The future of broadcasting, if there is going to be one, is going to be disintermediated, or at least less intermediated than present. The gate keepers who determine channel schedules will gradually lose power. Content providers don't need them if they can talk directly to the audience. Disney and Fox, for example have already gone down this route becoming broadcasters with channels of their own as well as film makers.
Of course it is quite tricky to build an audience and it would be appalling to get rid of one set of gate keepers, the tv executives, only to find there is another, Google and the various alternative online broadcasting networks.
I have a video on Youtube about the Singing Ringing Tree, an artistic and sculptural installation in Burnley. Everyone says it is the best on Youtube. When a web site that spotlights architecture that makes a sound wanted to feature the Singing Ringing Tree they asked for permission to link to my video.
But if you search for my video on Youtube or Google you probably won't find it. This is not because the other videos have paid for a better position in the index-- at least I don't think it is. What is happening is that the searches are picking up the oldest entries before the newer ones. And, of course, the older ones have had more views so if 'hits' are significant in determining listing they also get a leg up from that. My video has had about 10,000 views. Trust me it is a lot better than the most popular video which has had considerably more than 1.5m views.
It seems the brave new world of unfiltered communication, of film makers talking directly to their audience, has one or two problems of its own.
