Television needs to be renamed to break the traditional view of it, and content needs to be considered “kinger” than ever before according to the director of the Center for the Digital Future.
Speaking at Mi9’s Imagine event yesterday Jeffrey Cole said TV has become more prolific in today’s society than ever before, but it needs to be reimagined to encompass the video being consumed via means other than the box in people’s living rooms.
“We will always save our preferred content for the big screen,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean people won’t watch things like sport on the small screen like mobiles, if there is no other screen available.”
He pointed to the explosion in viewing live events, which he credited to interaction on the internet, as an example of this premium content, describing it as “co-viewing” behavior.
Whilst figures show Millenials are watching less TV, Cole said it was actually the case they are watching a lot more content, “they’re just not interested in traditional media”.
“Things have changed,” he added. “They’re looking at the TV business and the bundling business and applying the same standards as the music business. That used to say to us, if you want those two songs you have to buy all 12 of these as well and pay $17. Now it doesn’t because of things like iTunes.
“Foxtel is looking at it very seriously, selling programs directly to consumers. But it’s not just unbundling of channels, there is an unbundling of programs from channels as well. Content has never been so important.”
