As engineers, we often choose technology for its own sake, perhaps because of our desire to build the pure and perfect system. The evolution of digital technology, the migration of storage from isolated video tapes sitting on library shelves to centralized shared servers—contrasted with increasingly distributed production—means we have to think more in terms of "workflow" than equipment.
As the video facility evolves from dedicated technology to a distributive workflow, today’s engineer may need to add “businessman” to his resume as he works closely with management to achieve the company’s financial goals and get a reasonable return on his choice of equipment and systems.
Our May meeting offers a case study of how the system design and technology selected in building the Current TV network [www.current.com] were driven by a unique business model for cablecasting.
Current TV first went on the air in the U.S. in August of 2005 with the concept of “a television network created by the people who watch it.” Current's viewers now produce as much as 60% of all programming content, which is first posted in low resolution on their website so fellow cable viewers can vote on what they want to watch. Current pays the winners fees in exchange for copyrights.
In March of 2007, Current expanded their reach with a cable channel in the UK, and in February of 2008 launched a third cable outlet in Italy, while maintaining a centralized workflow in San Francisco—the heart of their business model.
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