billwixey.com

For years, I've been thinking about how traditional broadcast media is going to move onto the web. The transition is inevitable. The question is how does traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers) make that move and meld with social media?

Since its inception, television news has been a one-way conversation. The broadcaster sits high atop a mountaintop, heralding the days' news to the citizenry in the form and fashion the broadcaster sees fit.  The schedule, the rundown, the tone and the content of the newscast has always been determined by the broadcaster, and accepted by the audience.

It's time to turn that that model on its head. 

With the booming popularity of social networking sites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, broadcasters now have an an opportunity to connect with the audience in new and powerful ways.

By communicating with the audience one-on-one on these sites,  we increase our effectiveness, and build trust and credibility.  We have the opportunity to take this one step further: to create a broadcast in which the viewer determines the schedule, the rundown, the tone and the content--because they provide it.

I envision a TV newscast that is streamed live on the web--a portable, interactive TV news program. The news program that you can take with you. Not only that, but a show that you could watch on multiple platforms, and then communicate with in (somewhat) real time.  

Using the social media websites and our own, we can easily gauge what stories people are talking about and engage them. Create content intatives in which we solicit content from the viewers. So they not only provide the stage, but also provide the script for the production. It's their show. We are just providing the theatre. 

The technology is there.

The question is execution.