On Net Neutrality

It seems like the fix is in. Tom Wheeler, the FCC chairman was the cable TV industry’s chief lobbyist! He spent too many years selling their points of view to not be biased.

Internet-Service-ProvidersThe whole concept of the Internet is amazingly cool. Each piece of the Internet exists independently from the others. Data packets route themselves to go from computer-to-computer. If part of the Internet crashes the system automatically works around the problem.

There are potential bottlenecks where Internet service providers (ISPs) connect to the Internet’s backbone. Until recently more traffic meant the ISPs would install more equipment, in essence laying broader pipes. Now that’s changed.

Comcast, as an example, has extracted money from Netflix. Otherwise Netflix videos would would be slowed by congestion, becoming unwatchable for Comcast subscribers.

John Oliver did a much better job explaining this than I can. This video is full of NSFW language. Beware.

I had to look up my congressman to write him… twice.

Recently I sent a comment to Congressman Campbell concerning FCC proceeding 14-28, Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet. I am disappointed to have not received any reply from Congressman Campbell’s office–not even confirmation you received my email. I certainly want to know Congressman Campbell’s position.

I am adamantly opposed to any rule change which will allow ISPs to ‘double dip’ by creating fast and slow lanes and charge businesses for access I already pay for.

Geoff Fox
Irvine

It seems like the fix is in. Tom Wheeler, the FCC chairman (and of whom I wrote in 2007) was the cable TV industry’s chief lobbyist! He spent too many years selling their points of view to not be biased.

Maybe if the stink is big enough actual citizens can stop this travesty from taking place. That would be refreshing.

The TV Model Is Broken

I love television. I’m a student of the media. It was incredibly important in shaping who I’ve become.

TV’s model is broken.

There were seven channels in NYC when I grew up. Most cities had less.

No remote control. No DVR or VCR. You watched it when it aired. If two shows you wanted to see aired simultaneously–tough.

In 1960, Gunsmoke finished the season in first place:

1 Gunsmoke CBS 40.3 rating 65 share

That’s 40% of all homes and 65% of those homes where the TV was turned on!

Last week’s number one entertainment show was “Big Bang Theory.” It had a 5.1 rating.

In those more innocent days you had to be careful not to get hit by the falling bags of money! Not today.

Before WTNH was sold in 1985, Geraldine Fabrikant wrote this in the New York Times:

The jewel in the ABC-Capital Cities package is WTNH-TV, the Capital Cities station affiliated with ABC, that covers the New Haven and Hartford markets. Its 1984 net revenue was $24.9 million, and operating income was $14.6 million. That meant operating profit margins of 58 percent. During the past five years, the margin has never been lower than 58 percent, and it has been as high as 62 percent.

They took in $25 million at 8 Elm Street for an operation that cost $10 million to run!

Those days are long gone. Though the broadcast networks and their affiliates are still the dominant force, their audience is a fraction of what it was.

Technology has been the difference. The pie has been sliced into many more smaller pieces.

Whether they take advantage or not, most people are currently equipped to see shows without benefit of television. We’ve got computers and tablets and smartphones and they’re all very capable of video playback.

I knew Saturday Night Live was going to be good last night because I read tweets from the East Coast. Why did I have to wait to see the show? Only because it breaks television’s business model!

The same with this afternoon’s Cowboys/Redskins game. It wasn’t on in SoCal. I wanted to see it and did… don’t ask. Free and easy access to all the games breaks television’s business model.

We need local TV. We need local news and other local programming (scant as it is), but won’t have it for long unless TV stations find a new business model.

I can see a future where shows will stand on their own without a station or network. Netflix productions are a step in that direction, but why do you even need Netflix?

TV’s current model is broken. The more viewers realize it, the harder it will be to hold back the tide.

Amazon, Netflix And YouTube are Changing Everything You Know About TV

alphaHouse

The speed of change in the TV business is mind boggling. The pie continues to be sliced in smaller and smaller pieces. Traditional TV networks have been under siege for years. Now cable networks, especially pay cable networks, are being attacked.

YouTube, Netflix and Amazon are all looking to be players in this new world. Their business model of the future adds producer to their traditional role as distributor.

Netflix will release 15 new episodes of “Arrested Development” Memorial Day weekend. It will be an exclusive made-for-Netflix production. There is a lot at stake.

Amazon has established Amazon Studios. There’s a lot at stake here too.

Amazon Studios is developing feature films and episodic series in a new way, one that’s open to great ideas from creators—and audiences—around the world. There are two distinctive characteristics of our process:

  1. We have an open door for creators. There are a lot of great ideas in Hollywood, but not everyone can be there or get their work into the right hands. Amazon Studios is open to ideas from around the world. We are proud to have recognized talented writers and filmmakers in the US, Canada, the UK, China, Zimbabwe, the Dominican Republic and other countries. Great ideas are out there.
  2. We invite the audience in early. Amazon Studios seeks feedback about projects and ideas, even in their earliest stages. And to reach the most people, we try to shape stories into a form that is short, or visual, or both. We will test premises, storyboards, posters, trailers, test movies, pilots, promos, and other formats to see what people think. Scripts are critically important in development, but they are just not accessible to most audiences.

