Apr

25

How to Define Internet TV?

April 25, 2007 |

Mathew Ingram is asking an interesting question tonight: what is it that makes Internet TV televsion? And how is it different from Internet video?

Ingram recalls a conversation he had with his copy-editor at the Globe and Mail:

“What’s Internet television?” she said. “Is it on TV?” Well, no. “Then what makes it television?” Good question, I said. That’s kind of the point, in fact. So we agreed to call it Internet video — but I think it’s more than that. It’s short-form, episodic, character and plot driven narrative. How is that not television? But it’s not on TV.

So this editor kept getting confused when I mentioned TV, because this isn’t on TV and never will be, in the sense that it isn’t on “the box” and doesn’t come from a network. So what about streaming TV — is that TV? What about out-takes and mobisodes featuring the same actors — is that TV?

I think I agree with that, except that I don’t think it has to be short-form by default. Of course, a lot of the episodic video content we see online right now is short-from and there are good reasons for it: it fits the kind of attention span that the online audience has. However, what if shows like Lost or Heroes start being distributed exclusively online? A lot of people watch their favorite shows on the computer, now that all the major networks (in the US at least) are releasing their hit shows online the day after they premiered with limited commercials.

Now does Internet TV have to be exclusively available on the net and not on the old media networks? That, I don’t know. I guess if I were a purist, I would say that anything that is just regurgitated on the net after being shown on TV is not Internet TV.

For most of the user-generated content (I hate the term, but I will use it here for lack of a better alternative), short, episodic and plot driven is the way to go anyway: it is cheaper, production is easier and bandwidth costs are lower.

How is all of the different from Internet video? I would say an Internet video is typically an accidental artifact. The original Mentos and Diet Coke video is a one-of-a-kind event; so was the Numa Numa video. This is not episodic content where people expect a new show every week.

But I feel for Matthew’s copy editor. How can television not be on TV? Maybe some more creative minds than me will need to come up with a better name. Something better than Episodic Internet Content…

Update: 2005 saw an interesting discussion about this, but it was about IPTV vs. Internet TV and Robin Good knows everything you ever needed to know about it. On Wikipedia, by the way, Internet TV, IPTV, vlogs, TV over IP are all pretty much synonymous.

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