Not only does this type of programming require real-time distribution, as these shows are quite often cheaper to produce than pre-recorded entertainment or documentaries they tend to fill a large portion of the schedule.
And since there are so many of these reality shows in existence and the existing broadcast technology seems to perfectly meet the needs of the show producers, what is the point of trying to shift these shows to the Internet? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! I do believe that the amount of video content on the Internet will increase dramatically over the next few years, just as it has in the past. But I don't believe that existing video businesses, such as TV channels, are going to shift to Internet distribution other than through specialized services. The real driver behind the future increase in video on the Internet is the falling cost of video production and the widespread knowledge of how to create watchable video. Five years ago in high school, my son was taking a video production course. Where do you think YouTube gets their content? In the past, it was broadband to the home, webcams and P2P that drove the increase in video content, but the future is not just more of the same. YouTube has leveraged the increased level of video production skills in the population but only in a crude way. Let's put it this way. How much traffic on the net was a result of dead-tree newpapers converting to Internet delivery, and how much was due to the brand-new concept of blogging? --Michael Dillon