I sampled one of Amazon’s 14 pilots last night. “Alpha House,” is about four fictitious Republican senators who share a Washington townhouse. Created and written by Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury, Pulitzer Prize, Yale, etc.) and starring John Goodman with Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy and Mark Consuelos, this is no ‘little’ production!

Even Bill Murray did a very brief, very funny, guest stint.

Alpha House was shot entirely in New York using union actors and crew. I’m not sure how it could be made more expensively! Maybe that’s a statement more than a business plan.

What I’m getting at is Amazon, Netflix and YouTube seem ready to invest heavily to stake out their territory quickly. They are going after HBO and Showtime directly and other networks which feature scripted programs peripherally. Cable companies, which will be relegated to passive transmitters and cut out of the direct revenue stream can’t be happy either.

I liked Alpha House. The characters, though slightly over-the-top, were real. The dialog was witty. The acting excellent. The dynamic between the principals was established in a nearly effortless manner. In other words, this show was written to have legs.

What I watched was a pilot, but I’ll be back for more IF it becomes available. Pilots are tests. Not all pass.

The game changer here is this totally new method of distribution where everything is online, on-demand and first run. Dribbling out shows once-per-week is no longer necessary. Nearly everything has changed!

Roku: The Thing For My TV I Wanted To Love, But Don’t

At this point I use it, but can’t recommend it.

I was a cable TV subscriber 40 years ago. I owned a computer in the late 70s. I am an early adopter. I like to be on the bleeding edge with technology. That’s why I own a Roku.

Never heard of Roku? You’re not alone. Roku is an IPTV device, like Boxee, Apple TV and Google TV.

Roku is a small device that streams movies, TV shows, music, and other entertainment to your TV via the Internet. Since Roku streams (rather than downloads) video, it provides instant access to a huge library of entertainment without having to use a computer or store files locally on a hard drive.

Once you set up Roku, you do not need a PC to make it work. Roku connects directly to your TV and to your wireless (or wired) home network, then lets you access the streaming entertainment channels that you sign up for (like Netflix) right from your TV, using a handy remote.

This definition is two clicks deep on the Roku site. If you don’t already know what it is just going to Roku.com and reading the home page might not help!

The “small device” is actually a low power computer. With no disk drive or any moving parts it’s quiet. Plug it in and a few seconds later it springs to life.

Technology aside I bought my Roku with the thought of spending more time in my upstairs office. It was Roku or a DVR. Roku is supposed to help me adapt TV’s schedule to my schedule and let me get what’s on cable without cable.

First what works well. The Roku is capable of providing good looking HDTV. Some shows look every bit as good as what you see on ‘regular’ TV.

The list of what’s not good is a lot longer!

Let’s start with the other side of the picture quality coin. Lots of the video looks a whole lot worse than what’s on TV! That’s not Roku’s fault. Some suppliers are just streaming out poor quality bandwidth starved programs. It’s still a problem on Roku that’s not a problem on cable.

I expected a much larger selection of shows than what’s available. No–let me restate that. I expected a much larger selection of quality shows than what’s available!

There’s plenty of niche material. I can watch Twit and Revision3 shows. PhotoshopuserTV is available through Roku. There are hundreds of seldom watched, undesirable, low budget ‘dreck’ shows that slow down any search for something to watch!

When it comes to the more familiar TV fare The Simpsons are a no show. Until last week The Daily Show was also a no show. Sixty Minutes is there, but only as audio–no video. Don’t try guessing. It’s nearly random–very hit-and-miss.

Often the quality programs you can see are only available behind a paywall. Hulu and Netflix have subscription services for Roku and its brethern.

I was surprised programs Hulu streams for free on my computer are paid services with Roku. Paying for Hulu Plus does not stop the commercials!

The weakest part of Roku is the user interface. Since you’re using a remote control versus a keyboard moving from show-to-show is frustratingly slow and cumbersome. Shows you watch on a regular basis are hidden behind click-after-click-after-click from the main menu. There is no ‘channel grazing’ as you might do on your TV.

Even worse there’s no universal program guide. There might be great stuff hidden where it will never be discovered. Very frustrating!

You would think after all these negatives I’d be packing up the Roku and shipping it back to the factory. I’ve considered it. I’m not going to do it.

Roku is a product with promise, but it’s still immature. There’s a lot of work still to be done.

At this point I use it, but can’t recommend it.

More On AT&T’s Less Data Plan

These are bandwidth hungry applications. You can’t use Netflix for iPhone on a regular basis and expect to stay within the new monthly caps.

Apple is kicking off their annual developers conference, aka WWDC. As is usually the case Steve Jobs is presenting. I’m letting Twitter keep me updated.

Before getting to the new iPhone (very impressive hardware improvements) Jobs talked about some new apps, specifically Farmville (ugh) and Netflix.

This is exactly what I was talking about in my earlier post. These are bandwidth hungry applications. You can’t use Netflix for iPhone on a regular basis and expect to stay within the new monthly caps.

NY Times: Download an hour-long TV show to a smartphone or tablet and you’ve used 550 megabytes, or well over a quarter of your monthly allotment. Streaming a two-hour movie from Netflix consumes 300 megabytes.

By the way, I have no idea why an hour long TV show uses nearly twice as much data as a two hour movie. The numbers aren’t as important as the general concept: Bandwidth drives innovation.