I was recently in traveling on business in Europe, when I stopped in Poland for a few days of meetings. Having a family, I was naturally thinking of home, what I’d be doing with my kids, etc. Suddenly I realized that I had recently hooked up a new device – a Slingbox from Sling Media. Slingbox allows users to tie their computer back to their home TV devices so you can watch TV from your computer anywhere in the world. So I logged in and started watching Iron Chef America on The Food Network. This show is a staple at our household for both parents and children.

What a thrill for my kids when I called them at the end of the show to discuss the dishes that had been prepared and who they thought would win the battle.

What I realize in retrospect, is that I can go anywhere in the world that has broadband and watch TV from my home – thus I can “place shift” my viewing habits. So if TV now has no boundaries how will rating services take into consideration these place shifted viewers? Perhaps the new set top box tracking services will take care of it? And even if it does, is watching TV from another place now qualify as “interactive media” vs. TV?

Certainly TIVO, Slingbox, MP3 players, etc. put the control of media in the hands of the consumer. They can watch what they want, when they want to and now where they want to. They can be their own radio or TV programmer. And although these new technologies provide challenges for advertisers, media companies and agencies in the form of communicating to customers as well as changing the traditional media business model….I prefer to think the technology will help us all understand our consumers better so we provide the types of communication desirable to them. At the end of the day, they’re ultimately in control.

As always I enjoy your thoughts and opinions.

Scott