If its on the internet, and its not on a television, is it TV?
Has the definition of television changed, with network shows available online, and stuff created for the internet in the formats and models of television shows, but not distributed by a TV station or cable or satellite operator being ported onto televisions using set top boxes actually TV, or merely web video?
Answers (29)
I feel the definition of broadcasting and TV (just a viewing screen really) has changed for ever (it's no longer time or place specific). The golden age of a few companies owning the viewer/revenue is gone. Content is still "King" (so good narrative lives on) without that it's just fancy technology. The rest is evolutionary, including revenue streams.
The challenge is to generate great content in a profitable way, and engage an audience with such a large background of dross...
Good question. Perhaps using the term "TV" will be a generic term for all video-delivered content whether on the web or not much as "Kleenex" became a generic term for tissues.
I watch wi-fitv.com each night as I practice foreign language skills including Czech and Russian news. If questioned, I guess I would call it TV.
Ed D
IT management, operations & consulting
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This year a film, "The Condemned" debuted that had a plot around a TV producer creating a new show that was Internet-only set in this year. The film is challenging in that it casts some dispersion on society's continuing retreat towards an amphitheater mentality of gaining pleasure from grief and anguish a la Jerry Springer.
William Gibson's book Pattern Recognition, written in 2004 has an up to date theme that weaves a story around the behaviour of fans, he called them Footage-Heads and community of a YouTube-type entity.
Having noted a couple of traditional (film/book) sources from contemporary culture I believe the concept of TV, perceived by the society that consumes this culture, is now one that is distributed over both traditional and internet channels - home technology is converging already and as homes get smaller people already do more with less such as replace the television with a computer monitor and watch all media through that interface, play video games etc.. Others have gone mobile such as teens who are happy watching very small screens.
HTH
Ed.
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Mario P
Marketing strategist and creative writer for hire
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I don't have answer, but that's a damned good question. I hadn't thought about it from that perspective before.
Joe R
Vice President - WestGlen Communications -- Professional Services Consultancy - Traditional & New Media (NYC & National)
As a communications company, WestGlen has evolved to include all forms of video outreach to audiences as the very definitiion of "video" of not TV has changed. Evidence this weekend's Emmy to Al Gore's CurrentTV.com, designed to reach a younger set.
Today, reaching an audience is more important than simply the vehicle used, and companies that have realized this have made great strides in branching out to multiple distribution channels, many times using the same video or altered versions of it.
I include my company link below not as an advertisment, but as a resource to see how we use the term "Blended Media Strategies" to clarify what's important: reaching people.
Joe
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Bottom line: It depends.
From a business/contracts perspective, the definition of TV is whatever you negotiate it to be. If you cut a television distribution deal with a broadcaster/cable network, they will go for the broadest definition possible, something like "Television means all forms of delivery of a signal from a distance, including, without limitation, via broadcast, cable, and satellite, Internet and Wireless, including VOD, EST..." Depending on your leverage and negotiation skills, you may get them to move on this. If not,
for a given deal at least, TV includes the Internet.
At the same time, when you go for a Home Entertainment deal, those guys will want to carve out some of the same rights. For example, Netflix wants to secure rights that allow customers to watch movies instantly on their PCs. If you've already given Internet to "traditional TV" guys, then you'll get less for your home entertainment deal.
Basically, it's a big turf battle and the "industry standards" are still being defined. As for stuff that originates online, I'd say you can call it whatever you want to until you start entering into distribution agreement to make money off it.
Good luck and hope this helps.
PS- I am a biz dev guy, not a lawyer.
I think you're confusing distribution with content. A film is a film whether you watch it in the theater, on tv or your laptop. The type of content is what's changing - we know the definition of movie, one hour series, half hour comedy, music video. The new forms that need defining are webisodes, short form, sponsored shorts, interactive web stories, etc.
It's a mixed questions, one that references both content and distribution. Content can be specifically designed around the distribution channel (interface, as in TV, web/pc or mobile). The interfaces for Video (and in particular video-on-demand) today primiarly consist of the "first screen" (TV and all it's access methods), the "second screen" (The PC / web experience) and the "third screen" (the mobile experience). Various content is more suited to a particular "screen" based on a number of factors (see following link: http://movidity.com/Docs/Movidity%20The%20Third%20Screen%201.2.pdf). In the end, the media content value chain is changing, with consumers running at opposite ends with tradittional structured programming.
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Going by the conventional definition a television can be termed as a part of internet whereas Internet is a dynamic form of tele vision. A product on internet might segment easier than one on the TV.
Brian M
at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
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Hello Ian,
Generically it's "video". A video could be a clip from TV, a purpose-made piece, an ad, a training item.
A training item, broadcast on TV (air, satellite, cable) is TV. A film/movie aired on TV is TV (the experience, quality etc. is NOT the same - just consider "edited to fit the time available"). A film, aired on TV and abstracted to the Internet is definitely video but it is no longer a film.
A great question and one we could argue for a long time.
Regards
Brian MacLeod
The question "Is it TV," represents a number of questions, each with separate answers, depending on what you mean by "it".
