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THE END: TV

TV used to be something we watched at home...and we had to wait for our favourite show to come on. But now, television has been unplugged. Tivos and digital recorders let us watch TV whenever we want.

But that's not all. Slingbox, an internet TV streaming device lets you watch cable and satellite on your computer. And now video is popping up on our computers, our cell phones and our iPods - so we can watch wherever we want.

Now what we watch is changing too. Amanda Congdon is the host of Rocketboom a daily internet show that gets nearly 300,000 viewers a day. "We focus on internet, culture, world events and whatever captures our interest."

Rocketboom is one of the most popular of the many - 10 to 20 thousand - video podcasts available on the internet today. "When I grew up there was ABC, NBC and CBS and now there's 100 and something channels on the cable box and there's also internet video content to watch so my viewing time is flattening out and spreading into other areas," says Robert Scoble from Microsoft.

All this new content is giving the viewer more choice. "You can really have niche content for specific audiences , so it puts the control in the hands of the consumer rather than the media," explains Congdon.

The popular internet video portal, You  Tube allows viewers to create their own video and upload to the internet for others to see. "It allows any surfer with a video camera to take video they like, shoot it up to the web and then if it's really good in a matter of days, millions can see it," says Andrew Wallenstein, the television feature editor of Hollywood Reporter.

And there's BitTorrent, new software that lets viewers share (mostly illegal) video files on the internet.  J.D Lasica, author of Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation says people are turning to file trading services out of frustration. "There isn't any legitimate channel we can go and download yesterday's episode of the Sopranos."

Cory Doctorow, a co-editor at the popular blog BoingBoing says TV network executives should be paying close attention. "If I were in the TV business what would scare the hell out of me is not that some people steal TV but that more people aren't."

The newest screen is the cell phone - industry stats show that two millions Americans watch video at least once on month on it. "It's absolutely not a fad. When you leave the house, you have your wallets, keys and phone with you always. Within five minutes I can get CNN headlines, sports scores and watch one fun little movie," says Frank Chindamo, the president of Fun Little Movies, a comedy channel created specifically for mobile phones.

The key is creating content tailored for the small screen. Short news bites, funny clips and TV "mobisodes", edited pieces that give the highlights from last night show are all available.  Mobifest, Canada's first made for mobile movie festival debuts this May.

All that new technology means that the cost of making and distributing TV has come down. Danny Shechter, the author of The Death of Media says, "it's possible for everyone to have their own TV channel online and to broadcast to 50 or 50,000 affordably from their own computer."

That's led to new online stations like the Guerrila News Network, an alternative media outlet that mixes traditional and citizen journalism with slick production to deliver entertaining and subversive multi-media news. "I think it's ultimately democratic, that's the beauty of it. there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands sharing information in a way that we couldn't even have imagined 5 or 10 years ago," says Anthony Lappe, the executive editor of GNN.

Another alternative? There's CurrentTV, a traditional cable and satellite channel owned by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. It's aimed at young adults and embraces the new technology by letting viewers make some of the content, even the ads. Anastasia Goodstein, the director of viewer created content at the station, "what I've seen happening is people sense ownership of the channel, whether by producing a pod or voting to tell us what pieces go on air or making a promo for is. It spreads the idea that Current is the people's network."

How will people watch all this content online? The Democracy player is free software that allows anyone to make and distribute TV and developed by the Participatory Culture Foundation.  "We're trying to democratize online video and make it easily accessible to everyone so that everyone can have their own internet tv channel," says David Moore, "we're trying to make watching video online as easy and hassle free as sitting down and turning on your television." And so far it's catching on, hundreds of thousands have signed up for the democracy player.

But there still is a place for traditional media. Portal sites like Yahoo! have partnered with outlets like CNN, USA Today and 60 Minutes to offer quick and easy access to their content online. "All of online news is growing very rapidly. People want access to news 24 hours a day and they pick and choose what interests them," notes Neil Budde, the general manager of Yahoo!News.

Audiences are large; each month as many as thirty million people use Yahoo!News.

Todd Chanko, an analyst at Jupiter Research, points out that people are still watching TV and advertising dollars are still being spent there. The online market is much smaller - but it's growing at a faster rate. Advertising agencies have looked for ways to sell their message across both mediums.

A recent campaign for Volkswagon extends its pitch online. You can watch the TV ad and then take the car for a test drive on the internet. Jeff Benjamin is the interactive creative director of Crispin Porter and Bogusky, the agency that created the campaign. "It's a fun way of making the tv spot that you just saw on television interactive. Now you're experiencing it online."

Because of new technology like PVR's advertising dollars spent on a TV show are much less effective. People opt to skip past the commercials missing the message costing an estimated eight billions dollars a year.

Paul Lavoie of the ad agency TAXI says TV advertising doesn't reach the 18 - 24 demographic, "We have to find ways to communicate our message to these kids and these kids are doing 100 other things at the same time. TV is not number one for them, online is number one."

The advertising industry is opening up to new ways of doing business, explains Pat Dunbar from the DiMA Group. "The 30 second culture as the only way to get a message out is absolutely transforming into something new. We don't know what the new is. We know that there are going to be some derivatives. But we also know that there's still going to be a lot of people watching traditional linear TV tomorrow and the next day."

Ad agency executive Cliff Freeman agrees, "The statement that it is the end is of course very dramatic. But of course, it's not the end at all." In fact, statistics show that Americans are still spending 17 hours a week in front of the old tube.

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