Is Daytime the New Primetime?

December 01, 2006

Ah, the modern age:

Coffee breaks are becoming the new primetime, with the number of people who stream their television growing and shifting into Daytime. It turns out that the hour of noon is the leading time for viewers to download streaming video downloads of their favorite shows.

According to ComScore (a digital measuring service), 70% of streaming at home is done when the sun is still out, and more than 80% of videos at work are also streamed during daytime. Although no one can tell yet if people are devoting their lunch breaks to actually watching entire shows or simply using high-speed connections at work to transfer them to iPods, one thing is clear – TV networks need to start looking at video streamers as a viable and important part of their audiences.

Here is my TV Lover run-down of other important things to know about the technological revolution:

Google/YouTube
Just as we all feared, Google has begun to seriously crackdown on copyright infringement, taking down thousands of videos from illegal episodes of South Park to spliced music videos of Disney Princesses. Though some shows, like the internet sensation Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager may survive through parody clauses, we see this as a disaster for YouTube. Google runs the risk of driving away the very audience it paid so much money to get.

At Least It’s Not Just Us
TV has bemoaned TiVo and its ability to ruin advertising profits but the internet will also soon feel the same sting. Starting in 2007, major companies (such as Ford) are going to require online companies to hire auditors. These auditors will be closely monitoring what they have dubbed “click fraud” – when a group of people intentionally click an ad and/or website multiple times.

Why would anyone do such a thing? Well, there are two things at work here. One – clicking an ad multiple times can get more money for the site. But in an age when ads on the internet are often contracted for a certain number of clicks, a group of people clicking repeatedly on an ad, can also run through that ad’s contract pretty quick.

Channel + Surfing
TV hits the web and not just in the pirated way. A new company called Brightcove has launched its website which has the capability to support whole channels. You can watch entire shows for free (with commercials) or you can buy them as paid downloads. The company also offers free publishing tools allowing people to put their videos up on Brightcove’s site or another.

Social Networking
MTV’s Laguna Beach launched a social networking tie-in site earlier this year, that incorporates basic social networking functions (e.g. - chatting, IM’ing) with in-world events tied to the series. Events such as Prom and Spring Break are incorporated into the virtual world as a tie-in to what’s happening in that week’s episode.

Online-Only Programming
Comedy Central’s website was originally home to extensions of its on-air programming, but the site is now increasingly a source for original broadband comedy programming. They’ve launched “Good God” -- a live action comedy revolving around God's workplace, as well as “Baxter and MacGuire” (pictured above)- an animated buddy-comedy chronicling the adventures of a pair of close friends who also happen to be testicles.

CBS’ Innertube has a wide variety of scripted programming created entirely for the web. These shows include a reality show entitled “In Turn” -- about a group of young hopefuls who live together while going through "soap opera boot camp." The ultimate goal of the contest is being cast on the CBS soap “As The World Turns.” Web viewers can also check out “The Papdits,” a series that was originally created for primetime. The docu-comedy series focuses on a family from Kashmir traveling the U.S. in an RV and interacting with "unsuspecting Americans”.

Independent Web TV
The major networks aren’t the only ones creating web-only scripted series. “The Burg” is a scripted show that takes place in Williamsburg Brooklyn and pokes fun at the hipster lifestyle. Each episode runs about 15 minutes and there are 7 episodes in the series. Several of the actors and writers have previous experience on soaps and have developed shows on television networks such as the WB. The show is available for download on the website theburg.tv and on iTunes.

Or if you didn’t get enough antics from your college days, you can always log on to the University of Buffalo’s website, where Student Activities TV airs a weekly show in which the craziest and most outgoing groups of students are offered a free ride home from the bars in exchange for their late night stories. It’s a college version of “Taxicab Confessions.”

Look for explosive growth among this sort of programming. This is the brief window when the internet and television are still two separate things. We suggest you enjoy it while it lasts.