Memorial Day weekend in the USA, a similar 3-day Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and a Pentecost holiday week across much of continental Western Europe meant this was the ideal weekend to launch the biggest blockbuster film of the 2008 summer season. After a long absence, Harrison Ford dusted off his Indiana Jones character for a 4th go around with The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Moviegoers in the UK were disappointed to have a PG-12 rating because of scary scenes when the previous releases were straight PG. One worried parent even phoned into BBC Radio 5 where their movie critic assured them the film was indeed OK for kids. It seems to have worked because it was a family affair this weekend and $311 million dollars (£155 million pounds) worth of worldwide launch business meant a solid all-time ranking of number 2 overall behind only the last instalment of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean.

The business of film nearly almost always seems dead. Pundits announce that the last nail is about to be put in the coffin when a blockbuster like Indy comes along and everyone is happy, for the moment. The media world continues to struggle as studios and television networks slowly come to the realisation that “appointment movies” and telly no longer work for the vast majority of media savvy and very busy viewers.

Here on holiday in South England, there are four terrestrial channels available (the same number I had as a kid in the 1960’s). BBC 1 and 2, ITV and Channel Four are it this week. We could sit and wait for something to come along r worse, just sit and let the life force suck itself out through our eyeballs as we sit motionless chained to their programming schedule. However, the kids have portable DVD players and a stack of fave movies and programs from which to choose, our laptop computers mean Mum and Dad’s selection (mine is Frasier Season 9 whilst my wife has a few Dame Agatha Christie DVD’s) mean we decide what to view and when. Indeed the only time the telly was on at the BBC’s whim, was last night when I realised I did not set my Sky Plus Box back home in Wales to film UK’s The Apprentice.

We watch telly, films, news and gather Internet programming when we want it. Sky+, our Tivo in the UK, is what many consider to be the greatest invention since sliced bread. One can set a week’s worth of fave programmes to view on my schedule.

Now Apple and iTunes have inked a deal to allow for movie downloads on the day of theatrical release and we all wonder what will happen when these new metrics factor into a movie opening.

Going to the movie multiplex is inconvenient and expensive. It’s £6 or more per ticket. With petrol costing $8 a gallon, a 20 minute 1-way drive, over-priced popcorn and drinks, yes I can get a nice seat for a 15% premium and yet no theatre seat is better than my home chair. With HD telly and stereo surround sound one can build a home system that will rival the multiplex and many are discovering they can wait for most movies to come out on DVD.

Just as Sky+ has changed my telly viewing habits, I love to fast-forward through annoying adverts, it will lead to even more changes in the future. Indeed, the only people unchanged (to date) are those running television networks by clinging to the old models. When network news in the USA reaches an audience whose average age is 61, that should be a wake-up call. Instead networks keep charging more and more to reach less and less people. Advert costs for the 2009 Super Bowl will average $3 million dollars per 30 second spot, which will be OK if an undefeated New England plays New York again, SB ’08 was a huge ratings perfect storm that is not likely to be repeated any time soon so what do the networks do as the market makes them irrelevant?

You might take a page from the current US Presidential campaign. It has altered viewing habits forever by offering gripping contests across the board and, more importantly, relying on a sophisticated electorate who is paying close attention across multiple platforms. 2008 is the year of the blog, YouTube, candidate websites and MSNBC trumping FOX Newschannel. Again, the key, I decide what I watch when. I am more informed than ever and news comes to me when I want it.

The real Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is seeing how long before that skull is replaced with an ipod with multiple channels.