MIT Graduate Program in Comparative Media Studies

Studying Media and Making Media

by on

William Uricchio in the Hollywood Reporter

William Uricchio
William Uricchio

The main message to come out of the German TV festival and confab, which wrapped Monday, was that big industry bugaboos including Internet piracy and TiVo-like time-shifting technology won’t mean the end of TV.

“Television is a parasite that lives on the back of other platforms,” said MIT professor and media historian William Uricchio in his keynote. “The panic I’m seeing now (with regards to the Internet) has happened to TV before … with the advent of the remote control and the video recorder.”

While Uricchio acknowledged he thinks the traditional ad-supported TV model is on the way out, other Cologne Conference speakers provided some hope with examples of other profitable ways to produce drama content.

Read the rest of the Hollywood Reporter’s article “Tech fears tackled at Cologne Conference” . . .

About Andrew Whitacre

Andrew directs the communications efforts for CMS/W and its research groups. A native of Washington, D.C., he holds a degree in communication from Wake Forest University, with a minor in humanities, as well as an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College.

His work includes drawing up and executing strategic communications plans, with projects including website design, social media management and training, press outreach, product launches, fundraising campaign support, and event promotions.