One thing we can predict about the new ways that people will interact with television is that the new uses will surprise us. As has been the case with the way many new technologies have been adopted in the past.
I think we can expect significant shifts in people’s television consumption patterns. I think we will see totally different time usage patterns, from snacking on little 5-minute clips here and there to all-out binging, such as seeing an entire season of shows in one or two sittings.
Consumers are going to be increasingly impatient with having schedules, formats and content dictated to them, and will be more interested in personally tailored experiences.
Such changes certainly will shift the funding model for television, in which network executives seem to think you are some kind of criminal if you skip their ads. One outcome is that advertising itself is going to have become more like entertainment than the ads we in the States are used to (which by and large are boring and an interruption). I think we will see higher prices to place finely tailored ads.
I think one trend that will surprise us is that many people will volunteer to receive ads ? but only for products in which they are deeply interested. For instance, if one has a passion about a hobby or interest, you might volunteer to be informed of new products and services that are relevant. In this way, ads will become one more way to bond a community together.
What will get zapped are stupid ads for things we are not in the market for at all, and that is as it should be.
Advertisers and the media in general are going to have to create communities around their outputs. I don?t think that threatens mass market phenomena, by the way. I mean, if you add up all the *who wants to be a millionaire* watchers worldwide, it would be a significant number. Which reminds me also that traditional TV will probably have to retreat for primary to events that are time-specific, such as sporting events or contests. Everything else, I think will be consumed by people on an on-demand basis.