Will TV Remain the Dominant Mass Medium?

Will the Internet kill television? Are scripted TV shows obsolete? Will television remain a viable medium for advertisers?

These are some the questions asked and closely examined in "Television's Future," a new report from CQ Researcher, available online via the BC Libraries.

In typical CQ fashion, the report offers historical background, a look at the current situation, statistics and survey data. It also explores the outlook moving forward amid a shifting landscape of technology and policy changes, new consumer expectations, and other developments.

Here are some excerpts:

Television is changing rapidly, and so is the TV audience. Viewers are ignoring broadcast schedules and watching programs via Internet “streams” and iPod downloads. Or they are “time-shifting” and skipping the commercials, using digital video recorders, such as TiVo, or video-on-demand television.
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For all the ferment, however, Americans are watching more television than ever, using the new devices not to avoid traditional TV but to catch up on shows they otherwise would have missed. There's an atmosphere of experimentation and uncertainty in the industry reminiscent of the dot-com boom, but television and advertising executives insist that the future of TV is bright.
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[T]echnology appears to be putting everything about the nature of television up for grabs. A medium that has long been primarily underwritten by advertising is watching its audience crack and break into a million pieces. Viewers accustomed to flipping through channels now are finding that their primary loyalty may be to specific programs, which in turn may be delivered to them through any number of different media.
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One of the major questions facing the television industry today is whether its traditional means of delivery — networks of affiliated stations — can survive the changes.
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There is endless experimentation, rapid technological change, a host of start-ups and a scramble among established companies to form new partnerships and adapt to a rapidly shifting landscape.

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Despite the way today's young people flock to the latest gadgets and features, including Facebook and MySpace, their primary loyalty is to television. The average young person watches nearly four hours of TV a day — compared to 49 minutes playing video games — and is more likely to give television his or her undivided attention rather than any other media device...