Whether we care to admit it or not, the medium IS changing the way we view content.
New data from Nielsen confi rms what we already suspect – globally, we’re now consuming as much content on the second, third, fourth screens as we are on the fi rst. Our nine-page technology section will showcase some new and innovative ways of watching the tele as made possible by the advent of smaller and more portable mediums.
Our story on the “TV of the future” reveals that the future of the home-viewing experience will be nothing short of spectacular. Not only can you enjoy a full cinematic experience in glorious 4k video, you can use your tablet to manoeuvre apps across your TV screen and enjoy a truly interactive experience utilising HTML5 – the language touted to be “understood” by most portable devices.
While I’m exalting the small screen, the cumbersome, yet powerful “big” screen is receiving industry nods. Attendees to September’s IBC will witness the International Honour for Excellence being presented to the NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (STRL), for its development of the high-resolution broadcasting technology called the Super Hi-Vision (SHV). Not one, not two, but three such technologies were on display on giant hi-res screens at the recent Olympics, much to the delight of industry experts. While SHV demonstrations are not new, the recent games offered a perfect test-bed at a scale not witnessed before.
The internet as a medium continues to enthral. In this issue, Viki’s CEO and co-founder Razmig Hovaghimian tells you how his fan-subbing “medium” is not just a way of viewing content but a way of empowering viewers for what was previously a passive viewing activity. In the great Marshall McLuhan debate, the “medium” increasingly takes the spotlight for making the “message” consumption fun, social, and a truly sensory experience. Yet, I am also witnessing how the “message” is discussed with just as much fervour.
At the annual documentary pitch competition “The Asian Pitch”, now in its sixth run, I was constantly reminded by broadcast heads and commissioners just how important a great story is. Page 14 will detail one of the pitches, Wheatfi eld Sailors; a human-interest story I hope will make the festival circuits when it premieres next year. The tenacity of the pitchers to get their story across (after several unsuccessful attempts) makes the storymakers just as newsworthy as the poignant tale they tell. Another relentless story maestro, Aaron Sorkin, whose The Newsroom has seen as many supporters as detractors, is a grand example of how the “message” continues to dominate discussion. Sorkin’s latest creation, set in the intense world of the nightly news, will be discussed in my opinion piece on page 24. Still on great content makers, this issue will feature two production houses that are not only committed to quality content, but are fi nding the right business model to take that content to as many Asian audiences as possible.
As award shows are often the coveted endorsers of content, I am pleased to report that the 17th Asian Television Awards, a TV ASIA Plus staple, has seen one of the highest number of entries ever; over 1,300 so far – and counting. We cannot wait to crown the winners at the gala ceremony on December 6.
In this great tussle between “medium” and “message”, the trend suggests that the “medium” is fast becoming the “message”. So are we in danger of losing the essence of what makes for good television? Though with connectedness and interactivity comes good television, it certainly takes compelling plots and credible acting and directing to make GREAT television.
