05
Aug 09Television rules the nation.
Why isn’t everything on demand?
I’m serious. I can watch 30 Rock, Mad Men or Breaking Bad online, but not on demand. I don’t like many TV shows, so I don’t watch all that much–but I’d watch a lot more if I could be guaranteed continuous marathons of Mythbusters or Top Chef.
Beyond my selfish reasons, it seems to make good business sense. Hulu only shows three unskippable 15-30-second ads in a half-hour show. I’d happily sit through network-length commercial breaks if it meant I could watch anything, and the ability to reliably track viewing patterns would guarantee more effective ad targeting and guarantee more impressions than DVRs, which can easily skip commercials (not to mention the aforementioned increase in TV-watching).
The technical ability’s clearly there, too, so what’s holding this up? Is it concern over cannibalizing DVD sales, or some sort of contract arcanum?