What Impact Do iPlayer, 4OD, and Youtube Have on Audiences and Broadcasters - Essay Example

What impact are technologies such as iPlayer, 4OD and You Tube having on audiences and broadcasters? Introduction New age technologies have added to the already transforming landscape in the world of mass media, especially within television industry, where users are now exposed to multiple channels and internet convergence. Concurrently, the broadcasting organisations are on the lookout for new ways of trade and advertising to woo their audiences and earn more revenue. Along with these, the broadcasting agencies are also emphasising on finding new ways of subject distribution and delivery. The current scenario is as Negroponte surmised in the mid-nineties, “wholly new content will emerge from digital, as will new players, new economic models and a likely cottage industry of information and entertainment providers” (1995, p. 18). In the recent years, emergence of new technologies like the iPlayer, 4OD and You Tube along with the merging of various market forces have led to contention over the fact as whether traditional form of broadcasting would be soon obsolete, owing to widespread Internet use, or whether the audience would switch over and browse Internet primarily through their televisions. The industries that function within the arena of mass media and communications face persistent pressure in the form of ever-growing demands from their audiences, and they must necessarily conform and evolve in order to meet these demands and survive the stiff market competition. In order to retain their audience, the television industry adopted the process of convergence with Internet, where it became possible for “multiplexing - the ability to offer ancillary digital streams of data, image sound and interactivity simultaneously” (Harries, 2002, p. 64). This is evident in the ‘Widget Channel’ created by Yahoo and Intel that comprises of small applications, which feed video streams, stock market information, weather reports that viewers can see on their televisions. Such modern technical applications provide consumers with modern Internet practices while they view TV programs. In the context of these new technological changes, that include BBC iPlayer, Channel 4’s 4OD and YouTube, this paper will study their impact on the UK audiences and broadcasters. Discussion The introduction of modern technology in the arena of television industry during the late 1990s signalled a sort of abundance, when the number of channels being aired increased, while simultaneously expanding their worldwide purview, along with the addition of new storage and interactive faculties. The complete switch over to digital TV from the older analogue version started region wise in UK, from 2008 and is expected to end by 2012. Even though the changeover to digital version is nearly over, the switch over to a high-tech Smart TV (that converged TV with internet) until the end of 2011 was relatively low, where observations reveal that until recently only 12% of the British people had a Smart TV in their homes, a figure which is now progressively increasingly (Brilot, 2012). Within communications and mass media sector, television is the last segment to have received internet connection (Brilot, 2012). It was viewed that the chief successor to the traditional form of television broadcasting services would be the internet-based video streaming sites that would offer a revolutionary mode of interactive sessions, along with personalised television programs (Harries, 2002, 219). Therefore, it was regarded that the online video streaming websites would turn out to be a main competitor for the traditional form of television broadcasting. However, recent reports show otherwise, where it is observed that traditional live TV viewing is still more popular amongst UK audience (more than 90% of the total population prefer ‘live’ TV viewing), than the modern technological developments, that include iPlayer, 4OD and You Tube viewing (Bairamian, 2010). Besides this, despite various sites that offer direct viewing of videos (like YouTube or iPlayer) on the internet itself, the niche for television viewing has remained the same as before (as against print media readership that has dropped largely owing to the advent of internet). The audiences prefer viewing videos that are available on You Tube and BBC iPlayer on a TV, simply because videos are best seen on a 40" plasma television screen (Brilot, 2012). In this arena of new technology and mass media (as associated with television) Sky + was the pioneer, when it allowed its consumers to avail the technology of download and playback services where they had the option to “Create Your Own TV Channel.” Currently BBC’s iPlayer, and Channel 4’s 4OD provide downloading a free one-week catch up option, for certain specific programmes. Here Ofcom had distinguished the necessity for establishing media literacy amongst UK people, which would allow them to locate and access their desired subjects, amidst a perpetually growing spectrum of potentiality, for the new technological innovations to succeed (Bennett, 2008). Keeping with the new technological developments, the broadcasters brought in various new business models, as for example, the copyright systems, where producers could be paid according to serial usage; while on the other hand, in the previous business models, usage rights were completely relinquished to the broadcasters. Experts contend that the present method of funding brought in by spot advertisements could be replaced in the future by downloading advertisements based on personalised subject matter, depending on audience discretion (Bennett, 2008). Broadcasters are also looking at updating and bringing themselves at par with the ‘Web 2.0’ technological developments through the process of purchasing already established internet operators and using their knowledge and expertise (Kerr, Kücklich, and Brereton, 2006). As for example, ITV bought the already established ‘Friends Reunited,’ a well-known social networking site. In order to attract more young audiences, BBC had strategically tied up with Google owned YouTube, for carrying out broadcasting clips, which let UK based audiences view the complete programme at no cost, even though there were also two other commercial channels known as ‘BBC Worldwide’ targeting global audiences that offered news and various forms of entertainment. However, experts feel that this use of Youtube by BBC (a general broadcaster) may, lead to a fall in its appeal to the young population that were mainly attracted to Youtube owing to its unregulated and disorganised content