The Evolving Definition of ‘Television’
The term ‘television’ feels increasingly anachronistic. While we cling to its familiarity, recent industry shifts – notably Netflix’s strategic moves concerning Warner Bros. Discovery assets – underscore a profound truth: what we once called television has transcended the confines of a screen in a living room. It’s no longer merely about passively consuming professionally produced, long-form content at a scheduled time. Today, ‘television’ is an adaptable, personal experience, a fluid connection to stories that molds itself to the viewer’s life.
It’s about the ‘how,’ ‘when,’ and ‘where’ of our engagement with content, spanning diverse moments, moods, and devices. Television is that instant we choose to be swept away by a narrative – whether for comfort, curiosity, escape, or connection. This moment can unfold on a sofa, in a rideshare, while cooking, or between meetings, across any screen, any duration, and any format. Television, in essence, has become a state of mind.
When Product Experience Becomes Strategy
My return to the U.S. after a stint in satellite television for News Corp. in India revealed the undeniable trajectory towards digital streaming. This intuition solidified during my time with News Corp./Fox’s internet portfolio in the MySpace era. A crucial, humbling lesson emerged: media companies don’t merely ‘go digital’ by executive decree. True digital transformation occurs when product experience itself becomes the core strategy.
At MySpace, we celebrated what appeared to be a brilliant deal: Google guaranteed approximately $900 million over three years for ad placement. Wall Street cheered; users, however, did not. The platform’s interface became cluttered, load times crawled, and the very cultural ‘vibe’ that made MySpace dominant began to dissipate. When Facebook arrived with its clean, intuitive design, users didn’t deliberate a switch; they simply migrated en masse. This pivotal moment illuminated an enduring industry challenge: users vote with their behavior, not with their declared loyalty.
You Can’t Litigate Your Way to Relevance
MySpace also taught me that relevance cannot be reclaimed through legal battles. When intense music rights pressure mounted, particularly from Universal Music’s high-stakes litigation, the focus shifted from conflict to collaboration. A Hulu-like joint venture was forged with major labels, licensing catalogs and aligning incentives. The true victory wasn’t ‘winning’ a fight, but recognizing that the disruptors succeed by ceasing to combat new user behaviors and instead building an ecosystem around them. Disney’s recent partnership with OpenAI stands as a contemporary testament to this forward-thinking approach.
Engineers as Modern Storytellers
These insights proved invaluable as I launched direct-to-consumer products for a major telecom platform and later for HBO Latin America. Within large organizations, the importance of technology is universally acknowledged. The real challenge lies in securing funding, attracting visionary talent, and providing the necessary runway for these investments to yield returns. The so-called ‘streaming wars’ are often framed as content battles, but they are increasingly product wars: battles for superior discovery, hyper-personalization, and the quiet, relentless reduction of friction that keeps users immersed in the experience.
To understand the mechanics of this shift, I joined a PE-backed digital engineering services company as CLO and CPO, navigating the forced digital transformation of the COVID era. Here, a profound realization reshaped my perspective on media: engineers are storytellers, just like their counterparts on the content side. They may not craft the plot, but they narrate how we live our online lives – how we find content, connect with others to share it, and return for continued engagement. The very act of consuming content has become an intrinsic part of the content experience itself.
The Future is Experiential: Lessons from Industry Leaders
This represents the true power shift I’ve recently explored: control is migrating from those who merely own the most content to those who deliver the most compelling experience. YouTube serves as the clearest case study. It caters to nearly every ‘TV state of mind’ – from short bursts to deep dives, background listening to big-screen sessions – all powered by a seamless product layer and a data flywheel that consistently engages audiences. Crucially, it also engages creators, not by ceding equity, but by sharing advertising revenue at scale.
Netflix internalized this philosophy early on: one global product, a singular recommendation engine, and a continuous engagement loop, backed by a willingness to invest heavily in technology to compound its value. Now, the industry is testing whether consolidation can accelerate this experiential advantage. If Netflix’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets signals anything, it’s that future media deals should be evaluated less by ‘how much content did we acquire’ and more by whether the combined entity can deliver a superior, global user experience.
Redefining Media: The Experiential Imperative
So, what does the future hold when we embrace television as a state of mind? Theatrical experiences won’t vanish; they will evolve. From merely ‘watching a movie in an uninteresting venue,’ they will transform into a curated social ritual built on community and connection. The winners in this new landscape will emulate exceptional hospitality brands and premium experience operators – meticulously designing nights people crave, delivering them consistently, and scaling these into repeatable, franchise-ready models.
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