"TV's Still Going to Look a Lot Like TV Five Years from Now"

Bismarck Lepe, Ooyala president of products, apparently does not believe the television medium will be all that different in five years, especially as related to the way television is produced, namely that TV is about storytelling. Whether the business will change is a separate question. 


TV still is primarily "storytelling," he argues, and lots of observers would say all the "interactive features" once touted for television have failed to take hold for several reasons, among them the key insight that storytelling is not necessarily "improved" by allowing viewers or listeners to change plot lines, for example. 


A couple of decades ago, there was much more interest in interactive television features that might allow such changes, as well as more advertising and multimedia features. But those efforts failed. 


Even arguably "less ambitious" efforts to create standards for interactive TV ads likewise have failed. 


As it turns out, at least so far, television remains a "lean back" consuming experience. Consumers do not, at least not yet, have much interest in "lean forward" television, a stark contrast with much use of the Web or video gaming, for example.


That's one reason why many believe the big changes to come might not be about the television format (linear storytelling), but more about the way television is purchased, packaged or delivered, the big change being a shift to online delivery using the Internet. 

What is less clear are the business models and retail packaging of video content. There will gradually be additional ways to consume video paid for as part of a subscription, typically on PCs, tablets or smart phones, though the geographic coverage might well be restricted (within the home, in some cases). But that capability will be a feature of a video subscription, not an alternative.

New payment methods, on the other hand, might play a bigger role, some argue. But that doesn't change the fundamental nature of the experience, the way the product is designed, or necessarily the delivery channel.