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In late 2006, CBS announced a contest in which you, the viewer, could win 15 seconds of airtime on CBS during their coverage of Superbowl Sunday on February 4th 2007. ( Read more )

CBS is one of the Big Three Television Networks which enjoyed uncontested domination of American television from its inception. This status afforded the networks a voice of authority as mass media outlets. Network news anchors spoke as the voice of America, and, in a sense, this was true. All over the country, people from different socio-economic backgrounds and with various interests turned to the same source for televised news and entertainment. "We give America its daily consciousness of being a Nation," CBS president Frank Stanton said in 1954, adding, "if this mirror were shattered, the National Countenance would disappear" [as quoted in William Boddy's "Technological Convergence as Trauma and Business Plan"]. The media landscape has fragmented over the last few decades with a proliferation of outlets that mirror society and identity in various ways. This competition has served as a challenge to the Big Three Networks' defacto authority.

The market and the audience are alligned in their desire for more programming options, and CBS has no choice but to adapt and find new ways to reach the masses since it no longer reaches them by default. This process can be traced back at least as far as cable television, which provided a more diverse array of networks aimed at narrower audiences than the Big Three could afford to target. Mass media has been in a state of flux ever since, and with more viewing choices than ever, the very concept of a mass media television network is in jeopardy. As the masses flock to the internet for a more personalized media experience, CBS has adapted by producing online, interactive content. CBS Interactive, the online branch of CBS, blurs the line between television and the internet, between audience and producer. 15 Seconds links many of these extensions of the CBS network and is representative of its philosophy. The contest acknowledges the audience's power to shape its own media experience in a way that presents CBS as the focal point.

The contest was announced on the Late Late Show, and this clip, which CBS refers to as a "solicitation video," was soon circulating YouTube and the internet. When a television clip appears online, it often does so illegally. This occurs when a clip is transferred to digital form by an audience member in a violation of copyright law that threatens the traditional distribution system of The Big Three Television Networks. This has traditionally concerned networks because they cannot control the context in which the clip is viewed, but also because they cannot ensure that the viewer will sit through the advertisements which fund the programming. It could be argued that the power started to shift with the VHS tape recorder, which allowed viewers to fast forward past commercials, or even with the remote control, which made channel surfing a more desirable option than sitting through commercial breaks. But peer to peer file transfer programs and websites like YouTube have made illegal distribution easier than ever. With limited control over how their material is reproduced, corporations like Viacom have sued YouTube over copyright violation, claiming that their programming has been posted illegally on the website in spite of YouTube's policy. Ironically, CBS has their own YouTube account, and posted the Craig Ferguson clip themselves. Even though the 45 second clip is free of advertisements, CBS wants it to be distributed as widely as possible so that many users participate in the contest. With the solicitation video, CBS turns spins something that other networks would define as illegal into free advertising.

CBS's strategy to stay relevant - and, by extension, profitable - in the online television landscape is simply to reach as many viewers as possible. Like other networks, CBS launched an online player that makes it possible to watch TV shows online. All of this season's programs are available on Innertube, along with web-only content. This includes 15 Seconds, although only the finalists are available through CBS. Innertube is free, and, unlike every other program - including Innertube Originals, 15 Seconds has no advertising preceding the clips, and no banner ads. 15 Seconds clips are also available on CBS.com outside of Innertube with minimal ad content. Although 15 Seconds itself is virtually  free of commercials, its CBS-hosted manifestations are advertisements for CBS.com and Innertube by drawing attention to other CBS online content. The internet is a threat to the old concept of "mass media," but at the same time it offers CBS more pervasive access to the masses than ever. CBS uses the internet to reach people in places it couldn't be in the past, including the work place as hinted at by Inntertube's "Boss Button" which turns the window into a blank email.

To view all submitted videos, or to discuss the 15 Second competition, CBS directs surfers to the YouTube group. YouTube's slogan is "Broadcast Yourself," which seems to sit in opposition to the old 3-option broadcast model that bred CBS. Indeed, When unlicensed clips first started showing up on YouTube, CBS sought to take them down. But within the last year, CBS has taken the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude towards YouTube, which streams 100 million videos daily. They created a YouTube account to post clips of CBS shows, and their 1410 clips have helped make them the all-time most viewed YouTube channel. Their YouTube page links to CBS's own websites, providing an incredible amount of publicity. By associating themselves with the website that provided the frame for Time's Person of the Year, CBS attempts to incorporate the rhetoric that has helped make YouTube so popular into the public identity of CBS itself.

