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The Internet as an Entertainment Medium, or… If Spielberg Can’t Figure it Out, Can Anyone?

Explore the business challenges of online entertainment due to personalization, audience fragmentation, and technology hurdles. Discover the struggle to aggregate mass audiences, the needle-in-a-haystack search for content, the limitations of broadband technology, and the mismatch between content delivery and audience interest.

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The Internet as an Entertainment Medium, or… If Spielberg Can’t Figure it Out, Can Anyone?

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  1. The Internet as an Entertainment Medium,or… If Spielberg Can’t Figure it Out, Can Anyone? MIT Media Lab15 December 2000

  2. The ‘personalization’ of media—and the resulting fragmentation of audience—makes the business of online entertainment a… …challenge. DEN RIP 5/2000 POP RIP 9/2000(pre-natal) iCAST RIP 11/2000 Pseudo RIP 9/2000

  3. Challenge #1: Eyeballs Fund Programming It takes a mass audience to generate the revenue which funds programming. But, given the vastness of the Internet, how do you aggregate a mass audience online? (Hint: it takes more than marketing)

  4. TV has already shown how an increase in programming options can reduce market share Total Network Affiliate Share (Primetime, ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX) 67Share 62Share 52Share 33Channels 41Channels 62Channels Avg. # Channels Receivable Source: Nielsen

  5. As a result, even TV’s #1 show is now less of a shared experience #1 Primetime Series(HH Rating) All in the Family 60Min. Dynasty Rose-anne Sein-feld WhoMillion-airre Source: Nielsen NTI

  6. Compared to broadcasting, Web entertainment is splinter-casting Web ‘programs’ typically reach a smaller audience than the lowest-rated show on the lowest-rated station in Boston.

  7. Challenge #2: Needle in a Haystack Even faced with 60 channels, TV viewers can easily ‘sample’ programming.(How else do you explain the successof BattleBots!?) But, as Focus Groups have told us, the Web creates hurdles to discovering programming…

  8. Consumers expect a TV-like ease of use from entertainment at home… • Simple technology that never makes them feel stupid • Comfortable viewing experience • Easy to locate content—there’s always something on • Grazing without advance commitment They don’t want to struggle to get their entertainment online

  9. …but current Web entertainment fails these tests • Often require downloads, plug-ins, or high PC power/bandwidth • Not comfortable sitting at a PC for long-form entertainment (more than a couple minutes) • Users have no easy way to locate entertainment content • Downloads and stream buffering demand commitment before ‘sampling’

  10. Challenge #3: Broadband May Not Be the Holy Grail Even with Broadband delivery, the quality of transmission pales in comparison to TV. Can the infrastructure even support mass video streaming?

  11. 36% 31% 26% 20% 14% 9% 4% Dial-up will remain dominant across the next 5 years (in millions) 28.8m 1.4m 23.8m 1.8m 18.5m 11.8m Households 13.3m 8.6m 13.8m 4.8m 1.8m Source: Jupiter

  12. Broadband doesn’t guarantee a TV-like experience Bandwidth requirements (Kbps) 10 100 10,000 100,000 1,000 • Voice telephony • Text retrieval/ browsing • Consumers will demand TV-like quality from TV-like programming • Surfing Narrow band • Internet telephony • Audio • Voice annotation to text • Image/photo transfer Broadband(XDSL, cable) • Video conf. • CD quality sound • Full motion video Very Broadband(next generationHFC, FTTC, FTTH) • High resolution imaging • Virtual reality

  13. Challenge #4: A Scratch Without an Itch Are we trying to deliver content that few people are interested in seeing? Are people already finding the Web entertaining with surfing, connecting, and game playing? Is the Web not a ‘programming’ environment?

  14. Music Sites Music search 16%Album reviews 12% Artist interviews 7% Concert schedules 7% Music news 4% TV Sites Find program info. 26% Read reviews 16% Search local info. 12% Search TV listings 12% Download TV clips 2% Star interviews 2% Industry news 2% Movie Sites Movie reviews 43% Check show times 25% Industry news 10% Search for films 7% Read star interviews 5% Entertmt. directories 5% Movie fan sites 3% For most users, entertainment content is information Content used onentertainment sites Source: CyberDialogue

  15. The online medium is developing its own version of entertainment File-swapping Viral content Napster Dancing Baby Single-purpose fun sites AmIHotOrNot.com Multi-player gaming Everquest

  16. Research Areas Business Models: Both subscription and advertising-based models have failed. Is there another option? Technology: Is there a browser-free application that can act as a TV-tuner? Other Platforms: Possible to avoid the Web via Internet-enabled TV, CD-ROM, wireless, or handheld devices?

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