Judy Justice Producer and Director Randy Douthit Predicts What’s Next for TV

Randy Douthit knows change is coming to the small screen.

The executive producer and director of Judge Judy for the past 27 years — who now helms Judy Justice, which is streaming on Amazon Freevee and Amazon Prime — thinks, “Broadcast television may be coming to a conclusion, with the exception of news and sports.” 

Douthit is a man with a depth of experience on top-rated programs like Larry King Live and Crossfire under his belt. He’s weathered many changes in broadcasting. 

From network to cable to streaming, from local to national, from transmission via microwave to digital streaming on the internet — Douthit has seen it all. 

Randy Douthit says, “Streaming is the new cable that goes beyond cable.”

Network Broadcasting Going the Way of Silent Movies?

Change has been in the DNA of TV from its earliest days. From back in the late 19th century, when it was a mechanical form transmitted over telephone wires, to the present smart sets; from the stilted, tiny images of its earliest incarnation to the 4K images on the wall-sized plasma and OLED screens of today; from black and white to color — it’s been a constant electronic evolution. 

“There are so many platforms where consumers can capture content,” muses Douthit.

According to journalism academic Mitchell Stephens, “Few inventions have had as much effect on contemporary American society as television. Before 1947, the number of U.S. homes with television sets could be measured in the thousands. By the late 1990s, 98% of U.S. homes had at least one television set, and those sets were on for an average of more than seven hours a day.”

Stephens might as well have said that nearly every American has a TV set on their wrist, on their desk, in their car, or in their pocket — because now everyone can stream on their smartphone. And we are increasingly moving toward a surveillance state in which TV cameras are on every corner and algorithms can capture and reconfigure almost every image. It seems video is the panopticon of our times and there’s rarely a private space.

Randy Douthit: ‘So Many Opportunities’

It’s surprising how each form impacts another. Instagram has already replaced the website as a way to capture attention. TikTok influences television commercials and vice versa. The electronic mash-up of form and content is nearly complete.

But still, there’s room for change.

Randy Douthit says, “There are so many opportunities for immersive experiences in both scripted and nonscripted programming, including sports and news.” 

What will come next? Virtual reality TV? Personalization? Network television is already nearly an idea that time has passed by, as sure as there will be a shakeout in the early streaming platforms, especially as they compete for advertising support and content. 

“HBO, Showtime, FX, and other channels have joined the streaming club. The future is in streaming and on-demand television,” says Randy Douthit.

Why Have Cable?

One can already see the effects on cable services with the rise of cord-cutting. Bundling seems certain to disappear: Why be forced to choose from a restricted menu of options? As society moves further and further away from mass and closer and closer to atomization, it’s almost foolhardy to think television would be exempt.

It took a world war to create the media philosopher Marshall McLuhan’s sense of mass communication. 

The very idea of television seems to be in a transitional state.

What’s Next? 

The history of the development of television has traditionally been a combination of content, technology, and transmission.

And it seems there’s room in each area for future development, particularly in technology and transmission.

What sort of technology will be necessary for the next generation of viewers conditioned to the first-person-shooter perspective of the video game? Will it be possible to insert the viewer into the action of the content, and how can that be accomplished? The technology of virtual reality offers some opportunities that would also be relevant to the construction of the content.

Another area for development is in personalization. At present, viewers are largely limited to network, streaming, or cable bundles.

But if we turn to the library for a model, can it be possible to provide a broader array of content to suit individual tastes, much as one can “rent” videos from public or semipublic content libraries at a cost that’s lower than existing formats of distribution and would still provide a wide array of individual choices.

‘Put a Quarter in the Machine and Watch Your Program Stream’

The question then becomes the same as the question asked of Philo Farnsworth, the American inventor credited as the creator of TV: Where is the money coming from?

Maybe it’s possible to rethink the nature of the airwaves. For example, in the English system of TV transmission, the viewer is required to purchase a subscription to view some content.

This would require rethinking the current American model; a TV license fee might depend on the number of screens in use.

Randy Douthit Understands Viewer’s Expectations

How might that work in the U.S.? In England, a license to watch color TV costs less than $200 per year — considerably less than the U.S. household cable bill — and programs could still be permitted to carry advertising. Costs and rates could be worked out similar to how a magazine develops its rate card or charges.

This method would provide a pool of money for operating costs, and advertising revenue would be appropriate to ratings.

Of course, this would require a complete rethinking of how to pay for TV in America. But with computer software now being “rented” on a subscription basis, there seems to be no apparent reason why the same could be done with television.

“The need for great entertainment will never change, but the manner of delivery will, as will viewers’ expectations for heightened experiences,” says Randy Douthit.