It is far too early to proclaim the death of traditional television as we know it, but Google’s recent partnership with Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane does nothing to comfort TV networks, or Hollywood movie studios for that matter. That’s because the possibility of more and more content bypassing TV networks’ and movie studios’ doors has become that much more of a reality.
Google has signed on to become the content distributor of a new online-only animated series called “Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” to be created by MacFarlane, who will receive a share of the advertising revenues stemming from the deal. He will also be given the opportunity to animate online commercial spots for generous compensation.
The benefits to MacFarlane are clear. Not only does he have a multi-million dollar budget (thanks in part to Media Rights Capital) to work with, something that is unheard of for an online video series, but the Federal Communications Commission will not be able to hamper MacFarlane’s creativity. “I just felt I could be a lot more honest on the Internet,” he said.
The benefits to Google, however, are a bit unclear. John Battelle, one of the original founders of Wired Magazine and CEO of Federated Media, went so far as to say that the venture “will fail utterly.” Cynthia Brumfield, president of Emerging Media Dynamics and publisher of the IP Democracy blog, expects this to be a financially unrewarding undertaking, with Google ponying up lots of money to fund the efforts. She also thinks that Google and MacFarlane’s partnership will “spark a rush into content creation by a lot of Internet companies.”
“Cavalcade” will begin playing online in September, and is slated for 50 two-minutes episodes, each of which will be like “animated versions of the one-frame cartoons you might see in The New Yorker, only edgier,” according to MacFarlane.
This is unlikely to be a historic event, but it serves as a portent for the landscape of entertainment content. The Internet will notch more and more victories, and traditional television and Hollywood will have to adjust their game plans.
Sources:
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=13200C4QMX70
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208801726
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