The television industry is at the brink of extraordinary change—the line between traditional “TV” and the Internet is disappearing. Just Monday, LG Electronics announced it’ll ship Internet-connected TVs enabled with Google TV’s navigation system. Both Google and Microsoft, with its Xbox 360 console, want to be the entertainment hub in your living room—the way that consumers navigate all the content online and on TV, and choose what to watch.
I’ve had the pleasure of reporting a documentary special for CNBC—“Stay Tuned: The Future of TV” — which premieres at 9pm ET and 9pm PT tonight. .
Over the past few months I’ve interviewed media giants—Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Comcast* CEO Brian Roberts — plus the folks at Google and Microsoft behind their entertainment ventures, and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.
*(Comcast is the corporate parent of CNBC.)
We spoke to the man who shook up TV decades ago when he launched Fox—Barry Diller—and the man who redefined cable television with MTV—Tom Freston. We even talked to Ashton Kutcher, who shook up reality TV with “Punk’d” and now is producing exclusive web channels for YouTube.
Every day, there’s a new announcement about the rise of digital video, and traditional media companies investing in original content online. Last week Vice, a digital media vertical backed by Tom Freston and ad giant WPP, announced its content lineup, presenting new YouTube channels including “Vice Style,” “Vice Comedy," "Vice News” and “Munchies” to advertisers. Meanwhile Ben Silverman, the powerhouse TV producer behind "Biggest Loser,” and “The Office,” continues to roll out his original online programming; last week, he pitched his new channel “Hungry” to Madison Avenue.
See how the traditional content players and next generation studios are getting into the content game with new web channels:
To learn how the future of advertising will be a lot more entertaining for consumers, check out this video and blog.
And tune in tonight at 9pmET/9 pm PT.
Questions? Comments? MediaMoney@cnbc.com