Monday, February 13

How the New Medium is Becoming the Message

HOOKED ON TV
TV addicts, do you remember when going out of town or on vacation during sweeps meant missing new episodes of your favorite shows? Heck, I remember getting angry at my parents when I was seven if we weren't home on Friday night for the latest episode of The Brady Bunch (my addiction started early and with only three networks and a knob that you turned rather than a remote control).
The VCR brought some hope, and then TiVo saved the day, but now with iTunes & the video iPod you can stay completely caught up with the masses watching along at home.

Check out how one television news photographer (Little Lost Robot) working the Olympics in Italy fight boredom by staying current with his favorite non-NBC programming thanks to his video iPod (but it’s also a hot item for the pick pockets working the crowds in Turin).

Those who doubt how new media reshapes our
media habits should take note. And at the other end Hollywood is poised to produce original programming for the iPod, right? As mass media theorist Marshall McLuhan put it, "The medium is the message."

Law & Order's Dick Wolf is apparently interested. Even looking at how to change how things are shot to meet the needs of the smaller screens. Check out the how he's thinking about it as you can already download new episodes from the Law & Order franchise.

"I may be completely out of my mind, but I think people don't even realize yet how much the iPod is a game changer. Once you put the headpho
nes on, the screen size doesn't matter at all."

Variety reports Wolf is even starting consider the way he produces certain series elements in order to make shows more download-friendly.

Cartoon Network is also looking to bring Adult Swim programming full throttle to the 'net in late March with something called Adult Swim Fix-- streaming full-length episodes 24/7 online with some of Adult Swim original programs premiering online two days before they appear on-air.