Somewhere in a television galaxy not so very far away, a half-naked former
EastEnder wearing fox's ears is running from a hunting party of lustful posh
gels; Adam Buxton, of “Adam and Joe” fame, is singing dressed as Carmen
Miranda, with sausages for a headdress; and 12 separate episodes filling a
whole day of interactive programming are closing a successful series in
which the title character was killed off 250 episodes earlier. Welcome to
internet TV.
Two years ago, it seemed impossible that the internet could ever replace the
television as the hub of home entertainment. Now it's common to see groups
of youths gathered round YouTube, or swapping viral clips from Big Brother
rather than bothering with the whole tawdry televised affair. Cheap and easy
broadband has made internet TV possible; and for those who still prefer
their giant plasma screens to their PCs, new-generation televisions are
coming with web browsers built in.
It's what Paul Berrow, the founder of Log.tv, calls the “million-channel
universe”. To stand out, Berrow has chosen the pleasingly old-fashioned
approach of quality over quantity. Hence his collaboration with comic talent
such as Peter Richardson, who directed the Comic Strip's movies: it's he who
has dressed the ex-EastEnder Gary Beadle as a fox for Call Mickey, the
ribald but strangely charming misadventures of a male escort. So successful
have the internet episodes been, that film producers have commissioned a
feature treatment. Even better, Richardson and Log.tv are hammering out a
deal to bring back Stella Street, original cast and all, as an internet
exclusive.
TV companies in the US are beginning to take notice. The comedian Will Ferrell
and his internet TV site Funnyordie.com last week announced a $10million
deal with HBO. “I don't want to overstate the importance of this deal,” said
Ferrell with atypical modesty, “but this is the missing link moment where TV
and internet finally merge. It will change the way we as human beings
perceive and interact with reality. OK, I overstated it. But it is an
exciting deal.”
And two internet-only series have been picked up for big bucks: Quarterlife,
by the makers of thirtysomething, was bought by NBC. Sadly, the opening
episode brought record low ratings, and the series has been shuffled off to
Bravo instead. But Quarterlife frankly wasn't that hot online, either, and
wouldn't have been bought were it not for the writers' strike. Better things
are expected of Sanctuary, which holds the Guinness world record for the
most expensive internet TV show at $4.5million, and has recently been picked
up by the Sci-Fi Channel.
British TV companies are less adventurous. Five bought Bebo's online drama
Sofia's Diary, but only to run unaltered on digital channel Fiver as “snack
TV”. BBC Three is finally showing Adam Buxton's MeeBox this week, which is
based on sketches he has been trying out on his own YouTube mini-channel,
but his blog betrays frustration at the long wait.
And Luke Hyams, the creator of the phenomenally successful internet drama Kate
Modern, as well as Channel 4's Dubplate Drama, recently tried hard to
explain the concept of interactivity to an audience of BBC Drama execs -
“But they just seemed to regard it as an aggravation they didn't need,
rather than an opportunity.”
The first Kate Modern “happening”, more than a year ago, invited fans to a
real-life art gallery. A dozen or so showed up, and they were roped into an
exciting kidnap storyline. Subsequent happenings have attracted thousands.
The series finale, on June 28, will allow fans to chat to characters online
between episodes, and thereby dictate the direction of the plot. Several
alternatives will be filmed in advance and, in a delightfully low-tech
approach, Hyams says he will be helping the actors answer in character
during the web chats by holding up colour-coded Post-it notes.
In fact, the whole of internet TV is pretty hand-to-mouth at the moment. Kate
Modern broke new ground by selling product placement in its “webisodes”. But
on the whole, as Log.tv's Berrow puts it, “the advertisers have yet to come
to the party”. When YouTube makes only $80 million profit a year, despite
controlling 60 per cent of the market, you know there's precious little
revenue left among the sites scrapping for that other 40 per cent. And,
ironically, the more viewers they attract, the more it costs them in
web-servers to support the demand.
There were even doomy predictions, at one point, that the internet itself
would collapse under the strain of our growing video-watching habit. Berrow
pooh-poohs this, saying that new solutions are being invented all the time.
In particular, the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, which this summer will
either reveal the origin of the Universe or suck the world into a black
hole, required a whole new kind of internet to be invented to handle all the
data. “It's about a thousand times faster,” Berrow says. “And given that it
was invented by the same man who developed the original internet, I wouldn't
be surprised if he just makes this one public as well.”