1) Is it (the program you're watching) TV? Yes, if it is a program created by a television affiliate for the purpose of being televised.
2) Is it (the electronic device are you watching it on) TV? No - I this case, you're not watching it on a television set, but on a desktop or laptop
3) Is it (the delivery method) TV? No, in this case, you're watching via the internet.
In any case, I think the initials TV should remain synonymous with "television".
If it is on the internet and not on the TV ,then i can say 2 things
Spontaneity
compulsiveness
But people like that feeling of getting carried away under the control of something , that is how TV is surviving still in my opinion.
While using a TV , user has to make less decisions compared to that of internet . No matter how powerful the media is , it should not demand decisions from the users . :)
Simply content. Companies will produce content -- however they distribute it is now up to them (e.g. TV, iTunes, Unbox)
TV was just the delivery method when the crazy idea of sending pictures over the airwaves came about. The term TV will be used in generic terms for watching video on any platform. That isn't exactly wrong as broadcasters still create "Television Programs" FOR TV, but have found that the only way to continue to make a profit is to re-purpose the same material on line, on mobile devices, on sister channels or networks, and on DVD's.
So, yes...the definition has been change in so much that it has been expanded and clarified to apply to modern technology.
Guido H
Owner and CEO of G3 Studios and Consultant in the Computer Games industry
Looking at it from a purely linguistic standpoint, "TV" stands for "television." Television in turn is a word originally derived from two Latin words.
"Tele" means "far" while "vision" means "seeing" therefore "television" means "Seeing something across a distance." It makes no difference whether the medium to cross that distance are FCC regulated airwaves or a broadband cable, whether the signal is encoded as an NTSC broadcast signal or a software video codedc. The effect is the same. You are sending moving pictures from one place to another and that is "television."
The development of new streaming video services is allowing for content to be created for and targeted at a more narrowly defined audience. An audience that can’t find the content they need via traditional broadcasters. Streaming is a boon to media companies as it allows them to now cater to this narrowly defined audiences.
Streaming simplifies the process of getting video to the consumer, and by providing high-quality video to computers and television screens we are closer to the content ‘anywhere anytime’ scenario, allowing consumers to see what they want on any screen they want when they want.
Mr. Isanberg,
I like your question and it is very insightfully. I have thought about this question before and the only answer I can come up with is the following: There are varying definitions in all media, if you were to define the delivery system of music you can come up with all sorts of variables like Internet radio, streaming, non-streaming etc...
It is clear that the delivery system has changed for all media; books; film; TV; art and music. It is as revolutionary as the change from traveling by sea as opposed to by air even though the objective is similar.
In this case the same objective: to entertain. Television is is derived from the greek word "Tele", meaning distance. And from Latin "videre", meaning to see.
If you believe in semantics this word holds true for all media that is seen from a distance. May it be video, IPTV, VOD and PPV; all these names are a specification of a certain delivery system for "Television" which can be held to be an all encompassing term for moving visual media if we want to get specific.
I its a dire world of jargon and meticulous language but in the end it facilitates business and the commercialization of media which is at the heart of the issue at hand for me at least. Or else, I would not know the utility of having so many names for the same thing!: Moving images on a screen.
As they say, "Necessity is the father of invention" and as we grow in terms of output and accessibility it won't be hard to imagine an array of different and innovative ways to get, see and sell media to new consumers in an ever accepting and tech savvy world.
Semantics, albeit important semantics. Ponder: "If I read a novel on my PC - is it still a book?" "If you print your e-mail and read it - is it still 'electronic mail' ? "
The term "TV" alone refers to the device; "TV show" refers to video content originally produced or aired for television broadcast (or cable or sat). If that show is later distributed over the internet, is it still a "TV Show", but you are not watching TV. Just as if you read "The DaVinci Code" over the internet on your PC screen, you'd be reading a novel, but technically you are not reading a book.
Essentially there are 2 media to record moving visual content: Film and Video. But there are and many ways to transport, distribute, deliver and view the content - on a PC, Ipod, TV, projected in a theater, VHS, DVD player etc..
Your question asks "if its on the internet" - which technically is implying how it is stored - not how it is delivered! Certainly I can be watching on a Television while the actual video was stored and delivered over the internet. But I would be watching Television (TV). If I viewed that show on my Ipod and someone asked me what I was doing, I really couldn't say I am watching TV. I'd probably say "I am catching up on 24 on my Ipod, so I can enjoy the brand new episode when it airs tonight on TV".
Hope this helps!
Television is just the vehicle for the video content so I say it isn't TV, it is simply video. Just look to radio (audio content) as an another example. You can listen to the audio at home, in the car, and on your computer but you still call them all radio. TV is often used as a proxy for video as that is the primary means we consume it.
In my opinion, If you're watching programming on a box (TV/PC/iPod/Cellular Phone/PlayStation/Wrist Watch), it's TV. Especially if it's being broadcast/served to said box. Regardless of the source. Now the programming could be the season finale Lost which you illegally downloaded and streamed over your local network to your Sony Wega, or a YouTube video of your neighbor picking his nose - for my money, it's still TV.
