p2pnet news | Television:- Self-styled ‘Media Guru’ Anthony Lilley (right) addressed the audience as condescendingly as if he were scolding naughty, greedy children.

And indeed he was talking to naughty, greedy little child-like bullies – an audience composed of television broadcasters from the BBC and abroad who haven’t got a clue but make it their mission to impose their views on others by controlling all aspects of the media.

Mr Lilley gave the much-coveted ‘Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture’ at the annual RTS (Royal Television Society) Cambridge Convention 2007. His lecture, entitled ‘The Me In Media: Participation, Interactivity, And The Rise Of The People Formerly Known As The Audience’, opened the convention.

While barely touching on ideas like file sharing and p2p networks, the talk focused more on social networking (GooTube, MySpace, etc.), and what producers of content and ‘product’ need to do in order to compete and attract us- ‘The People Formerly Known As The Audience’.

As he rightly points out – although it probably went above the broadcasters’ (childrens’) heads – ‘We are not [anymore] ‘[the] grateful recipients of TV’s wonders, but [are] paying consumers of the service it provides.’

From ancient video games like Pong to World of Warcraft, from Swap Shop to eBay, from quaint quiz shows and documentaries to Celebrity Scissorhands, the good, the bad, and the ugly are discussed and given merit where due. As well, the failures, new and old, are also highlighted.

Here are some quotes from Lilley’s speech:

‘TV has got to overcome the fear and hype about interactive media and then get on with it.’

‘Where once tools for media creation and publishing were controlled by an elite, digital technology is increasingly putting them into our hands. We can consume, interact with, create and share media more freely than ever -and this changes the power relationship between us and the mainstream media. We are entering the age of social media.’

‘Deep down, most (broadcasters) see it as a threat to their position and to their business, even though they might protest otherwise. A few are genuinely beginning to see the opportunities.’

‘Broadcasters have failed to fully embrace something perhaps more deep rooted; namely the change in the nature of their relationship with the audience. They have, by and large, under-invested in the creative potential of social media. They have, by and large, and I include the BBC in this, taken some short-sighted decisions to use new technologies defensively -to protect TV income or to provide new means of distribution. And the combination of these and changes in audience behaviour, mean that many broadcasters are looking in the wrong place for the future.’

‘Television needs to stop navel gazing and to be willing to look outside itself for answers.’

‘The broadcasting system as a whole has failed to understand the shift in the way that TV is viewed now that it’s part of a wider world of media.’

And most importantly,

‘You’re fighting the last war.’

And they will lose.

To paraphrase the entire speech:

‘Broadcasters, content producers and ‘product’ distributors – stop suing the living and the dead. Spend time, money and resources on creating new, better and longer-lasting stories that engage the imaginations of the people formerly known as the audience. Take your thumbs out of your asses and get your shit together.’

Millions of people outside the U.K. will never have a chance to see this video on television, either because they don’t receive BBC channels, or most probably because foreign (read U.S.) broadcasters – including PBS – are too afraid to air it.

Lilley’s lecture (and as it’s a lecture, hopefully the ‘children’ in the audience will learn something) is in the end insightful and educational, using clips from many U.S. and U.K television shows, past and present, in a humorous and thought-provoking way.

Unfortunately it’s only 39 minutes long.

catflap – p2pnet

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 6:49 am and is filed under TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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