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RSSOne example of this is the Web site Brilliant But Cancelled. For years we've seen interesting TV shows, and not-so-interesting TV shows, come and go. Some have been resurrected by passionate fans (like "Family Guy"), while others were witty and intelligent but never received enough attention from the networks because they were too witty and intelligent for the general audience (like "Arrested Development"). In both situations it required much action from fans to generate buzz enough to either bring the show back or distributed in some other fashion.
That was the old world, now comes the new world.
Brilliant But Cancelled (BBC) is such a simple idea but one whose time has come. With broadband penetration reaching critical mass and more people watching the smaller screen for quality video content, an outlet such as BBC makes sense. The site takes shows that were cancelled and gives them an outlet for an audience. It also takes shows that were never aired and provides them with an outlet for an audience. BBC becomes a testing ground for new programs and new concepts, guaranteeing that no programming goes to waste.
I can even foresee the day when the networks (or whatever they will morph into over the next few years) will air pilots of programs online to see if there's an adequate audience before airing the show on "live" TV. Before a show goes into the regular programming schedule, air it online for a few weeks and see if there's a buzz! No pilot will go to waste--and what better focus group to tell you about a show than the actual audience?
The application of the long-tail concept is such that any program will have an audience; it's just that the audience may not be large enough to warrant the prime-time programming opportunity. Airing programs online allows you to reach the intended audience while not creating any missed opportunities for advertisers within larger-reach shows. A show like "The Jake Effect" starring Jason Bateman can reach an audience, even though the show was never aired. If the audience is passionate enough, the show can be shot for the Web and advertisers can find access to their niche audience in an environment that's inherently interactive and highly engaged. There's an audience for everything, you just need to know where to look, or let them come and find you.
The term "long tail" has been around only a short while, but the concept has been around for far longer, with an impact that will be felt for many years to come. Technology enables narrowcasting, and the long tail encourages it. I can hardly wait to see what happens next!
RSS FEEDS
Precisely as long as it taks IPv6 to penetrate, because then there will be much less difference between the Internet and true broadcasting, through IP-multicasting. Bandwidth effectively becomes a non-issue, and our Internet connections start working a lot more like our Cable TV connections.
When you've just plunked down $3000 on a 50" TV you're going to want to be looking at HDTV, not streaming video. As an example, a few years ago I did all my video watching on my computer, and perfectly fit the Gen Y stereotype of a video downloading (BitTorrent) and viewing on my computer type of guy. I even hooked up my computer to my TV once in a while to watch my downloads on a bigger screen. Now I've developed my career and have an HDTV and nice home theater, satellite TV, DVR, etc. I spend 12 hours a day in front of a PC, but guess where I watch video now?
--Sean
Tangentally, Traditional Broadcast venues have already used the digital to bring down production and overhead costs with some efficacy and resistance, see KRON4 VJ Style Newcasting.
Maybe the other guys can be BBCd.
You should see what we are doing at WCSN.com - the sports that everyone loves at the Olympics are finding an audience online via broadband. We cover 20+ sports and find zealots for all of our sports 365 days a year - not just during the Olympics. The networks ignore most of these sports but that doesn't make them any less popular with the fans.