I came to this opinion because broadcasters have been so slow to ever change anything, even when change is to their great advantage. But the virtually singular focus at this year’s National Association of Broadcaster’s (NAB) show seemed to change my perspective. Nearly everything in the show – from equipment to production to distribution – featured what I consider to be one of the most faddish technologies available: 3D.

The recent monetary success of films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland have only spurred on what was already quickly becoming a 3D frenzy within the industry. Money – the only thing that could ever possibly prod lethargic broadcasting to stop sitting on its hands; the fact that HD is just now becoming ubiquitous is staggering to me. Then, two things made me look deeper than the motivation of money as the source of this sudden 3D glut.

THE SKY IS FALLING!
The first is fear. Not my own, but the fear I’m encountering among many long term broadcasters. At NAB, there was a twofold sense of urgency and doom. Adapt or die is an unsettling command, and it didn’t seem to be going over too well. Instead of looking at how to embrace and use the rapid changes that have come down the pike in the last 20 years, what was being said was ‘how do we compete with the internet?’

Broadcasters, scared out of their wits, are looking for a trick, gimmick or technology to put them back on top. ‘Surely there is some way to get more viewers than those punk kids on YouTube, and subsequently save precious revenue stream.’

The misconception here is a philosophical one. The way people conceive of content and consumption has changed, but many broadcasters think about

distribution in old terms. This difference has created an unknown for broadcasters, and that unknown is generating a lot of fear.

And so they reach for something that, at the moment, is not readily created for or distributed by the Internet. 3D. Forget that there is virtually no consumer

demand outside of very specific markets; does anyone really want to see Oprah in 3D? Who cares that the technology is in many ways a step backwards (more on this in a moment). It preserves that feeling of separation between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ ‘producer’ and ‘consumer.’

LOOK BEHIND YOU!
And that’s where my second inkling came in. I started looking into the history of 3D. It’s old. In an age where new technologies emerge daily, 3D seems oddly archaic. It is, in fact, older than modern broadcast – first patented in the 1890s. It has crept along, with a series of short-lived peaks.

In terms of quality, IMAX has pushed the envelope to where it is now, and even so much of the

AHA!
And then it came full circle. Broadcast isn’t chasing after a fad at all. They’re falling back on 120 year-old technology – scared of real change. But that’s just what it’s time for. New communication, that engages conversation instead passing messages top down. One that empowers everyone involved in the process – messagers, creatives and receivers. It’s happening, whether broadcasters are coming or not.

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