advertising

Have DVRs not brought the revolution they promised 10 years ago? So argues the Economist, saying that they have not undermined television, but instead done the opposite. I disagree. While television advertising hasn’t collapsed as many experts thought it would in the face of TiVos and other DVRs, being able to easily pause, rewind & fast forward through ‘live’ TV (not to mention act as a VCR) has revolutionized television-watching.

Now the Economist does make a good point which I do agree with, which is that TV now faces a new potential threat in the form of online video sites such as Hulu and the like. However, if TV does get done in, it’ll be by their own hands, as Hulu and other network run sites have been consciously set up by the networks and studios. But I don’t think that will happen. This is a good move by the industry as they realize there’s a growing online audience that isn’t about to migrate back to the living room sofa any time soon.