Controlling which series you watch and when you watch it is an idea we’re all getting used to. In the last year or so I’ve seen more and more space on DVD store shelves being taken up by seasons of Prison Break and Lost, and illegal file sharing seems to be something that’s not going to go away.

As a result people’s viewing habits have been changing - most of my friends watch series on their computers and many don’t even own a TV (admittedly because they probably can’t afford one). Even my father records shows using PVR so that he can watch them when it suits him, and fast forward through the adverts. It’s shouldn’t be surprising then, that TV's themselves are evolving and are taking this kind of functionality to the next level.

John Battelle discussed recently that he spoke to two HDTV manufacturers who are developing or have released TV’s that are “RSS enabled”. RSS, according to the RSS-TV info site, "makes it possible for us to navigate all kinds of content on the Internet, and access it through our TV’s." As Battelle points out:

"… the TV manufacturers are getting into the web content distribution business. Can you taste the convergence?"

The implication here is that traditional TV networks could be bypassed completely. This won’t happen quickly, and ease of use here depends on what kind of content is made available online, and on connection speeds (especially here in SA). Watching hours of YouTube from my couch is therefore an unhealthy and lovely idea that might have to wait for quite a while. Having said that, there are sites like Joost that are springing up to provide this kind of capability.

In an interesting twist on this topic the writers' strike in the States has led to the birth of what could become an online TV channel. Strike TV is described by its founders as an “internet fundraiser” (not negotiation leverage). The founders hope to be a channel for shows directly to the public.  All shows will be owned and self-funded by their creators, with advertising revenue going directly to the members of the Writers Guild of America. I’m curious to see how the production quality of the shows will turn out, but there’s definite potential for an interesting alternative to traditional TV here.

Personally I’m excited by the possibilities, and from a marketing point of view, especially with Internet ad-spend beginning to overtake traditional TV ad-spend, it’s worth our while to keep an eye on the possibilities of these new channels.