A Smart Time to Track TV's Future

Reaching 39 was a great thing for Jack Bennyamp160 Look what it did for his careeramp160 That39s why in my thinking it39s a great time to expand what you39ve been catching under my byline for some years now through this web destination for outstanding TV and media commentary and forecastingamp160 Consider this the first installment of a weekly check on this medium39s advanced pathwaysamp160 They are numerous in nature from smart TV sets and TVconnected devices along with the services and apps they offer to interactive developments and ATSC 30 rolloutsamp160 We may discover some new pathways taking shape as wellamp160 And yes I39ll still be on the UpfrontNewFront event beatamp160 That rite of TV passage will resumeamp160little more than a month from nowNo question this is perfect timing to launch this columnamp160 You can make the argument we39re living in three eras of TV at once The era of plentiful original TV both scripted and unscripted programsamp160 The era of diverse TV with more content than ever put together and featuring people of color and other unique communities gay lesbian transgender disabled etc and the great promise of much more to get producedamp160 And by far the most important of the three the era of smart TVWhy smartamp160 You can make a strong case that these TV sets made by Samsung LG Vizio and other manufacturers and TVconnected devices from Amazon Fire TV to Roku Apple TV and Google39s Chromecast are driving the other two eras forwardamp160 Roughly 75 percent of all US TV households have a smart set smart device or bothamp160 Those households now watch billions of hours of content and applications billions through these products amp160More than eight billion hours alone last September according to Nielsenamp160 This is how people are watching Netflix Hulu Amazon Facebook Watch CBS All Access Sony Crackle and by extension their favorite broadcast cable or satellite servicesamp160 Not via the smartphone computer or tablet but the TV setMoreover without much notice from most media outlets or promotion from the smart TVdevice makers a new class of programming services are using these products as their main way or exclusive way to get distributedamp160 Some of these services such as DC Universe ESPN and Blueprint are from leading entertainment players like Warner Media Disney and NBC Universal respectivelyamp160 Others such as AfrolifeTV Netflix for the AfricanAmerican audience Revry gaylesbiantransgender content PassionFlix romanceoriented fare and Bisversity entrepreneurbusiness development were created by independent ventures amp160Figure that the new crop of major content ventures coming over the next 1215 months from Apple Walmart Disney Warner and Comcast with Costco among the companies exploring an entry here also will be smart productdistributedMajor TV station groups also have entered this new service marketplace over the last yearamp160 Check out Investigate TV from Raycom Media now incorporated into Gray TV and Localish from ABC39s owned stationsamp160 A few weeks ago Sinclair launched STIRR a multichannel mix of nationally available channels and customized news contributions from the company39s local stationsThe new advancement in this smart age one with important consequences to which everyone should pay heed is the growing number of sets and devices with builtin voice features powered by artificial intelligenceamp160 We39re talking Alexa Google Assistant Siri Bixby and their counterparts that allow viewers to control how they watch and use TV with their voiceamp160 As their penetration hits critical mass just like smart sets and devices have now and their capabilities expand with electronic upgrades this feature can be the trigger for mass adoption of interactive TV content advertising and commerce on the widescale observers of the medium have predicted for decadesSome media players are not waiting for that mass adoption to fire up an interactive businessamp160 After several experiments with kidvid episodes Netflix struck gold with ITV pathwayformatted Bandersnatch an expanded installment of prizewinning anthology series Black Mirroramp160 Netflix developed its own quotbranch managerquot technology to craft all the possible pathways viewers could choose and reports suggest the company is all in on ITV series development in quick order Walmart made a 250 million investment late last year on Eko the interactive web portal owned by Samsung MGM and venture capitalistsamp160 With more than 30 million Samsung smart sets in use Eko may be ready for a conversion to TVamp160 Legendary the blockbuster moviemaker whose TV series resume includes Colony USA and Lost in Space Netflix has a similar web venture going in Project Alpha which last fall offered Orbital Redux a live sciencefiction series where at various points viewers could dictate both plot and character directionsamp160 Converting Alpha to a fulltime TV service is under review thereThere39s no time like right now to track how these three ages of TV especially the smart age will unfold You39re invited to join me through your reading and your reactions here at MediaVillageUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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A Smart Time to Track TV's Future

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Simon Applebaum

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FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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