It may be little more than a milestone along the way, but this week a rejected ABC TV pilot has been turned into a web delivered video series called Quarterlife, which will be released through MySpace. Funnily enough it has a story line about someone who makes a video blog every day.
Faultline has been saying for some time that there has to be changes to the way that broadcast TV content is created and exploited, given that broadcast and cable TV networks, which fund most popular US TV programs, are coming under tighter and tighter margin pressure.
The broadcasters are more prone to cut a weak series when it won’t hold down a 10 million home audience, especially where the series is replacing a blockbuster hit. So more programs get canned, more rapidly and that puts margin pressure on the studios that actually make those programs.
The first stage of the transition is that it is fairly obvious for existing pilots to court both overseas broadcasting networks, as well as internet properties, hoping to redeem some of their up front investment, and that’s what’s happening here. But the next stage should be a two way process, whereby studios begin by creating web TV programs, without having to operate to such high production values. At the same time they can browse all that content on the internet for ideas and talent that might want to make a high value show.
Cheaper shows made for internet TV would then be remade for broadcast TV with higher production values, a little like US studios take overseas content and remake it for US TV, such as The Office and Kingdom Hospital.
This exploitation cycle will take much of the risk out of making TV series, but so far has not been universally adopted because the viewing audience on the internet is still ramping up. As we said this show is just one milestone along the way, but expect more and a rapid transition as video advertising rises, and more sophisticated advertising services for video begin to emerge in 2008 and 2009.
In a similar move just two weeks ago Warner Brothers Studio 2.0 began production on 23 new shortform series projects for broadband and wireless, with new projects from Jim Henson Productions, Telepictures Productions, Warner Brothers Animation, comedians Joey & David, to be distributed across a variety of broadband and wireless platforms, some in partnership with advertisers.