Posted on 05/13/2011 10:38:44 AM PDT by Cardhu
In August 2010, the end of the age of television as we know it was widely predicted.
The US pay TV market had suffered its first ever drop in subscribers. In the end the economy was roundly found to blame, with cable packages being sacrificed as families were forced to tighten their belts.
But some commentators pointed to this as the inevitable result of the growth of on demand and over the top offerings available on the internet.
So is technology killing what we think of as traditional television - and taking pay TV operators with it?
It's a confusing picture. Nielsen, who track US television viewing habits, have reported a drop in television ownership - albeit from 98.9% to 96.7%. DVD sales are falling, while Netflix recently overtook cable operator Comcast to become the biggest subscription video service in North America.
IMS Research however is predicting digital cable TV subscribers in the US will increase by 7.8m between 2010 and 2015.
YouTube, Hulu, iPlayer, Netflix and other 'over the top' (OTT) services, not to mention illegal downloading, all offer alternatives.
Apple and Google have both launched OTT services that let consumers play online content through their televisions, although Google's service is only available in the US.
We're watching more video than ever before this way. But we're also watching more television. What is less clear is where the broadcast industry is ultimately headed.
Ask the experts
So what do those in the industry think lies in store?
Neil Gaydon is the chief executive of pay TV technology developer Pace. They manufacture set-top boxes and other technology for some of the world's biggest cable and satellite operators.
He points to a rise in subscription figures over the last two quarters as proof that pay TV is healthier than ever.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Right now there are literally like three shows I watch that if they streamed them on the net, I’d drop my cable plan in a heartbeat.
Broadcast TV is already dead in my house. We’ve never looked back from our decision to engage Netflix last December. The only thing we miss is the 2200 News. We use the Wii News and Forecast channels regularly as well as the web and local radio, and we’re saving money.
If I had to estimate, I’d say technological advances on this line will progress to the point where I will ditch any form of cable/satellite TV in about 12-24 months in favor of some combination of Netflix, et. al., services plus live event feeds for a fraction of the cost.
I dropped my cable service last July. There was little of interest to watch, and most was availalbe in some form on the internet.
No, but it’s going to transform television, just like TV did to radio.
If the networks continue to program with garbage, they may as well begin the fire sale now.
Competition kills inferior products.
Where do you get broad band internet
Does your source serve all family computers/
I don’t turn on the broadcast TV more than once in two months. I’m not aware of any current shows, except the ones that get talked about the most—and I don’t watch them.
I am told that the ads on the broadcast TV news are all for denture adhesives, Depends, etc. And even people in their 70s are getting a lot of their news on the interwebs.
BTW: I think digital TV has been a death blow to broadcast TV. It seems every station’s range has been cut by one-half or even more.
“I will ditch any form of cable/satellite TV in about 12-24 months in favor of ... “
My son is a bit of a nerd, but he’s come up with a great solution. He built a linux based media center PC and downloads network shows from legit sources. He uses Netflix, and he bought a digital antenna with a homerun amplifier.
He can watch all but the latest network programs, if he chooses.
He can watch movies.
He can watch local news/weather/sports live on digital broadcast. The quality of digital broadcast tv is pretty amazing, and the selection isn’t bad. (I grew up in the old days, 5 broadcast channels, that’s it.)
The one thing Netflix et al have NOT done is replicate the brain-dead short-menu turn-it-on-leave-it-on experience for those who want to watch “something” for hours without active involvement in deciding what.
Sounds petty (it is, but there’s big money in petty), but I’d like to choose a collection of series in Netflix, and then be able to just turn on, hit play, and pick up where I left off, and when one episode stops it rotates in the next episode from another series. If I watch 5 minutes, fine, it remembers where I stopped. If I just leave it on for hours, it works thru the backlog without any further involvement from me.
THAT is the TV experience which is not replicated yet - the “zombie mode” or “background noise” use case.
Broadcast television itself drove me away. Once I came to the conclusion that about 80% of what I’d encounter on television totally nauseted me, I also realized it just wasn’t worth the time and effort to wade through that sewer to find the 20% I might find tolerable. To hell with it all!
Instead, I now watch dvd’s almost exclusively... dvd’s of older series refreshingly devoid of the crassness and filth that dictates modern fare.
People have always paid for CONTENT, not the delivery mechanism. Internet TV is a viable alternative for home viewing. Oddly enough, one of the big advantages over-the-air broadcasting has is to reach mobile users, but no one has figured out how to do that very well.
TV shows these days seem to be aimed at 12 year olds. I prefer to watch old re-runs of TV shows I watched as a kid.
Let’s hope so!!!
I haven’t had TV since Primestar was in business.
We love it. No more garbage.
Since moving to where I am now five years ago, I have not had a TV set that receives broadcast, cable or satellite signals. The set I have is wired to a VHS and DVD player and I occasionally watch a tape or a disk. The rest of the time is spent outside working, reading, or monitoring FR.
Nice trade-off, if you ask me.
“THAT is the TV experience which is not replicated yet - the “zombie mode” or “background noise” use case.”
It would be easy enough to replicate. The tools are there. As for me, I have cable, and when I work from home, I frequently use the tv as background noise. ESPN and FoxNews are my 2 favorite parking spots.
Not to hijack this thread, but can anyone suggest online video services that have a good selection of vintage TV shows and movies, kinda like the old Nick at Nite?
I can stream Netflix to my iPhone anywhere I can get a connection (even over 3G). DVDs I own can be ripped and put on my phone or laptop as well for remote viewing.
The only actual TV I ever seem to watch when on the go is for live sporting events, and once that becomes easy and cost-effective to do via internet (mobile or otherwise)...
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