Things seem to be moving online

Why are they doing this? I have no idea - it makes no sense to me. Well, that isn't entirely true. I asked TVNZ why they had scheduled Orange so late; their reasoning was that it was part of a push toward on-demand content, which makes a little sense. Online viewing has become a big part of what TVNZ does, and the success of online shows like local comedy Auckland Daze and teen drama The Carrie Diaries has made it a much more viable distribution method.

A recent example would be Scandal, the Kerry Washington-led drama written by Shonda Rhimes (of Grey's Anatomy fame); TVNZ has been showing a new episode each week through their on-demand portal, while promoting it through traditional broadcast channels. As a result, it's the second-most-popular show on the site.

The focus on on-demand isn't a mere excuse either. TVNZ have poured money into developing mobile apps for Apple and Samsung devices. I actually watched the third and fourth episodes of Scandal on my phone. It was fun trying it out, though I don't know how often I might go back to my mobile phone for a telly fix. The screen is too small.

There is a danger, though, that TVNZ could just be alienating viewers by scheduling a show like Orange Is the New Black at the ungodly time of 11.40pm, or launching a critical darling like Scandal (which picked up an Emmy nomination for Washington) through online outlets.

Let's face it: faith in broadcast networks is at an all-time low. Online content might be more popular than ever, but the overwhelming majority of viewers are still watching channels through traditional methods (albeit time-shifted in many cases). Does it really make sense to annoy the overwhelming majority of your viewers by scheduling at such an unsuitable time a show that they've been reading about for months? Or holding back a show so it can sit on a website?

Heck, I'm technologically capable of finding shows, and even I'm annoyed that Scandal is sitting on a website. If TVNZ has the show, why wouldn't they just play the damn show on a channel somewhere? Why make us wait even longer?

This isn't just a TVNZ thing. Mediaworks had a play with online-only fast-tracking by playing the first ever episode of New Girl on the Four website for a week before it aired (a marketing ploy adopted from US network Fox), and some SoHo shows have been available online ahead of their launch date.

Things seem to be moving online more and more often; even Orange Is the New Black lives exclusively online in most parts of the world, thanks to the emergence of Netflix. I believe that, eventually, online will be the only place to find good television (if not all television).

But I also think it's a bit soon to be abandoning traditional viewers entirely. On-demand is a shiny new toy, but we're still in the early-adoption phase. A better wholesale fashion shoes between the old and the new needs to be found.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will meet US Trade Representative Michael Froman this week to discuss India’s concerns related to additional visa restrictions on IT professionals, increased cases of visa rejections and expiry of duty-free benefit scheme for its exporters.

While the US is likely to raise concerns over ‘lax’ implementation of India’s intellectual property laws, Sharma will be on a stronger wicket this time as the Obama administration is itself facing questions for overturning telecom giant Samsung’s patent rights recently.

Sharma and Froman are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting in Brunei beginning Monday.

“We have raised the issue of visa restrictions earlier. But things continue to be bad for our IT professionals. The Minister will discuss these in addition to problems related to expiry of the duty-free export scheme,” a Commerce Department official told Business Line.

The US has, over the past two years, made it difficult for Indian IT companies such as Wipro, Infosys and TCS to carry out its work in the US. Under tough visa norms, not only have fees been increased several-fold for companies that have more than 50 per cent non-American employees, the Immigration Bill being debated by the US Congress could also impose steep fines on US-based Indian IT companies.

“Although IT body Nasscom has received assurances from various quarters that the Bill is being diluted and harmful provisions targeting Indian companies would be deleted, the Minister would also like to get the same assurance from the USTR,” the official said.
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