March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

Next-Generation TVBY B ELINDA ACOSTAWith all the Twittering, geek madness,star-sighting, walking, screening, rocking,and partying, it might seem inconceivablethat TV had any sort of presence at Southby Southwest, but it did. Two panels inparticular piqued my “TV Eye” interest:Old Man Nielsen vs. New Market Research(March 16) and Beyond Apple TV: Next-Generation Systems for Acquiring Content(March 17) provided valuable insights tounderstand the current media climate andTV’s future in it.What could have been a smackdownat the Old Man vs. New Market ResearchInteractive panel between Michael Lambie,who represented the Nielsen Co., and panelistssuch as Daniel Neely of NetworkedInsights turned out to be a spirited discussionabout the way audiences are changing.Neely pointed out that social media –Twitter, Facebook, Meebo, among others– provide a means for audiences of variousproducts, be it a TV show or shampoo,to share insights or impressions, create adialogue, and establish that valuable thingcalled buzz. “Consumers are looking tohave a voice, out in the open,” Neely said.“Nielsen should measure impressions, notjust exposure. … The TV rating system isbased on exposures as opposed to measuringwhat people are talking about.”Nielsen’s Lambie didn’t disagree butpointed out that discerning what wasa true groundswell of interest vs.the chatter of “a vocal minority”was still the challenge to allclaiming to measure audiencesand the ability to deliver themto advertisers.There was a lot of shoptalkabout “metrics” and “high andlow engagement.” As an average TVviewer, that didn’t interest me, but the ideathat social media was identified as a crucialelement in the future of determining how(or if) the Nielsen ratings would continue tobe viewed as a bellwether for TV programmingand consumption struck me as crucial.More so when I sat in on the BeyondApple TV panel.Now, for as long as I’ve been going toSXSW Interactive, talk of new TV, interactiveTV, and convergence has reared its headin some way – mainly, as panelists on theBeyond Apple TV panel agreed, because theholy grail of the next generation of TV is stillbeing defined.“Twelve percent of broadband users watchtheir TV online,” Colin Dixon of the DiffusionGroup said. In the past, the emphasis was onthe type of delivery system to bring contentto viewers. But that emphasis is surely shifting,given the fact that consumers don’t careabout the device as much as they care aboutease of use and the ability to watch what theywant, where they want.“The only real closed system is iTunes.They’re still a download-only technology,but streaming content is going to overtakedownload content,” said Richard Bullwinkleof Macrovision. “A spinning drive [e.g., theDVR] in every home is the wrong way to go.iTunes, I like your music, but I can’t accessHulu or Pandora” or any other content provider.The death grip on the device has toend, Bullwinkle said.“Whomever owns the EPG [electronicprogramming guide] rules the world,” MarciaZellers of the Fashion Institute of Design &Merchandising suggested. “I wonder if thesocial network [for TV] is, indeed, the EPG.”The EPG as the “Twitter space” for TVviewers that you can participate inor not struck a chord because itfocuses on the “value add” tothe viewer, not the ability oftveyeWhat’s next?advertisers to sell pizza, aswas the emphasis in the past,but to provide a companionexperience to the viewer if theywant it, when they want it.“There have been plenty ofmisfires in the content space in thelast 15 years,” Zellers said. “To make contentthat has it all is not what people want.”Authoring standards for creating contentfor TV is on the way, the panelists agreed,and the “walled garden” that prevents viewersfrom selecting content from one providerwhile using an “outside” platform is disintegrating.The frustration is in the speedof this change, as providers still figure outwhat viewers want and viewers wait for thetechnology dust to settle. The bottom line is:TV is not going anywhere. It’s just anotherscreen to capture your content, wherever itcomes from.As always, stay tuned.Worth repeatingElectronic-waste drive – Saturday, March 28,from 9am to 3pm in the LBJ Library parkinglot at Red River and Dean Keeton. For moreinformation, e-mail the Student EngineeringCouncil at service.sec.ut@gmail.com.E-mail Belinda Acosta at tveye@austinchronicle.com.FEATURINGBEN WALSH$ OFBEN’S LONGBRANCH BBQ900 East 11th St. - 499-0910WWW.THEALLIGATORGRILL.COM512 444-6117 3003 S. LAMARSOUTHAUSTINF A TT UEA YS D$4 00HURRICANES20¢ SHRIMP50¢ OYSTERS$4 00ABITA BEERSSERVING THE BEST ROMANIAN FOODNOW SERVINGEUROPEANWINE &BEERM-F 5-10 SAT 12-10 SUN CLOSED Sa u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m MARCH 27, 2009 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 53