"Here's a cool new thing that CBS is doing," begins the Craig Ferguson clip. Watching him address the camera directly from behind a desk via YouTube, the clip's aesthetic is similar to a video diary or vlog entry. Aside from the reminder near the end of the clip that he has an in-studio audience to laugh at his jokes, Kilborn seem less like a celebrity and more like just another person sharing thoughts with the world. He even claims that he's going to submit a video, implying that we are all equal in the eyes of the contest. Using the democratic power of the internet, we have the power to control what we see on television, and we can share a message with the world just as easily as Craig Ferguson. "If you had 15 seconds to tell the world whatever you want to, what would you say?" asks  CBS.com. Of course, the potential to share your thoughts - more than 15 seconds of them - with thousands of people already exists without CBS's help. The internet makes it easier than ever for people to reach a large audience by becoming the next viral video sensation, and television is no longer the surefire way to reach the masses that it used to be. The language of the contest, however, positions CBS as a window to the world, which it is really "cool" of them to share, and which - it is implied - would not otherwise exist. CBS uses the Superbowl - which attracted  93.2 million viewers this year - as evidence that mass media is still important.

The Superbowl is the most watched broadcast of the year precisely because it is reaches the masses. People don't necessarily tune in to watch the game, they tune in to watch something that a third of the nation is watching simultaneously. They tune in for the half time show and the most entertaining advertisements of the year, all of which exist because so many people are watching. Advertisers pay more for Super Bowl air time than at any other time of year. The airtime is similarly valuable to our culture. Super Bowl moments like this, which introduced the Apple Macintosh to the world, and this, which introduced Janet Jackson's nipple to the world, become important referencepoints in our social interactions. In this way, mass television has the power to become part of our collective linguistic tool set, earning a social value in society which in turn makes the product financially valuable. It does not grant itself this power - this power is given to mass media by the masses who watch. Viewers give television its financial and social value, and Super Bowl Sunday is the most valuable day of the television year. As viewership disperses throughout cable, satellite, and the internet in search of increasingly narrow content that fits individualized interests, the Super Bowl is the most powerful remnant of an era of Mass Media Television. By airing the winner of 15 Seconds on Superbowl Sunday, CBS acknowledged the social value of consumer generated content without sacrificing their position as a mass media outlet.

"lol why is cbs using youtube and suing them at the same time" YouTube user "allrick" recently commented on the Craig Ferguson "solicitation video." Although YouTube gives users an unprecedented amount of choice and control over what they see, it is part of the same cultural value system that brings viewers to the Super Bowl. The most popular videos have the potential to accumulate millions of views, but the majority toil in obscurity. The rhetoric behind YouTube - and 15 Seconds - asserts that new media gives everyone with a camera, a computer, and an internet connection (not that these are things everybody has) a voice. But the unstated reality is that if this voice is not heard by a significant number of people, if the tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, it is not worth anything. Many people want to share their messages with the world - to "Broadcast Yourself" in the words of YouTube's slogan - but not all of these messages have what it takes to reach a very large portion of the population. YouTube poses a threat to CBS, but it also provides an opportunity for the network to flex its muscles next to other YouTube directors.

CBS's edge in the new media war, which is related to but separate from its ability to reach a mass audience, is that CBS content is relevant to large amounts of people. By contrast, YouTube is full of an overwhelming amount of videos that most people are not interested in. 15 Seconds highlights this disparity. The 15 Second website contains only the videos which have been nominated by a panel of judges as the cream of the crop. For the rest, CBS directs us to the YouTube group wasteland. On YouTube, the charmingly poor quality of the average user video does little to obscure the triteness or incoherentness of their message. The few who manage to convey a concrete, original, thoughtful point - according to the judges' criteria [originally/creativity (40%), inspirational and compelling message (30%), quality/taste (10%), tactfulness (10%), and goodwill (10%)] - can be found on CBS.com and on the 15 Seconds channel on Innertube. The 15 Second contest highlights CBS's online content as well as the disparity in quality and value (both production value and social value) between it and the typical web video clip. It lends insight into the image CBS may have hoped to convey with Innertube; keeping channel/web surfers from drowning in the treacherous waters of web video, like a life preserver of quality content thrown into a murky sea of sludge.

