Traditional TV is waking up

When I attended the iSummit conference back in March, I couldn't help but notice the look of fear in the eyes of the folks who represent traditional media. On one panel, one guy was calling for the CRTC to "save us" from emerging technology tools that will ruin TV forever.

Well, one broadcaster gets it. A press release was issued by BBC, the government-sponsored broadcaster in Britain. It outlined that over the next six-years, BBC will deliver quality content to meet the needs of the on demand world.

It took 10 teams a year to come up with these recommendations (it's government, what do you expect), however, here are some of the highlights.

1. Redo the BBC website to include more personlized content.
   
2. Provide continuous news using radio, TV and mobile devices.
   
3. Provide entertainment on new platforms and experiment (egad!).
   
4. Allow people to record and share their stories and memories using the BBC site.
   

Wow! A traditional broadcaster who's embracing the technology to compliment its offerings. Now, Canadian broadcasters aren't too far behind. CITY-TV in Toronto is already providing podcasts of its news programming. It recently provided podcasts of its VJ Search. For a more national perspective, CanWest Mediaworks provides podcasts of its syndicated Global National newscast.

But to see such an aggressive plan by a broadcaster is quite surprising to me, yet is welcoming.