TV on the Internet

In an ongoing series, DAME takes a hard look at technology. Here, the WebTV movement and how it's actually playing out online.

By David Haas
Published: Dec 13, 2007

Web TV, IPTV, VLOGs or Vodcasts, whatever, they’re not replacing your Sunday night HBO lineup. At present, they’re more like upgraded YouTube videos with a $250 production budget.

If you haven’t discovered WebTV, don’t fret; they still have a way to go, so you’re not missing much. On the other hand, if you want to quit your job and become a TV producer with your own show, here’s your chance.

WebTV is the next step up from user submitted content video sites.
”Shows” are usually 2-5 minutes - video shorts more than actual programs - so don’t turn to this medium for plot. WebTV sites rely largely on viewer voting to determine which “shows” each “channel” will post for viewing. Not quite the novel idea it was before reality TV infested our culture, but we’ll save that topic for a rainy day. Most WebTV leans much more towards YouTube than actual television. Basically, you’re getting upgraded production value on the cannabis inspired home-videos you - or your friends - used to make in college.

The problem is that the Internet has made distribution of creative content accessible to millions of people without a creative bone in their bodies. In the past, one (debatably,) needed to possess some kind of talent or at least a grip of cash before one’s oeuvres would be unleashed on an unsuspecting public. The mountains of GILF porn, kidney punches and other land mines between you and a good TV show were bad enough when it was left to the professionals. Now any Joe can pick up a $100 vid-cam and upload his brother lighting farts on fire and somehow pipe it to your computer screen.

Whatever. This is the Internet in the 21st century. You knew what you were in for when you had that broadband connection installed. Here are a few of the pioneers in what is sure to become a major player in the entertainment landscape. The quality of videos on YouTube probably won’t ever become pro, but now that WebTV is becoming corporate and organized, there will be pressure to create better shows than the “other guys” with sponsor & ad dollars on the line. So while we may now be patronized by humor featuring an office geek with a slide rule making origami animals, things are bound to improve. Ah, greed.

www.RawVegas.tv – Everything Vegas. Documented. And watered down. Don’t worry; even if you come across these guys in Vegas, what really happens in Vegas, still stays in Vegas. No one’s getting divorced over these reports from Sin City.

www.channel101.com – Cool idea, mediocre execution. Monthly competition for short filmmakers where pilots for ten different program ideas are judged by audiences. The top five become regular “prime time” series on the website where new episodes post and can be viewed. They reign the marquee until the next competition when five new pilots face off against the five incumbents.

www.acceptable.tv – Users create and upload their own 2.5 minute TV shows to the website. Each week, five user-created shows are deemed "acceptable" by the show's creators, and other users are able to vote for their favorite. The top voted episode airs alongside four shorts created by the AcceptableTV team weekly on VH1 .

www.black20.com – Founders J. Crowley and Neil Punsalan are former NBC writers gone Rudolf Nureyev – yes, defectors. Their featured comedy shows include Black20 News (Daily Show rip-off,) Net_Work (The Office theme rip-off,) and The Middle Show (rip-off of Daily Show correspondent sketches.) Low-fi Kids in the Hall.

David Haas cannot dance despite touring with James Brown for two years. When he discovered that cool doesn't rub off, he settled in Scotland to begin training for a career in competitive eating. After a year and a personal best of only 13 hot dogs in 12 minutes, he washed the gastric juices off his ego and relocated to Southern California to breed fighting crickets.

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