NEW MEDIA FOR NEW MEDIUMS
"Television is no longer a stand-alone medium" [Given, 1998], it is no longer the lone force in the transmission of media and entertainment onto the Australian public. We are now in a position where it is necessary to develop a more fitting theoretical model that is aligned with the cultural, social and political influences that are a reflection of what is being broadcast over multimedia platforms. Despite their initial debates, broadcasters are being forced to adapt to a changing audience keen to take on a producer and participatory role in programming. Old business models have now become obsolete and broadcasters need to adapt to these rapidly changing demands and desires from their consumers. As Chris Winters from the ABC Innovations department suggests, people often "Overestimate the speed of change but also underestimate its inevitability".
The role needs to shift from the tight control of broadcasters to allow for audiences to take on the producer role that they so desperately wish to grasp. "All through 2006 free-to-air Australian television celebrated its first 50 years by obsessively gazing into the rear-view mirror while heading for the abyss - an abyss opened up by the promise of digital television, increasing competition from pay TV and the internet, which enables both legal and illegal downloads of current shows". With the NBN lurking on the horizon, it is the best interest of the broadcasters to embrace the on-demand format and venture into digital platforms to gain access to the audience that has a keen interest in utilising this as their preferred method of transmission. This modern audience is inquisitive, they need to be active rather than passive, they want to cross multiple platforms of multimedia, have a voice and have a role in the selection process of what they consume. They do not want to be dictated to, they want to be involved. This is the reason for the success of such programs as reality television, with their incorporation of multiple platforms such as the traditional broadcasting service of the television, the Internet, mobile phones, social media. This is engaging for the viewer and gives them the perception that they have control. It does not rule out mediums but embraces them and therefore secures the audience through all facets available. Suggestions of the end of a broadcast era, is what is instigating fear in programmers who have ratings and revenues that must be tended to. "Technologies themselves interact more directly than ever before. In such locations, and as audiences more easily bypass traditional free-to-air schedules; broadcasting has begun to relinquish its dominance of the television and advertising market. This process is playing itself out in Australia at the moment: television advertising revenues are in decline while online advertising is on the rise." |