TV in transition

In "Electronic Hearth: Creating an American Television Culture," author Cecelia Tichi theoretically maps out how the TV, over the course of its first 50 years as a widely available consumer electronics appliance, gradually became not only a reflector of society, but also a cultural influencer and a near-dominant presence in our daily lives.

If you think that sounds like a quaint notion reminiscent of Marshall McLuhan, it arguably was a much more original idea when the book first appeared in 1992.

You have to wonder what earlier theorists of TV's evolution would make of the last few years--the abundance of reality TV; the cross-pollination between news, entertainment and sports programming; and the way that TV shows have come to contain product placements and advertising messages even within the context of their plots.

Yet probably in just the next few years, we are set to become even further removed from any notion of TV as an "electronic hearth." This will happen not only through creative--or some might say non-creative--content evolutions in the medium. It also will occur from the literal disassociation of TV from the center or "hearth" of any physical space.

Already, inventions such as TiVo and Replay TV have started to change what had become forced habits of watching TV at fixed hours of the day. In the near future, new technologies such as ultrawideband, Bluetooth and Zigbee will be capable of sending video from one TV to another, or from a TV to some other device, further freeing us from the idea of the TV as a fixed entertainment appliance.

And perhaps the biggest change might come in the increasing number of mobile devices that are capable of displaying high-quality video content transmitted over emerging mobile broadband networks. Entertainment companies already have proved more than willing to exploit this opportunity, developing a variety of gaming and audio content for mobile users. Soon, Fox Entertainment Group will be upping the ante by launching a spin-off of the TV series "24" that is specifically developed for mobile devices and mobile audiences (see story below).

If the evolution to mobile TV proves to be a hit, it might eventually be the thing that extinguishes whatever fire still burns in the more traditional electronic hearth. Maybe it's difficult for those of us of a certain age to imagine this happening, but remember: There is a entire generation out there already using the mobile phone as both its chief communicator and entertainment device. The ensuing generation will catch on to that notion even more naturally, and the makers of both TV content and TV appliances will have to adapt.

There might always be such a thing as a family room, and a place for a TV in it. But that more traditional appliance will become one of diminishing value to both the people who watch it and the people who convey their entertainment and messages through it.

E-mail me at doshea@primediabusiness.com.