The virtual worlds forum is at full tilt here in swinging London and Lord Puttnam has today slammed broadcasters for limping along without fully embracing the opportunities offered by virtual worlds and gaming.
“Broadcast media is beginning to look rather incomplete. The industry should be worried about its failure to engage more with the virtual world.
“People have always tried to create imaginary or visionary worlds to inspire and educate those with less imagination, and now we can build more immersive and compelling worlds than ever before.
“The idea of interactive being an add-on to TV seems quaint – like broadcast is only half a format. The default expectation is for some kind of interactivity,” he said.
Sadly he is spot on. I too can’t understand why TV producers, format creators, writers, controllers and commissioners have failed to come up with decent cross platform offerings. Is there a dearth of creativity or are they a wee bit scared of gambling in this new arena? If they continue to ignore the f**k off great virtual elephant in the room, the fastest growing area of popular entertainment is going to be snatched from under their noses. In fact, it’s probably too late.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Virtual Worlds Forum Lord Puttnam
Maybe not too late, Ben.
After all, our national broadcasters have a reach and audience share that could virtually guarantee online success IF they decided to invest in it completely.
The crippling fear of copyright and content theft, loss of control over branding and identity. They’re all real issues, and they’re part of the mental barrier that the industry seems to be facing.
I am not sure that those issues should be a barrier to creative news ways of interacting. I see them as seperate – but imortant – issues. I think that coming up with original formats that can exist within the main channel brands should surely be a priority – it’s no different to coming up with original broadcast content. In fact, creating exciting programme brands that go beyond the TV screen could help strenthen brand identity. I wonder whether broadcasters will start to do deals with gmaing companies. Makes sense from an advertising perspective too.