There has been a serious uptick in shows on the web last week.We had the incredible, wonderful greatness that was Dr. Horrible but did you also know that we had part one of the Heroes web series and 30 Days of Night web series (on NBC dot com and FEARNet dot com respectively)? The production values on all of them are top notch. Easilly the equal of anything on broadcast television and free for the viewing.

I love original web broadcast content and I really hope (and can’t help but assume it is) a trend we are going to see growing in the future from major media outlets (as opposed to, say, a dude on youtube with a digital camera and some free time).

I really would like to see the between season balance tilt away from ARG type stuff to more original stuff settin the universes of the various shows, or hell, just the production companies trying something new and different during their down time.

Which makes me think of another thing. I really would like to see the death of the traditional broadcasting seasons. This an idea that has way outlived its time. Some of the cable networks (SciFI and Comedy Central for example) completely ignore ‘seasons’ and just start new shows as soon as a new run of material presents itself.

This new model caters to, rather then enslaves, the watching habits of the viewers. Combined with DVR and (let’s be honest here) BitTorrent and the like empowers viewers to control their various media streams, eliminating unwanted content, including advertising. And aye, there’s the rub. Someone has to pay for these shows.

Some of the newer models (Hulu)force embedded but shorter advertising on the viewer for example. This solution is ok, but again the file sharing community is already going around it. Other revenue streams are going to need to be explored. Here is where I test my fortunetelling skills. I think what the Whedon’s did with Dr. Horrible is really going to shake some people up at the studios. I think their DVD sales and iTune sales are really going to suprise some people. At least I hope they do.

It is adventurous exploration of new ways to not only create, but also pay for new media content that is going to pave the way for the inevitable shift in broadcast television/movies/etc. Trying to shiftily adapt the old schemes will only work for the length of time for people to get around them.

Things are changing, I’m glad some content creators out there are realizing it.