Technotainment –noun (tĕk-nō-tān-mənt)

Technotainment has been a term in search of a definition that has evolved over the last decade as smart media began to proliferate all over the globe.  The advent and proliferation of LTE (4G and now 5G) provided the tools to create new dimensions of the video artform. These new technologies allow us to go from audience participation to audience collaboration.  These devices enable the users to interact with both other creators and other audiences around the world, unlike the one-way television medium of the last several decades. 

Moreover, with the advent of social distancing and audience fracturing, it has become a necessity.  Content is still king, but its creation is now a universal partnership with so many variables and so many participants that we are now in a bold new world of creativity and collaboration. The first manifestations of new technologies invariably follow the previous technology just as horseless carriages looked like carriages without horses. Consequently, the first productions of streaming entertainment were simply the transfer of existing content into a new mode of viewing.  

The first  new content for streaming, five minute videos, were created by Hollywood, from the top down as usual, without any use of the numerous technologies that already exist in the LTE ecosystem. Of course, there has not yet been a business model developed to take it to the potential of $1 trillion market place. 

There are at least 16 different elements to incorporate into a Technotainment format. They include Gamification, Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality.  Blockchain  technology will inevitably be a part of curating the vast new world of Technotainment content, and that will lead to new applications, including “crypto currencies” to compensate the content creators. 

One of the  leading advocates for Technotainment is Nyhl Henson, a pioneer in the development of pay television, Home Shopping, and basic cable networks. He was labeled by the giant Hollywood talent agency, CAA, as the “Edison of Pay Per View.” In 1977,  he was part of the team that developed the first interactive cable system in Columbus, Ohio, with Warner Communications’ QUBE in association with pioneer electronics wizards at Warner’s Atari. (Remember Pong?) Henson reports,  “Columbus, a historic test market, unfortunately proved that the consumer was not yet ready to participate with their television, but fortunately it served as an incubator for the satellite launch of Nickelodeon, MTV and pay-per-view.“ 

Henson recently  acquired the domain Technotainment.com to serve as a forum for this new medium. His company,  Technotainnment Streaming Media, Inc. (TSM) is launching Technotainment Arts and Media Institute (TAMI) as an incubator for this new art form, working with several universities with internship programs.  Stay tuned !