Backstage TV Humboldt TV Humboldt's Audience Network

Don't Think Internet TV is Really TV?

by Paul Benson

January 22, 2009

After so many years of so-called “TV channels” on the web that were nothing of the sort, it's understandable that some people are reluctant to accept that TV Humboldt has a legitimate claim to call itself TV, or that there even is such a thing as TV on the internet.

If you're one of those who looks at our station and thinks "this ain't TV," you might, first of all, simply not be watching in FULL-SCREEN. We designed it to be enjoyed that way, so if you haven't already done so, click the full-screen button on the video player once it starts playing. Then, try watching from a comfy couch or chair across the room.

If you've done that and still don't think we should be calling it TV, then the chances are that either your computer screen is too small or your computer is too old and/or slow to play TV Humboldt properly. If that's the case, I would suggest that next time you're looking to buy a new TV, you seriously consider just buying a better computer and monitor instead. Why pay for two machines when one will do? And why pay a separate cable TV bill when your basic DSL web connection can now reliably deliver high-quality television with fewer commercials, as well as everything else the web has to offer? $25 a month brings it all!

I regularly watch TV, but NEVER on a TV set. My TV set has been unplugged in my closet for over a year, because I simply don’t need it anymore to watch my favorite TV shows. My internet connection makes paying extra for basic cable totally redundant and wasteful. The fact is that television is deep into a total and revolutionary transformation of the highest order. In terms of hardware, it’s impossible to say whether the computer and the TV will remain separate devices, whether TV will take over the computer, vice versa, or if the two will merge as one appliance. But the issue of how different the hardware is is totally beside the point. What defines TV is functionality, and the user experience. And in those areas, the merging of television and internet video is simply fact.

Hulu is a prime example that the cross-over is very much in progress. It may not be exactly the same as watching Fox 29 or Comedy Central, but in its own way, it’s an incredibly handy way to watch TV shows in fullscreen from my couch, and so I call it TV. In many ways, it's even better than the old kind of television. If you haven't already, you really must check out hulu.com.

Perhaps some holdouts are still thinking TV Humboldt isn't really a TV station. But seeing as how it's a regularly updated audio-visual medium in which a series of carefully selected and compiled videos is delivered, one video after another, in a way that fills your screen, without interruption, without navigation menus appearing between videos, and is designed for a specific viewing audience, I haven’t the slightest problem calling it television. Who cares which gizmo happens to deliver it?

You might say that we're misusing the word TV. But we're not the ones changing the definition of the word. Television itself is changing so blindingly fast that it's not surprising the word is being used in different ways. However, given how far into the game we are in terms of the convergence of computers and TVs, I believe it's no longer appropriate to stick to the old definition of TV. That definition is far too rigid. Although the two technologies may still be somewhat distinct (though less so all the time), the experience for the viewer is a far more relevant way to decide whether or not it’s TV. It’s now quite possible to deliver the television experience over the internet, and that's what we're doing with TV Humboldt.

TV Humboldt is even more like TV than Hulu, because it actually behaves pretty much like Fox 29 or Comedy Central. Once you tune in and go fullscreen, it plays continuously till you turn it off.

The goal of TV Humboldt isn’t to “replace” anything. It’s to add a new viewing option, and to develop an entirely new paradigm of media that will make possible degrees of freedom, diversity, openness, and interactivity scarcely imagined in the media of the past. TV Humboldt is just step 1 in a long-term plan that includes numerous future projects far more interesting and “revolutionary” than what can be seen on the surface looking at the channel as it now looks. I’m very interested in working with other local entrepreneurs, media-makers, and audience members to move decisively toward a future in which Humboldt has a thriving “independent media” industry. To join that dialogue, please email me at citizenmediaman at gmail dot com.