Monday, February 11, 2008

The 365-Day Countdown Begins!

What’s been dear to many of our hearts is soon to fade into history…the TV set!

For a boomer like me, it was where the family gathered round on many a night.

I remember watching Lawrence Welk with my Grandmother. I remember the bubbles when the band would play.

I watched the news that Kennedy was shot and then sat in silence in front of the TV as the horse pulled his coffin down Pennsylvania Avenue.

I learned a lot from my morning entertainment guy named Mr. Kangaroo.

And I watched in awe as Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon.

When I reached my teenage years, I would gather with friends and watch Dallas.

I remember the day when my college classes were suspended as we watched Iran seize the US Embassy in Tehran and take the diplomats hostage on the campus TVs.

When I got out of college and started working in the ad agency biz, I remember flying down to Atlanta to meet with this new station called TBS and this guy Ted Turner.

I remember the launch of CNN, MTV, ESPN, Discovery and HBO.

TV is one of the core icons of the Boomer generation.

The first day that I started working on the marketing strategy think-tank team at Time-Warner I was handed an assignment about this new thing called HDTV. Congress had just passed a bill and President Clinton signed it.

The bill set the timeline for the conversion from analog to digital broadcasting.

I spent the next month or so learning about the federal bill and this new way of receiving broadcast programming.

I came to understand the difference between analog and digital broadcast signals and got familiar with which cities, which broadcasters and which networks had to begin broadcasting digital when and how.

I was struck by one fundamental truth. The analog band is finite. The digital band is infinite.

When I presented my findings to the Time-Warner VPs, many of the guys and gals reacted by doubting that the conversion would ever take place.

I laughed and told them don’t be surprised if some day an internet company takes over a broadcast company.

About a year later, I was on a Delta flight to LA with the VP of Marketing from MindSpring (now Earthlink) sitting next to me. She and I got into a discussion about changes taking place in our respective industries.

She then turned to me and asked where did I plan to work after the Internet took over broadcast television. I sipped on my martini and turned to her and ask what she was planning to do when the Television set replaced the PC.

Starting this upcoming Sunday February 17th the 365-day countdown begins.

As reported on MSNBC 12/31/07… “On February 17, 2009, television stations across the country will hit the OFF button on this time-tested technology…and without converter boxes, the conventional set screens will go to snow.”

Since I did the report for Time-Warner, new worlds have emerged with names like My Space, YouTube, Google and FaceBook. Since then, “television” can be viewed on big sets, small sets, flat screens, car screens, personal airline screens, iPods, computer screens and mobile phones.

With my iPhone I can watch all the videos I want on YouTube. I have a choice of grass-root productions, network sit-coms and cable network news.

How many marketers, ad agencies, media buying companies, rating measurement firms and advertising academia do you think continue to hold on to the past?

How many do you think are beginning to hear the clock tick?

The TV set is history…and I am not only referring to that broadcast box where I watched Lawrence Welk with my Grandmother!

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