On television
Two articles on TVSquad lately have really grabbed my attention. The first: The way we watch TV very much reflects my own habits – I tend to download TV, and watch it quite quickly – sometimes 2 or 3 episodes in an evening. Generally, I watch stuff before it hits these shores, because I hear about it, I get curious, I download it. By the time something arrives on broadcast TV in NZ, I've forgotten what the buzz was about, and I'm no longer interested in seeing it. Even if I was, the effort of having to get to the TV at the right time every week is just stupid – my life doesn't work that way. Sure, if there was enough on broadcast, I could set up a PVR and record it – but I get TV over cable, and even changing the channel from a PVR would be a hassle. In any case, who wants to be 3-12 months behind the rest of the world?
(Michelle Forbes playing Miranda Zero from Global Frequency)
I also tend to buy TV series on DVD, so this article also met me rather close to home. A TV series like Firefly that got canned by the network part way into the first season (supposedly for never gaining an audience – which is hardly surprising given that it was never played in the same timeslot twice, and episodes were shown out of order) or Global Frequency (never actually made it to broadcast, but the pilot episode has been leaked, and blogged about by (I believe) the director or producer here* ) may well be long term viable released for DVD only. Take a series from another medium (like GF), or from a guy with an almost cult-like following (yes, like Joss Whedon), limit the budget a bit, perhaps release lower res versions on the net using BitTorrent or similar, and watch for the buzz. From that, you should be able to get some idea of popularity, gauge the markets, see if putting a series out on DVD is viable. Hell, add in a few product placements, get lower-cost actors, do everything you have to to keep the price down to start with – let it build a fan base before spending too much money on it.
(Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars)
I downloaded all of Firefly well before it came out in NZ. I also pre-ordered the DVD series the day it was announced on Amazon. I'll see the movies when it comes out. I've just finished watching the first season of Veronica Mars – and I'll be buying that too. Not because the versions I have are lacking anything in quality, because they're not – they're more than good enough to watch comfortably, but because I want to own them – the pleasure of possession. I'll take the extras as well, the commentaries, deleted scenes and the like, but mostly, I want to own. I covet. I want to give my share back to the people that gave me these shows, and the only way I can do that is by buying the DVD.
Of course, there are also shows that I've downloaded some of, and given up on as not worth the effort – those ones, I don't buy. Creative darwinism, survival of the most entertaining to this target demographic.
A change is coming in the way we watch TV. I'll be interesting to watch, I hope, in more ways than one.
[* clarification - the director/producer of GF didn't leak the pilot, he just wrote the blog postings about it. ]
