John Naugton writes:
... The 'organisms' in our media ecosystem include broadcast and narrowcast television, movies, radio, print and the internet. For most of our lives, the dominant organism in this system - grabbing most of the resources, revenue and attention - was broadcast TV. Note that 'broadcast' implies few-to-many: a relatively small number of broadcasters, transmitting content to billions of essentially passive viewers and listeners. This ecosystem is the media environment in which most of us grew up. But it's in the process of radical change because broadcast TV is in inexorable decline; its audience is fragmenting. ¶ Twenty years ago, a show like The Two Ronnies could attract audiences of 20 million. Now an audience of 5 million is considered a success by any television channel. In five years' time, 200,000 viewers will be considered a miracle. ¶ Broadcast TV is being eaten from within, by narrowcast digital television - in which specialist content is aimed at subscription-based audiences and distributed via digital channels. But waiting in the wings is something even more devastating - Internet Protocol TV (IPtv) - television on demand, delivered via the internet. And it's coming soon to a computer screen near you. ...
Link: The Observer (free registration required).
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