• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 5, 2011

Just one move of your TV-enabled thumb, index, or pinkie is what TV entrepreneurs big and small are really looking for.

Netflix, the company who has mined the easiest to understand approach when it comes to getting movies by mail -- and, most recently, electronically -- is now pushing for one simple button on Internet-connected TVs to access its content. Netflix made deals with a number of TV set makers where it will get some prime real estate with a big red "Netflix" button on TV remotes.

Does Google TV have a Google button on the remote control? Does iTunes have one on Apple TV? You would hope so.

In this explosive media world of possibilities, consumers not only need not easy access to content they want to watch, but also to be reminded of the TV brand that brought them their desired entertainment stuff.

But is this sacred territory? Shouldn't it be enough that we can scroll through thousands of choices on our electronic guides? Or be told, as a suggestion from those guides, that we might want to watch obscure TV shows with alluring titles, say "Animal Night Terrors" or "Parenting on the Right... and Left" or "Clown Reality Camp".

If this gets to be a trend, then I'm sure ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, CW and Univision will ask for big blue, white, gold and other color remote buttons.

Still, this move by Netflix might be short-lived. Though we know remotes of some kind will continue to be the main navigating tools for TV , there are increasingly other devices -- iPads and the coming rash of very portable and small tablet computers -- which could take their place, where people might be tapping, pressing, and swiping on screens for their favorite TV providers.

Traditional TV researchers have long said it's wrong for the TV consumer and trade press to talk about "viewers." Rather, they should be called "tuners." Viewing is optional, is the thinking.

What that in mind, I'm guessing new TV consumers will actually be just "tappers," "pointers," and best of all, big "thumb-ers."