Even so, the fact that CBS is sponsoring an interactive contest is enough to rouse a great deal of excitement for some. "This is a step in the right direction," according to blogger Steve Garfield. Jeff Jarvis shared his high expectations upon finding "a few gems, albeit rough, in the pile." In spite of the constraints in time, budget, equipment, and content, the contest produced a handful of enjoyable clips [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npuh2keTqrw, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sJeoiupQ6I., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvCV9P1wvRQ]. Since the judges' criteria calls for inspirational messages, many of the videos are more positive and optimistic than the average YouTube video. Many deal with the potential to bring about change in the world [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMdELVszU8Y], often through new media's increased potential for communication [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQAigEk4R9c].

Such hopeful messages did not keep some observers from expressing skepticism with the project as a whole. Reelpopblog sniped,"While being featured during America's only remaining pan-demographic media event confers eternal fame -- just ask Janet's nipple -- the irony is that YouTubers (and the rest of the vid-sharing wunderkind) have been telling the world whatever they want to for over a year now". Some of the entries came across as confused mutant hybrids of a stripped-down YouTube clip and a flashy Super Bowl ad. Many entrants sought to win the favor of the audience - including CBS's judges - by proclaiming their love for America and/or football. These messages have already been offered to us by mainstream media, which - according to commentors on one advertising industry blog - is much better at representing society. "Big companies are quickly going to figure out that the vast majority of people creating this content, "engaging with the brand" and otherwise broadcasting the pitiful lack of meaning in their lives, are but a small fringe group, completely unrepresentative of the mass of consumers (or humans. Your call.)," observed one commenter. "Sure, consumers can tell me if they prefer 2-day or 3-day shipping, or, maybe even tell me the ways they use my product by sending in cute photos. But turn over control to someone else to strap it to a rocket and launch it over a swimming pool on YouTube? Nooooo thank you very much," another chimed in. Consumer Generated Content, they summarized, "is a quickly passing fad, as it's always been...Advertising isn't socialism. It's a dictatorship."

The winning video, like many in the competition, used its 15 seconds to encourage social change. The main difference from other videos in this "vlog" style is that it features a talking cat named Loki instead of a talking human. The message of unity - that pets will play with other pets no matter what color they are - fits with the idealistic vision of the internet as a place where we are stripped of our superficial differences and live harmoniously in a global village. This message has been adopted by companies who seek to profit from new technology like Cisco. The idea is that new technology will give "the people" control of the media to bring forth this better understanding and shared humanity. This rhetoric certainly informed the 15 Second contest, but some of the comments on the winning video's YouTube page, which calling Loki a "nigger cat" and claim "I could have made a much better 15 second video of myself masterbating," suggest otherwise.

As it turns out, the Loki clip did not actually air during the Super Bowl itself, but during CBS's pre-game coverage, and was part of an ongoing contest. The newest phase of the contest, announced on Monday April 2nd, is a fan tribute to Bob Barker as he retires from The Price is Right. The solicitation video stars Neil Patrick Harris. He addresses the audience with a friendly "Hey there internetters," appealing to the democratic ideal of the internet. Having established a perceived level of equality, he asserts that "we all love us some Bob Barker," implying that this is true of all "internetters". The terms of the contest are much narrower than the original incarnation, providing insight into CBS's motives for opening up its airwaves. Though Harris claims that "you can say anything," he only suggests two fairly uncreative options: "a favorite memory of the show, or just send your best wishes to Bob when he retires," followed by a reminder to "keep it clean" and play by the rules. CBS is simultaneously encouraging use of new media while imposing rules on how that media can be used. Videos that fail to play by the rules have plenty of other outlets on YouTube and beyond, but it will be difficult to stand out from the crowd. CBS is offering their service as an outlet that can reach the masses, but only on their terms. They will use the winning videos during Bob Barker's farewell episode as testimonials from common people and evidence of the importance of The Price Is Right. The clips will carry with them an aura of authentic social value. The fact that CBS is literally controlling the production of content on the internet, a realm of so many other possibilities, is astounding.

With the 15 Second contest, CBS turned over a fraction of airtime during the most important day in television to "the people" in an effort to reassert its position as a trusted mass media voice in society. CBS's incorporation of consumer generated content shows that the network is responsive to social trends, but mass media has always been a mirror to society, so this is not a new development. The new media landscape of increased interactivity and consumer choice may have led CBS to adapt more aggressively to new trends, but it has not by any means given up control of its content to the public. On the contrary, 15 Seconds is CBS's attempt to regulate the production of consumer generated content, to frame itself as a focal point in the new media landscape, and to demonstrate the continued vitality of mass media.

Other sources/further reading
http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/2007/01/15_seconds_of_fame_meaningful.php
http://www.flowtv.org/?p=79