After months of indulgent dawdling in "Beta" and endless cosmetic 'tweaks', CNN finally bowed their new online news service yesterday, and so far the reviews are good. The paid version, "Pipeline' was a resplendent failure, so the suits at Time Warner decided to cut their losses and travel the 'free' road instead. The result is easy to watch, laudably stable and [so far] free of the annoying commercial pre-rolls that infest the on-demand offerings of so many sites - The costs are apparently covered with podcasts and paid links to external sites.
This is a small but very welcome advance in the science of online television. Where CNN has led, MSNBC must logically follow or risk losing 'market share' [read, 'profits,'] which any viable network would find intolerable. And once the other channels witness this voyage into the largely uncharted realms of online broadcasting, they would be equally ill-advised not to follow CNN's intrepid lead.
For decades, American TV executives enjoyed and exploited a position of languid power over the audience. Today, TV's have 100's of channels, and most have some form of time-shifting technology attached that lets the viewer manage the schedule. Add the increasing appeal and capacity of the Internet and the balance of power has undeniably shifted. Yet the TV execs seem stoically unwilling to adapt? American television is a commercial enterprise like any other. Those at its helm need to serve the customer and provide their best product in whatever form it's needed, or their buyers can 'shop' elsewhere.
CNN's new product is a hesitant but very welcome first step. The big question is, who has the spherical accessories to be next?
This is a small but very welcome advance in the science of online television. Where CNN has led, MSNBC must logically follow or risk losing 'market share' [read, 'profits,'] which any viable network would find intolerable. And once the other channels witness this voyage into the largely uncharted realms of online broadcasting, they would be equally ill-advised not to follow CNN's intrepid lead.
For decades, American TV executives enjoyed and exploited a position of languid power over the audience. Today, TV's have 100's of channels, and most have some form of time-shifting technology attached that lets the viewer manage the schedule. Add the increasing appeal and capacity of the Internet and the balance of power has undeniably shifted. Yet the TV execs seem stoically unwilling to adapt? American television is a commercial enterprise like any other. Those at its helm need to serve the customer and provide their best product in whatever form it's needed, or their buyers can 'shop' elsewhere.
CNN's new product is a hesitant but very welcome first step. The big question is, who has the spherical accessories to be next?
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