increases in technology? Remember boom boxes? And when will iPods seem dated? One year? Three?

Substitute TV/FILM for Porn and it’s all pretty much the same route, but a bit slower and later.

And dare I mention the “new” tech battle… Blu Ray and HD?

Does your head hurt yet?

pb

Rabbit ear super wi-fi right into the “box”, HDMI into your set and bam! you’re at the main menu. No studios, or studios in their own corner. Open market. Its the **new spectrum** that will open up in the next few years. The open devices that (may) be possible. Forget “broadband”.

Last time I checked, Intel, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo owed very little to keeping the broadcast advertising model dominant, let alone alive.

If I’m a media buyer in ‘09, ‘10 - do I go for a general shotgun blast with a broadcast network (+ local cable buys, yawn…) or do I trust Google’s placement algorithms? Targeted advertising works worse when? Oh, that’s right. NEVER.

Quite wrong, but that’s not surprising. The Companies are making the same mistake. It’s amazing how many college-age kids watch all of their TV via the computer. The future will reside there, one way or another.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iae79e78c381150a59a046b6e8dcd5169

Google has the same kind of deal with Seth MacFarlane. The guy who created Family Guy and has been out in front of Fox all week telling everyone that he will not work until he gets his way with internet residuals. Isn’t it a little bit hypocritical that he is hiring non-union writers to write for his Google project while he claims to be pro-union? That’s having your cake and eating it too. Meanwhile the WGA is turning a blind eye because they need his support.

http://www.fuzzuck.com/2007/08/16/seth-macfarlane-inks-deal-with-google/

TV time has always been a commodity - that’s what networks and stations sell. That’s what pays the syndicators and the production companies and the residuals. The difference is now TV sales is trying to bring in the same or more ad dollars for fewer eyeballs as TV audiences continue to shrink. And that’s not because viewers are watching on TiVo or DVD. Yes, that contributes, and so does online to a small extent, but the biggest thing competitor to TV viewing is the internet as a whole (facebook, email, games, short video clips, etc.) and video games, especially among the 18-34 year old male audience.

Cable nets run the same programs over and over again because cable ratings are still considerably smaller than broadcast (though there are rare exceptions). Cable programs are run in repeats so cable nets can get more ad revenue for these programs, and so they can get cumulative ratings for a show (0.8 rating Monday night, 0.4 for the Tuesday repeat = 1.2 rating, etc.)

You know why so many stations run infomercials? It’s because they make more money running informercials. Once a cable net or local affiliate buys syndicated programming, they have to sell enough ads to pay for the programs. It’s getting harder to do all the time. Infomercials are proliferating because they bring in more revenue than a sitcom rerun in the middle of the day.

I’ve worked in TV, primarily in sales and research, for 12 years. I honestly don’t think many of the WGA members really understand the business of TV. It’s frustrating to hear so many of you complain about a business model you really don’t understand.

The future is actually here right now…forget about ‘watching TV online’. TV time is now a commodity. The supply far far outweighs the demand. Look at how networks - especially cable nets - will run the same episodes, over and over. Look at how much of the programming is filled with infomercials. And analog broadcast TV is about to be over, by law.

So - you can watch TV on your TV, sent through the internet on AppleTV or your Xbox360 or TiVo or Netflix or by time rented on some cable network for cheap that your DVR records. It’s all out there now.