Our research into online entertainment opportunities and challenges has led us to a simple but radical conclusion about media piracy:
"You can't pirate an interactive experience."
When we compared the characteristics of successful Web TV series for our WeVision report, it became clear that they all engage very effectively with their online audience-communities.
While media owners remain concerned about piracy via the Internet, it's Internet interactivity that provides the solution.
The digital media that can be copied - such as video - must be integrated into an online social experience.
You can pirate all the video you want, but you can't clone a community of viewers and their interactive entertainment experiences.
Internet viewers really do want to be part of the action.
- They might do so within a social networking site – choosing contestants and adding travel tips to backpacking reality show The Gap Year on Bebo
- Or they can feed into the show's subject matter – as with talk show Diggnation taking stories to discuss from the Digg.com social news site
- And they even contribute directly to the production costs – as for the launch season of gamer sit-com The Guild
The proven, central role of audience participation led us to formulate the WeVision four steps to online media success – match, engage, inspire and co-create.
Broadcasters and producers can deal with piracy by making the most of online TV as a unique new medium and build in social interactivity from the very outset.
To find out more about WeVision, download the full introduction and contents.
To talk to us about the report, please e-mail information@futurescape.co.uk
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