Tacy T
Anthropology/Art Double Major a UC Davis
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TV and Internet Video are not equal, so I don't think you can call video on the Internet "TV". TV watching is a passive experience where you can sit back and take what's being presented. We have some interactive abilities with DVR, but the Internet is a far different experience in general; thus, TV presented via that medium is a different experience. One can research as they watch, learn more about a topic, etc...
Personally, I believe the future is going to be something like "Inter-vision"; where you are presented with entertainment on Demand and can interact with it. See "Starship Troopers" (the movie) for an example.
I have been wrestling with this for a while, here is what I generally say on the subject:
What is television in an age of ubiquitous computing ?
The word television describes the method by which content gets to the box. So initially we had NTSC terrestrial broadcast, then we had cable, then satellite, then in the last few years ATSC digital terrestrial and (number five with a bullet) IP.
The word television also describes a type of format, generally involving synchronized pictures and sound. This format has also seen some changes. Its gone from black and white to color, the sound was upgraded from mono to stereo to 5.1, and then in the last 10 or so years we have begun to see the beginnings of interactivity starting with electronic program guides, then moving on to Video On Demand, and some early attempts at interactive television.
Lastly the word television describes a particular activity. This is where things get a little messy. Most of what is traditionally thought of as television content can be viewed on a computer and as we start moving towards IP based content delivery and interactive applications, the line gets more blurry still. Most of us are viewing our television through a set top box which is, in fact, a computer. So how do we differentiate "computer" content from "television" content?
We need some kind of general rule here just so we know what were talking about. As I see it, Television is the thing we do on the couch Computer is the thing we do at the desk. Now this isn't a hard line, its more of a continuum with something like 3D modeling or Photoshop on the desk end and channel surfing on the other with things like email or IM somewhere in the middle. The point is that there is an inherent difference between the Television and the computer experience, and that television has a particular value all its own.
Complete text at http://www.posm.tv/docs.html
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Television is the box in your living room where you consume programming.
Online video in the form of IP content delivery will reach the TV, and in some forms is already reaching it, but until it does it isn't television programming, and the barriers to getting there are high enough that it shouldn't be called TV.
Clearly TV and its definition is evolving, I still see TV as that physical presence in the living room that will be around for a long time to come.
References to technology can inform consumer behavior shifts. Language references based upon technology tend to shift over time and then become extinct, or transform and regenerate over time to represent a shift in organic or marketing driven consumer behavioral models.
How many of us say we, “…heard it on the wireless…” when talking about content delivered as “Internet radio” and delivered as part of a “Podcast” via “WiFi”? But where did the term “Ethernet” derive it’s original definition? The technical etymology of words is interesting, and words are often re-used to transform a given consumer base from one mechanism of content acquisition, brokering, or distribution to a new approach by satisfying both the early adopter’s need for change, and simultaneously mitigating the fear of change by the larger base of “viewers”.
Viewers… note that television is now the third definition according to Websters.
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Wallace J
Multimedia Producer, Mind Taffy Design; Graphics Design, VR and i3D programming for Acrobat 3D PDF
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Technically it's called IPTV.
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What defines the answer here are the rights for the video.
If the rights holder allows it to be put on the web, whether paid for, or free, through YouTube, its again defined by the rights holder here as well.
Streaming TV legally to a mobile phone (I'm not including SlingBox here) makes the video a digital video because the rights holder has defined a set of rights for mobile TV. And the same applies to web, aeroplane, DVD and so on.
The audiovisual landscape within the home has changed from an environment in which only five channels were available to one where several dozen were available, then eventually several hundreds and now thousands.
We've gone from the television age to the satellite age and PVR to broadband and on demand video. The television has been replaced by the personal computer and laptop and eventually devices such as the Ipod touch.
Whilst a home may have just one HD television in the living room controlled by the head of the family computers and portable devices are more freely available.
As a result the notion of television is being replaced by that of contents and programs. If I want to watch video podcasts or television series I will hardly notice any difference.
Recently Freebox HD in France, Operator 11 in America and other packages have promised for "television to be produced by the viewers themselves.
What this means is that there is a shift from television as a linear medium to that of video on demand where any flow of programs can be created. At the same time the viewer himself is creating more content. Television is now far more interesting than it has ever been before.
Scott Social Media A
Social media is my middle name. I wrote a couple of books about it.
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Word definitions frequently change and expand to include new technologies. How about we consider the Latin roots of the word:
tele: far off, far away
visi: look, see
Tele-vision = seen from very far away, i.e., farther away than direct line of sight
So yes, I think web video definitely constitutes tele-vision.
Mitch K
at Krayton Seminars
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Scott Allen took the words from my mouth.
Viewing things created elsewhere is television. At first TV could only be distritubed by analog broadcast networks, but the content is what people want to see. People aren't buying the truck, they are buying the cargo.
That visual content created in one location and delivered to another tele vision. Audio content created in one location and deliver to another could have been called tele audio, but it didn't flow on the tongue and radio was selected instead (and we also have video).
The method of delivery or the packaging doesn't change what it is- remote viewing.
