The Small Screen Comes to...Well, the Same Screen

In the last few years, we've been seeing a lot of evidence that the young male demographic--arguably the most coveted consumer group across basically all major mainstream entertainment industries--has been spending considerably less time watching television and considerably more time playing video games than has traditionally been the case. Despite this, there have been many new high profile television series springing up recently that demand a certain amount of dedication on the part of viewers from week to week. To try and reconcile these situations, TV executives are seriously broadening the scope of delivery methods for television shows, into devices such as cell phones, portable media players, and, potentially, video game consoles.

"The ABC network is our No. 1 priority," Sweeney assured the crowd at her network's upfront presentation, before touting initiatives that made its hit show "Lost" available on iTunes and will soon have it featured in so-called mobisodes for cell phones.

"But 'Lost' is only possible on iTunes because it's popular on television," she reminded the audience.

CBS and NBC have undertaken similar initiatives with their own popular TV programs, well-aware that advertisers are keen to reach consumers increasingly attached to their cell phones, portable music players, video games and laptops.

As game companies, particularly console manufacturers Microsoft and Sony, vie for dominance not just of consumers' gaming habits but of their entire entertainment lifestyles, it seems likely that television episodes may some day end up on consoles. Xbox 360 in particular already provides various types of non-gaming video content to its users, with Microsoft signing deals with various film studios as well as Epic Records (ironically a subsidiary of Sony BMG) to deliver film trailers and music videos via Xbox Live. Of course, storage space is an issue, as a full season of a TV program, especially one delivered in HD, would weigh pretty heavily on the 360's 20GB hard drive. Some sort of subscription-based streaming service in which users have episodes linked to their account but not necessarily kept on the drive at all times might be feasible. Nothing to this effect has been announced by Microsoft or any potential partners, but given the oneupmanship that is likely to occur when Sony launches its competing system and attempts to exercise similar leverage in various non-gaming entertainment fields, it seems like only a matter of time. As somebody without TV service, I wouldn't mind being able to subscribe to a specific TV show over my Xbox 360 for the right price, even if it's not something I'm currently pining for. It's certainly more appealing than the idea of watching TV on my cell phone. How about you?