matters (Kerr, Kücklich, and Brereton, 2006). BBC’s introduction of the video-on-demand services known as iPlayer, is related to recording programs and real-time broadcasting. The new television scenario has created a subject-based model, which is not actually time-based, where the audience can choose what they wish to view and when they wish to view it (Harries, 2002). This is a significant aspect, which makes it clearly evident that broadcasting industry in UK is adapting itself to match a visibly changing trend, where a great deal of control is in the hands of the audience, and a majority of the viewers are preferring the extension where technological developments are offering them the option to view personalised programs. As the primary public service broadcasting system in UK, BBC has a duty of analysing audience tastes and choices, and preparing demand graphs to provide its viewers with an admixture of an optimal programming (Collins, Garnham, and Locksley, 1988). However, it would too much to assume that BBC as a broadcaster can deliver optimal programming (a large and diverse an output), as is necessary in a country like UK, with a population comprising of diverse cultural, religious, and ethnic groups (Lee-Wright, 2008). However, in the recent times, modern technological innovations like iPlayer have largely solved this issue by allowing the audience to choose from various categories as per their own likes and tastes. The convergence of new technological developments along with television medium is expected to bring in new scopes for expanding the industry, and owing to this, the television industry in the near future would be able to offer its audiences "benefits of open user choice, community and personalisation"(NMK, Industry Welcomes Intel/Yahoo! Internet TV Tie-In, 2008). These modern technological applications would be favourable for the television industry as software developers can create tailored programs that would relate more to the subjects aired on television. As for example, like the Electronic Programming Guides or EPGs, there can be made TV guide widgets that would have a revised form of the traditional television channel guides (paper based), and giving the audience a fast and correct source of information as regards television program time and content (ibid). Audiences are starting to use, albeit slowly, the newly developed technologies, in order to connect with some real-time broadcasting. The television medium has taken into cognizance the rising demand amongst its audiences for interactive programs, and they have started allowing audiences to question or comment on specific issues, through the various social-networking based software. This is evident when it is observed that while revising services where audiences call to question the present guest, many of the Television channels like CNN or BBC are now making use of applications that allow audience-guest interactions through web-applications like Twitter or Facebook (Drapeau, 2008). A positive feature of this development, as regards the television industry, is that it has expanded the scope and ease with which viewers can interact and subscribe towards any program. It is this context, it is contended that, from a viewpoint of the socio-economic and political order of a country, this form of interaction is beneficial, as it allows viewers to derive pleasure from playing the role of ‘prosumer’ (an individual who is practicing autonomy through free expression of opinions and views) (Kerr, Kücklich, and Brereton, 2006, 65). With easy availability of high-speed broadband connection in UK, downloading of ‘on-demand’ programmes has become popular amongst the audiences, and the facility was made available to more than 50% of the UK population by 2008. Even though the ‘on-demand’ downloading programs have just started and are growing at a slow rate, its impact on the viewers and broadcasters are yet to be correctly analysed (around only 5% of the UK population currently use ‘on-demand’ services) (Bairamian, 2010). Predictions from various reports show that even though these new technologies have the potential of transforming television into an internet-based retailer giant (like Amazon or e-bay), combined with the regular and scheduled TV services; they will not show a very fast growth. By 2020, survey reports predict “that the share of video on demand viewing via TV sets or on computers will only grow to between 5% to 10% of all viewing "and more likely towards the lower end". Among the 15- to 24-year-old digital-savvy demographic, the viewing share may be as high as 30%, the report admits, although the overall national average will be 5% of TV viewing” (Sweney, TV advertising will survive the rise of on-demand viewing, says report, 2009). Thus, here it is evident that even though technologies such as iPlayer, 4OD and You Tube have popularised the concept of online TV catch-up and video-on-demand services and show some amount of impact on UK audiences, traditional TV viewing remains more popular. There are no significant impacts of the technological developments on UK audiences and the currently functioning business models of broadcasters, however, the UK broadcasters have made some changes, where they have converged technology with TV in order to retain and attract more consumers. Conclusion The UK mass media and communication sector, as regards the television industry, has seen a great deal of evolution in the past decade. This is primarily due to revolutionary changes that were seen in the world of technology, where internet brought in sweeping changes in the manner people communicated. In order to attract and retain its audience, UK television industry was forced to modify and adopt certain processes that made use of modern technologies like iPlayer, 4OD and You Tube, which made multiplexing possible. This convergence of technological innovations with television allowed the broadcasting industry to expand greatly. Owing to this, the television industry currently is able to offer its audiences benefits of user choice and personalised programs, where the concept of online TV catch-up and video-on-demand has become popular. Despite technological add-ons like iPlayer, 4OD and You Tube, live viewing on TV has remained more popular than internet browsing through TV or video-on-demand services. This shows that modern technologies have little impact on the audience. Despite the fact that UK audience has not been influenced by these innovations, the broadcasters have made changes to update themselves, converge internet with TV, and promote the use of Smart TV. 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