TV revolution has only just begun

Everyone has a science fiction style of imagination regarding what our TV will be able to do. From the latest reports, it seems that, sooner rather than later, just about everyone will be right. 

TVs will be everywhere – on any part of the wall, on the dining table, on the refrigerator, on the car window, in eyeglasses, etc. The screen can go with you anywhere. And anyone can be a star thanks to the omnipresent role of social media content.

The old-fashioned allocation of programme time, which has been such a big deal over past decades due to the influence of ratings and advertisers’ dictation, will fade and cease to exist.

The remote control will go and be replaced by hand waves and/or voice command. Advertising will get more and more personalised. Viewers will get more involved in sharing, commenting and contributing to content. 

Programmes will be “watched together” by friends or relatives staying on different parts of the world. A viewer’s channel will be totally different from operator channels, as we will be able to put together different things from different channels and watch them at our convenience. As for picture quality, well, some say it will be “clearer than the real thing”.

Content and platforms will increasingly influence each other. Some orthodox TV technicians or personalities will move to the side, giving way to newcomers who better fit the brave new TV world. The broadcasting business will undergo another great transformation. Investment will have to be rethought, expertise relearned and the definition of “success” re-examined.

Content will be a bit messy at first, but that will be a natural part of the evolution. When radio first came about, programmes featured audio text that would have otherwise been in print. When TV first appeared, it was simply a radio that simultaneously showed images, which were boring by today’s standards. When the Internet first became popular, it was what some called “garbage dumps” of written words.

New skills will be important, but attitude adjustment will be equally, if not more, essential. From viewers to operators to platform owners to advertisers, the benefits, charms and business aspects of TV must be reviewed. 

Operators have often claimed that it’s the viewers who “control” the content, and that ratings, which influence advertisers, don’t lie. That may be true, but it will be even truer in the future. Viewers will “control” content in a way not known before.

The slight but noticeable shift in ratings and revenues in the Thai TV landscape since the birth of digital TV underlines the fact that consumers always embrace more choice. When TV is smarter and able to aggregate more options, the game is about to change. Old-fashioned business thinking influenced by the one-way “We produce, you watch” mentality may have its days numbered.

In Thailand and most other parts of the world, those in the status quo of TV still hold sway. That is good news for the current operators and their professionals, but the bad news is that complacency in today’s world is a more dangerous attitude than in the past. Recently, we witnessed a Thai TV giant trying to hold onto its business advantage and resisting a tide of technology-induced changes. The controversy, which appeared to be resolved somewhat amicably, is just a small test that will be followed by bigger ones.

Better technology doesn’t necessarily guarantee more money. Better technology can improve everybody’s life, but it doesn’t necessarily increase the numbers in the bank book. The TV industry, now at the forefront of the technological revolution along with other sectors, must realise this in order to safely navigate the rough winds of change sweeping its landscape.