First, television viewers start skipping commercials with the advent of TiVo. Then, networks stop worrying about time slots for their prime time shows because the shows for the entire week can be downloaded, commercial free, at any time from the network’s Web site. After paying a registration fee, of course.

This is the possible future of television according to former MSNBC president and University alumni, Rick Kaplan, who gave a brown-bag lecture in Lincoln Hall Wednesday. Kaplan talked about the changing direction of all forms of media, from broadcast to print, moving from their traditional forms to this “on demand” internet stage.

But even with newspapers and TV networks reporting losses in revenue and declining readership and viewership, they continue to be successful, he added.

“I don’t like the evening news, for the most part,” Kaplan said. “But they still get 28 million viewers a night.”

The way these forms of media continue to be successful is because with all of the TV stations that exist, for example, they are owned by only a few companies. This consolidation allows for them to sell higher priced advertising.

“The reason that’s good news is that content is everything,” Kaplan said.

One of the biggest challenges that journalists face is that people are so well informed. Before, news stories from around the world had to be recorded, shipped to the studios, edited and then put on the air. The process could take a few days. Now, people can learn about these same stories and issues in a matter of minutes.

Journalists face different challenges today than Kaplan did while working on “CBS News with Walter Cronkite,” and need to learn the skills to adapt to this faster-paced environment, he added.

Even though the evening news today is better and more compelling than standard-setting shows such as Cronkite’s, people are watching less. This stems from networks presenting the news as recycled stories and not furthering their coverage of what people already know, Kaplan said.

“You (journalists) are going to need to be deeper thinkers, more aggressive journalists, work harder than me,” Kaplan said.

The coordinator of Kaplan’s visit, Lynn Holley, academic programs coordinator for the College of Communications, explained the value in having a person with Kaplan’s credentials and background speak to University students.

“He has a wealth of information,” Holley said. “He’s very successful so he knows what makes a successful (journalist).”

But having Kaplan come back and help students also helps the journalism program.

“He will say, ‘this is what your students need to know,'” Holley said. Then the professors can make adjustments toward teaching those concepts, she added.

“The good news is if you’re a content provider,” Kaplan said. “you produce content that people want to read, see, hear … You’re going to find yourself in huge demand.”