Stop Reading This Blog.

Seriously. Stop right now. Go watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And then go watch Firefly and Castle.

Done? Great! Now that you've seen some great shows, let's talk about rich media. Rich media is loosely defined as "pretty stuff that is informative or entertaining in some way". Got a graph showing how Napoleon's army got smaller the closer he got to Moscow? That's rich media, because it has a lot of information packed into one diagram that can be read in many ways. Got a TV show online? That's rich media. Got a website that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about emotions manifesting themselves in blogs? That's rich media, too.

Did you notice anything different about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? Instead of showing an air date, Hulu lists it as a "web exclusive". What's really impressive, however, is that it won an Emmy. An Emmy, folks. A television award was given to something that was never shown on the boob tube.

A few years ago, television networks started putting some of their shows up on their websites for viewing (after they aired on TV, of course). Now, most shows are online within 24 hours of their initial air date, which is threatening to invalidate Nielsen ratings and cause a major shift in TV viewers' habits. Since currently online shows have typically only one 30-second commercial at each break instead of two to four minutes' worth, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that online broadcasts don't generate as much money for the networks as traditional TV.

Still, putting shows online has the potential to expand a show's audience. Maybe someone has a scheduling conflict that prevents them from watching a show when it airs, but they discover it online. Maybe they even go out later and buy the season DVD, which equals money for the network anyway. Networks are already trying to figure out how best to monetize their online content, and I predict that they will continue changing and refining their strategies. Online rich media is here to stay.

Quote of the Day:
Zoe: Cap'n'll have a plan...always does.
Kaylee: That's good, right?
Zoe: It's possible you're not recalling some of the cap'n's previous plans.
--Firefly