Hm. Much of what is currently broadcast on the net is complete manure, and a
delivery mechanism that allows it to hit the fan at a thousand times the
speed seems a mixed blessing. But don't let me put you off: there are some
gems, if you know where to look. (see below).
MeeBox is on BBC Three on Sunday at 11.45pm. The Kate Modern finale is on
www.bebo.co.uk/katemodern on June 28. See “The Web Watcher” column, times2,
Mon-Fri
INTERNET TV WORTH WATCHING
BABELGUM.COM
Founded by the Italian media mogul Silvia Scaglia, this offers mainstream TV
shows and more niche interests, from documentary to independent film. The
inaugural Babelgum Online Film Festival was chaired by Spike Lee.
FUNNYORDIE.COM
Dire, mostly, in my opinion, but no accounting for taste in comedy. Just
signed a $10 million deal that gives HBO a 10 per cent stake in the site,
which helps to answer the question of where the money will come from.
HULU.COM
A joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp, this offers more than 100
movies and 400 American TV shows.
JOOST.COM
Brought to you by the people behind Skype (free phonecalls over the internet),
Joost has licensing deals with Viacom, Aardman Animation, CBS, Warner Music,
Endemol and others.
LOG.TV
Home of Peter Richardson's Call Mickey, this is a new, high-quality British
site that works with top comedy talent. A new music channel also goes live
this week.
METACAFE.COM
Popular clips site in the YouTube vein. Makers of videos that are viewed more
than 20,000 times are paid $5 per 1,000 views.
MIRO.COM
Open-source application designed to guide you to more than 2,500 internet TV
channels.
VBS.TV
Off-beat ragbag of slacker shows, but of a certain originality, as you might
expect from the creative director being Spike Jonze.
VEOH.COM
With the former Disney chairman Michael Eisner on the board and AOL
Time-Warner one of the investors, this is another major player. It has
licensed more network TV shows than YouTube, and allows viewing of full
30-minute episodes.
YOUTUBE.COM
Daddy of them all, YouTube is composed entirely of short clips put up by users
- sometimes without permission, hence the odd legal battle with copyright
holders.
ZATTOO.COM
European-based service that delivers mainstream TV to your PC. Content varies
from country to country, depending on which rights it can acquire. In
England it currently offers 29 channels.
... And the major British TV channels all have their own web offerings:
bbc.co.uk; itv.com; Channel4.com; Five.tv; Sky.com
How could you have missed Dr Horrible (http://www.drhorrible.com)? It's possible Joss Whedon isn't as much of a big thing across the pond, but this was another internet series born of the writer's strike, and fantastic to boot.
Hannele, Waterloo, ON,
You say that you tube is composed entirely of short clips.
Not true. Whole films and TV series are often uploaded to You Tube.
There is also content created by and for the you tube audience themselves, some of which is very high quality.
Robert G Reeks, Blackpool, UK
Graham, as a matter of fact you only need a TV licence if you watch live tv on your PC, not if you're watching a recording.
Graham, Sittingbourne, Kent
Sorry guy's, but if you can receive TV of any kind via your PC you need a TV license. Hell of a thing I know, but true. This is the UK and they have it covered all ways to get as much of your money as possible.
Graham, Bournemouth, UK
That's the UK, not 'England' - Zattoo also carries regional versions of ITV from Sctoland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Ken, Leatherhead,
If the internet provides all the information and entertainment one needs, then Paul in Coventry could dispose of his TV set and thus not need to pay a TV licence. But clearly he does still use and need a TV, and with big widescreen pictures it's clearly preferable for most people.
John, London
John Flahive, London, UK
You only need to have a TV licence if you have a TV. Thus if the internet gives you "access to all I want and need", then presumably you could dispose of your TV?
Claims that TV has been replaced seem premature, I'd rather watch football on a good size screen (better still HD) not a tiny matchbox
John, London, UK
The problem with Internet TV is that so many ISP impose download limits , which could limit the popularity of it future expansion in the UK
Clive, Dartford, Kent
The internet already has replaced broadcast television as an information and entertainment source. Could someone please explain to me why I should waste £11 a month on a TV Licence when the £15 a month I pay for broadband (including standing charge) gives me access to all I want and need?
Paul, Coventry,