TV Viewing Erodes Because of Online Video

Here's another piece of news that should goose you into jumping into the blog/podcast world to help you communicate with your audience. The BBC reports that online video is beginning to erode TV viewing in Britain. The old guard is undoubtedly shocked (!) at this development. If you put a typical TV program next to a typical YouTube offering, it's clear that the TV program is of higher "quality," as we normally measure it. The acting is better. The production is better. The writing is usually better. So what gives?

It's obvious this is not about "quality" at all -- not in the way we have always thought of quality. Instead, the online video phenomenon is about matching interests. It's cable TV on steroids. Even 500 channels is not enough when the audience has infinitely diverse interests. So when someone finds a program that exactly matches his interests, the quality of that program doesn't matter as much as the subject matter. Topic trumps quality. Find your voice in a well-chosen topic, and you're more than halfway there.