Followup to the "Getting what the advertisers overpay for" story.  Ernest Miller wrote a story for LawMeme: PVRs Not Necessarily the Death of TV Advertising.

From the story: "The study's conclusion, which is obvious to anyone who has actually used a PVR or any length of time, is that, 'Utilizing a PVR empowers viewers who can now choose programming they like, when they like to watch it, and they won't be going back to the same old way they used to watch.' In other words, the viewer's relationship to television is changing, and both advertisers and networks had better adapt."

10:44:25 PM   

Getting what the advertisers overpay for "Most [television] advertising is wasted. But as long as there appears to be no alternative, advertisers will continue to pay for, and rationalize, the waste. But as PVRs like TiVo continuously improve the efficiency of TV viewing, they only beg more questions about the poor efficiency and accountability of TV advertising." [Doc Searls]

Dead-on.  Assume I watch, say, ten prime-time TV shows a week.  If the networks would bring me just those shows, on demand, with no commercial interruptions, I would pay them.  And I'm not the only one.

Now suppose they let me control how many commercials I watch, and rebate my bill for each one.  Advertisers know for sure they've made an impression, and I got paid for my valuable time.

Don't tell me PVRs are theft.  Change the revenue model so it is, as Doc says, "accountable and efficient."

5:51:44 PM   

Dave Winer asks: "Is business the purpose of our civilization, or does civilization have some other purpose that business supports?" [ScriptingNews]

Dave understands.  He goes on to explain why the entertaiment industry's model for doing business -- the way customers relate to development -- is fundamentally broken.

If the music industry had seen Napster as an opportunity, recognized what their customers wanted, and given it to them, the industry would be enjoying exponentially-increasing music sales, online and off.

5:14:37 PM   

By all rights you shouldn't know what Mike Tyson bought at the prison commissary.  But thanks to the Web, you do.

12:25:23 AM   

Music industry finally online But listeners stay away in droves [from the Wall Street Journal, via MSNBC]

So this surprises nobody.  The monolithic music industry knows only one business model, and they can't innovate to save their lives.  It's been so long since they've cared about making thier customers happy, they've forgotten how.  The MusicNet service offers so little value to users that even AOL (which has a stake in the company) wouldn't sell it.

Note that this story, a product of "professional" journalism, starts out with a statement that's completely unsupported by fact: "rampant digital piracy has gnawed at [industry] sales."  The article never really achieves balance.

I did get a good laugh out of this line: "'Established businesses find it very difficult to embrace disruptive technologies that threaten them. The music industry is no different,' says Paul Vidich, an executive vice president for Warner Music."  It's got my vote for understatement of the year.

12:06:50 AM