Spicy Ideas: TV From the Sky (The Day TV Died)

With apologies to Don McLean and his incredible song "American Pie."

A not so long, long time ago ...
I can still remember
How that television used to make me smile.
And they launched that reality show
That they hoped would make them grow
And, maybe, they'd be famous for a while.

But the blogs made me shiver
With every post they'd deliver.
Bad news on the flat screen;
I didn't believe the end scene.

I can't remember if I updated
When I read TV numbers were deflated,
But something touched me deep inside
The day television died.

So bye-bye, TV from the sky.
Hooked the net up to my set,
And now the set will just fly.
And my Facebook friends were drinkin'
Kool-Aid and rye
Tweetin', "This'll be the day TV dies.
This'll be the day TV dies."

Did you sign up for Netflix,
And do you believe their model sticks,
If TechCrunch tells you it's true?
Do you believe in paying for Hulu,
Can the net save your entertainment soul,
And can you teach me how not to download
so slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with Boxee
'Cause I saw your post on Flavors.me.
You both had nothing to lose.
Man, I dig being able to choose.

I was a lonely early adopter buck
With a pink iPad in my pickup truck,
But I knew I had a lot of luck
The day television died.

I started tweetin',
"Bye-bye, TV from the sky."
Hooked the net up to my set,
And now the set will just fly.
And my Facebook friends were drinkin'
Kool-Aid and rye
Tweetin', "This'll be the day TV dies.
This'll be the day TV dies."

Now for 10 seasons we've been on our own,
Watching old Top Gears on our iPhone.
But that's not how it used to be.
When the networks played for the people at home,
In a model they borrowed from ancient Rome
And the shows that entertained you and me.

Oh, and while the execs were looking down,
The startups stole their Nielsen crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while Ferrell launched Funny or Die,
The studios gave an exhausted sigh,
And we streamed episodes of Firefly
The day television died.

We were tweetin',
"Bye-bye, TV from the sky."
Hooked the net to my set,
And now the set will just fly.
And my Facebook friends were drinkin'
Kool-Aid and rye
Tweetin', "This'll be the day TV dies.
This'll be the day TV dies."

I met a blogger who sang the blues
And I asked her for some more page views,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went over to the YouTube site
Where I'd seen that clip last night,
But the man there said the video wouldn't play.

And in the forums, the children screamed,
The users cried, and the creators dreamed.
But no high praise was spoken;
The show links all were broken.
And the media groups I admire most
Have almost given up the ghost.
They caught the last download from the coast
The day television died.

And they were tweeting,
"Bye-bye, TV from the sky."
Hooked the net up to my set,
And now the set will just fly.
And my Facebook friends were drinkin'
Kool-Aid and rye
Tweetin', "This'll be the day TV dies."