Blog Post #5: Digital Media vs. Television

According to Ken Auletta's article 'Outside the Box', digital media has had a huge impact on the traditional television industry. Auletta states that "Today, the audience for the broadcast networks is a third what it was in the late seventies, lost to a proliferating array of viewing options." Auletta goes onto explain how the first factor in television's decline was the rise of cable-television networks, and then came Internet-streaming. The television industry, however, has been fighting back. NBC, Fox and ABC joined together in creating Hulu -- which is basically the same concept as Netflix, and viewers are able to watch current and past television shows aired on these channels. And, according to an article posted by Gerry Smith entitled 'Hollywood Adjusts Netflix Strategy as Cord-Cutting Fears Grow' (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-22/hollywood-adjusts-netflix-strategy-as-cord-cutting-fears-grow), Smith quotes James Murdoch -- who runs 21st Century Fox Inc.:
"“Certainly the business rules around how we sell to SVOD providers are changing, and our thinking is evolving,” Murdoch, who runs 21st Century Fox Inc., said at conference hosted by Goldman Sachs in New York.

Although the relationship with Netflix has “been good for both sides,” Fox has done more business recently with Hulu LLC because the streaming service -- which is jointly owned by Fox, Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp. -- pays per subscriber, Murdoch said. That means potentially more revenue for Fox if its popularity keeps growing. Hulu also allows Fox to control the advertising, the chief executive officer said. Netflix traditionally pays a flat fee to networks and doesn’t have advertising. Last December, Fox signed a deal that gave Hulu the exclusive streaming rights to shows on Fox’s cable channel, FX."

As for the future of television, I do feel that it will be even more of an interactive experience. According to Auletta, he spoke with venture capitalist Marc Andreessen who believed that "“TV in ten years is going to be one hundred per cent streamed. On demand. Internet Protocol. Based on computers and based on software.” He said that the television industry has managed the transition to the digital age better than book publishers and music executives, but “software is going to eat television in the exact same way, ultimately, that software ate music and as it ate books.”" However, I do not necessarily agree that television will become completely obsolete. According to Accenture (https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-outlook-eyes-have-it-who-controls-future-of-television-media.aspx), traditional television is still heavily viewed. "But the truth is that the living room screen remains a dominant communications medium, and will continue to be so. There is still no substitute for the collective viewing experience of watching the big game or the season finale of a popular drama. Plus, the new Accenture study reveals that young people are much more engaged with TV than might be supposed."

Overall, I believe that television will stick around -- at least for the near future, but will provide a more interactive viewing experience to its audience.