Zuiker: We're Going To Drive Them Back To Television

[CSI Files]

<I>CSI</I> is looking to expand beyond television.<p>"I lost 8 million viewers on our premiere last season. Where are they? They're on the Web," <I>CSI</I> creator <font color=yellow>Anthony Zuiker</font> said at a panel on Monday. "People are consuming more and more content on the Web. ... The broadcast model in terms of advertising is a little bit broken."<p>Zuiker spoke about "Cross Blending Storytelling", which he described as "launching a narrative from television to the Web to mobile to gaming and back to television." Zuiker said the goal is to "drive them back to television, not away from television," and he went on to warn, "if you don't take care of television ... the laptop will dominate."<p>"The good news is now you can monetize all four platforms," he said. "We are going to monetize TV on all four platforms to make up for the dollars we are losing on TV." Zuiker said people such as himself and his staff would accomplish this by "building story lines into the script -- launching new characters, launching new story lines, launching things you can enjoy beyond TV in one hour." He went on to say, "You have to make content specific to the device."<p>Zuiker and his team are already exploring ways to outsource into mobile and gaming. "The days of just watching a show from 9-10 (p.m.) are over," he said. "It's all going to change. ... There is no such thing as a one-off anymore."<p>The original article is from the <A class="link" HREF="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ibe47ce7261506e1888d3d84d11bceac2">Hollywood Reporter</a>.<center></center>

 

[Finch]

Maybe those 8 million viewers aren't online, they just think the show isn't as good as it used to be? I mean, I have access to episodes online from sites like iTunes and I still watch the show on television.

And I'm not sure I understood anything he was saying in the article. :lol: He was a little vague on all aspects. What exactly are they planning to do online? I doubt putting episodes on people's iPhones and buying mobile games is going to make a huge difference--at least to me. Why would I want to download the episodes onto my iPhone and buy the mobile games if I can watch the show for free on television? *shrugs*

"building story lines into the script -- launching new characters, launching new story lines, launching things you can enjoy beyond TV in one hour"

Maybe I'm just extra blonde today but don't they do that for television anyhow? :lol: I suppose if they want to expand to the internet more with all of this, they'll definitely get that revenue and interest. And it was inevitable that the laptop/internet/mobile would start to dominate. Entertainment is expanding and television will probably become obsolete in the next hundred years - or sooner - anyway. *crosses fingers for a holodeck in the near future*

 

[Adzix]

it sounds like they are planning on doing something nobody else had thought of. idk, providing something online that would make people watch it on TV?

imo they shouldn't try to change the direction the river's going but go with it. if people are watching less TV, Zuicker & Co should find ways not to bring them back again, but get the same money using the existing trends.

it's something Kodak did with their cameras when the digital era knocked to their door. instead of investing in it, like everybody else, they thought the pro's are never gonna switch from the old fashioned ones, so they put a whole lotta money into the old technology. they wasted millions and now they are still trying to catch up.