Whole lotta shakin' going on...

Welcome to TV Quake, where your humble observer will be reporting on the Internet TV revolution. Since the ground is already shaking, we’ll have to move fast!

I’ve worked in the trenches of the television networks for over 15 years (mostly producing promos). A tsunami of change is swamping the industry right now. Every day brings new developments and announcements, so I’ve decided to throw my observations into the blogosphere.

But how do we make sense of it?

We have some recent history for guidance… the Music Industry. It's only been 7 years since Napster started. Think about all the changes that have rocked the music autocracy in that time. Similiar changes (but more profound) are now happening to the television industry. I see 5 main trends:

1. Disintegration – The few become the many. The old guard broadcast and cable networks no longer control entertainment and news. They have been joined by millions of "garage producers". This trend has been happening for years, but the changes are now impossible to ignore. The consumer is now the producer… and the consumer… and the tastemaker. This trend is closely related to, but distinct from:
2. Peer-to-Peer (or disintermediation) – Now we can easily share what we produce with like-minded souls in our town and around the world. Portals like YouTube show us what's popular and talked-about. We don’t need a TV network to distribute our stories.
3. Reality – Seeing our peers in an “entertainment” program can be (and often is) just as entertaining as seeing celebrities.
4. Time-shifting – The arbitrary programming schedules of the TV networks will eventually be a thing of the past. Consumers will want to see shows when they want, not when the networks decide. Tivo and the Net provide that option.
5. Serialization – Once we establish a presence on the Net, it makes sense to continue developing our ideas. Whether we’re throwing karaoke clips up on YouTube or creating shows with characters, we’re finding people want more. One-shot ideas like movies will have to adjust and create additional content. Things that remain static on the Net will whither and die.

In the coming months, I plan to:

• Share interesting news and developments
• Provide commentary and observations
• Post interviews with leaders in the industry; both TV professionals and the hackers and video bloggers (or vloggers) who are driving the grassroots changes.
• Give updates on my own efforts to produce an Internet TV show.

I hope you’ll join me. It’s going to be quite a wild ride!