Picked up another interview with Mr. Zucker from NBC who today was even more sold on great TV content, shrink wrapped, signed sealed and delivered over online video portals.

Before that though is it me or is the concept of TV being delivered through something branded for audio a little odd. The idea of video content available on-demand through a million and one broadband portals is fine, makes lots of sense – just that Apple should have surely changed the name of iTunes to something more ‘video’ friendly? As audio is to tunes then video is to what? ‘Tunes’ is already problematic with a multitude of talking books and podcasts, but this is getting silly. A bit like BBC TV in the 50s being delivered through a wooden box called a ‘radio’ with a integrated ‘viewing screen’…? Radio with pictures (digital radio 😉 ) C’mon Apple change the brand, ASAP! iWhat? To future proof, because online games will soon be coming through the apple ‘window’ on the media world, how about iEntertainment or iCross-media (too technical I know!), or iStuff or iContent, iKnow iCandy – OK enough, suggestions in comments please below! Back to the NBC interview…

Will you expand your ‘TV’ offerings on iTunes? (see what I mean. ed)
Over the next couple of weeks, in fact, we will have many more announcements about many more shows there. We see it as a brand-new business, and it will be run like any television network, with new material refreshed and replenished all the time. I don’t think there’s a limit as to how many shows we can have available.

Do people want to watch 30- and 60-minute shows on smaller screens?
Every week there are 436,000 illegal downloads of Battlestar Galactica. Clearly, someone is downloading it and watching it on a smaller screen. Ever since iTunes went online with video, there have been 500,000 downloads per week. It’s pretty clear people want to watch this stuff. Now, given that we are selling Battlestar Galactica for $1.99, there is finally a legitimate model in place.

Jeff Zucker (NBC Universals Pres) speaking to Broadcasting and Cable – I like the implication here that legal is starting to eat into illegal downloads. But it still looks like a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio in favour of illegal. That will change. But I do get the sense after the big changes over the past few weeks that there is almost a resigned acceptance with some leading TV execs that on-demand TV will become ubiquitous very quickly. If 7 year olds are growing up in a world of everything on-demand, when they hit 16 the world would have moved on to accommodate them. The clever execs know this and are building for 2015 – Mr. Zucker again…

By the way, I just have to go home and look at what my 5- and 7-year-old are doing. That’s the cheapest focus group there is.

But Apple please change the name iTunes to something more meaningful ASAP!

Posted by Gary Hayes ©2005