The great divide between digital and TV
Georgi R. Chakarov, Editor-in-Chief of TVBIZZ Magazine
It’s been several years now since the major TV players started trying to somehow turn their linear TV success into digital success. The majority of those companies have failed, save for the cases where they directly acquired companies specializing in creating online content.
The time has come when TV people have to let go of the idea of merging TV and internet, and stop chasing viewers both online and in front of the TV screen. The time has come to make a choice – are you making TV, or are you making online content? This is what I call the Time of The Great Divide.
Of course, many would argue that audiences flow from TV to online and back; theories about second screens, engaging the audience, generating tweets and so on. All of this is just wishful thinking as they are talking about two completely different audiences with totally different media habits.
Here is the reality: the consumers of linear TV are significantly older than those active on the social networks. A person aged 30+ comes back home after a hard day at work and looks for an easy way to be informed and entertained – turns on the TV and gets what he wants. The TV viewer wants to relax and is not interested in engaging in Twitter or Facebook. He has had enough of engagement at work.
A person aged below 30 knows what TV is, but has no idea why it is there, he or she likes to be on the move, interact with his friends, share videos and be constantly engaged. Young people have no time to watch TV. They are constantly bored, and what could be more boring than staying in front of a screen? TV is too slow for them. They’d rather see a hundred pics on Instagram then spend half an hour watching a show, or even a major sports event – as the latest studies have shown.
On one hand we have the tired, aging, family people who like the comfort of home. On the other, we have the young ones – active, bored, single, changing jobs and interests every other day; or as TV pros like to call them the “hard to get demos”.
It’s time to stop playing “Catch Me If You Can” and make a choice. Wanna make TV? Focus on TV only - target the older demos. Wanna be an online king? Forget TV. Forget you ever touched a remote and get immersed in the smartphone universe, chat with a teen on Snapchat.
Linear content will never be digital and digital will never be linear. Period.
Some of the biggest interactive TV shows created recently have proven that: with their failure. The linear TV project of online kings VICE Media has also proved a mediocre venture.
It just makes no sense to try and kill two birds with one stone.
TV people should finally reconcile and admit that it is fine to make television for “old” people. And that is okay. That’s okay for the viewers as well because they will get the types of channels they like with the shows they like, without any “digital disruptions” and eventually they will watch more. Advertisers will be happy too because they will have two clear-cut advertising channels – TV and internet with two very distinctive and recognizable audiences.
Kudos to the management of the BBC who despite all protests and criticism from the industry turned BBC Three into a digital-only service and were successful, proving that it is easier to reach the young demos online with the right content and approach which flow TV cannot offer. Other countries, like Switzerland and Denmark, will soon follow suit and turn their public youth channels into online content platforms. That’s the way. That’s the future.
Divide and Conquer. Now.
The time has come when TV people have to let go of the idea of merging TV and internet, and stop chasing viewers both online and in front of the TV screen. The time has come to make a choice – are you making TV, or are you making online content? This is what I call the Time of The Great Divide.
Of course, many would argue that audiences flow from TV to online and back; theories about second screens, engaging the audience, generating tweets and so on. All of this is just wishful thinking as they are talking about two completely different audiences with totally different media habits.
Here is the reality: the consumers of linear TV are significantly older than those active on the social networks. A person aged 30+ comes back home after a hard day at work and looks for an easy way to be informed and entertained – turns on the TV and gets what he wants. The TV viewer wants to relax and is not interested in engaging in Twitter or Facebook. He has had enough of engagement at work.
A person aged below 30 knows what TV is, but has no idea why it is there, he or she likes to be on the move, interact with his friends, share videos and be constantly engaged. Young people have no time to watch TV. They are constantly bored, and what could be more boring than staying in front of a screen? TV is too slow for them. They’d rather see a hundred pics on Instagram then spend half an hour watching a show, or even a major sports event – as the latest studies have shown.
On one hand we have the tired, aging, family people who like the comfort of home. On the other, we have the young ones – active, bored, single, changing jobs and interests every other day; or as TV pros like to call them the “hard to get demos”.
It’s time to stop playing “Catch Me If You Can” and make a choice. Wanna make TV? Focus on TV only - target the older demos. Wanna be an online king? Forget TV. Forget you ever touched a remote and get immersed in the smartphone universe, chat with a teen on Snapchat.
Linear content will never be digital and digital will never be linear. Period.
Some of the biggest interactive TV shows created recently have proven that: with their failure. The linear TV project of online kings VICE Media has also proved a mediocre venture.
It just makes no sense to try and kill two birds with one stone.
TV people should finally reconcile and admit that it is fine to make television for “old” people. And that is okay. That’s okay for the viewers as well because they will get the types of channels they like with the shows they like, without any “digital disruptions” and eventually they will watch more. Advertisers will be happy too because they will have two clear-cut advertising channels – TV and internet with two very distinctive and recognizable audiences.
Kudos to the management of the BBC who despite all protests and criticism from the industry turned BBC Three into a digital-only service and were successful, proving that it is easier to reach the young demos online with the right content and approach which flow TV cannot offer. Other countries, like Switzerland and Denmark, will soon follow suit and turn their public youth channels into online content platforms. That’s the way. That’s the future.
Divide and Conquer. Now.
