Gane.ca

Recently I read a story about how TV viewing is shifting to the web. Stating that 83% of younger viewers watch some, most or all of their TV online. I certainly fall into that majority, as I watch almost all my TV online and have moved away from downloading it to streaming it.

A couple reason exist for this, and why I have been doing it for years. For one, I don't have cable or satellite (haven't now for a year). The other major reason is, I am often unavailable when those TV shows are on or don't have access to them when they first air. Example: South Park airs on Comedy Central (US) on Wednesdays, Comedy Network (Canada) airs them Fridays.

Who's Embracing This?

Two companies come to mind when discussing this: TSN and Zuffa / the UFC.

TSN

TSN has done a wonderful job with this when it comes to the World Juniors. Often playing during working hours just after Christmas, it is one of the biggest draws for TSN every year because of the level of international competition, and Canada's dominance in the hockey tournament year in and year out.

Another example of TSN's forward thinking is the parent company, CTV, approach to the recent Vancouver Olympics. Everything was streamed on the internet, you could pop in and watch Alex Bilodeau gold medal run or Joannie Rochette brave performances. Not only were the events broadcast live, you could revisit the video via the web at any point during the Olympics.

Zuffa / UFC and Spike.

The Ultimate Fighter is often attributed to be what saved / pushed the UFC into the mainstream. Now in it's eleventh season, the reality TV show produced by Spike and UFC is widely successful and pits team of fighters in competition where a six-figure contract it rewarded to the winner.

With the launch of the newest season, they also launched ultimatefighter.com, and allows access to all episodes of the previous ten seasons. Not only that, they offer special add-on content for the current episodes (A series that appears to be web only, hosted by TUF alumni Stephan Bonnar). It is of course supported by ads and commercials, which I am just fine with, quite simply because it is offered to me without charge.

As we speak, I am making my way threw Season Two, and planning on buying Season one on DVD. If that is the goal of Zuffa and the UFC, then they scored one here with me. But I think it reaches further then that, I think they want to capture those viewers they haven't yet. By offering it free, via the web, they are enabling the viewers who'd like to take a look at it, and hopefully captivate them in a similar way. Although, the end game, as it always has been, is to get people buying the pay per views.

Final Thoughts

The move to viewing your entertainment on the Web is becoming more predominate. Not only do you see more providers embracing this, with services like Hulu or streaming on their own websites (CTV.ca), they are also providing additional supplementary content to the stories via the web. The HBO series True Blood is a fine example of this, as they are offering a series of mini-episodes leading into the new season.

Clearly, with the shifts, the web is the future for TV. And people are not only turning to the web to discuss their favorite shows, like they always have, they are turning to it to enjoy, and watch and re-watch those shows. Having a good presence online, like any other business, is becoming the key to success and longevity of those shows.