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.
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.
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.
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.
No, TV has already committed suicide. It had nothing to do with the internet. It came in to fill the void.
Star Trek: The Next Generation predicted this in 1988. Mr. Data informed a revived man from the 20th century that television was obsolete by 2040.
We will be dropping Dish soon. We no longer will have to pay for channels touting tighter buttocks or selling cookware, mattresses,vitamins, etc. etc.
What a rip-off.
No.
The day will come (is almost here?) where you won’t be able to tell the difference between your TV and your Internet.
Netflix for the win!
No, at least not for a real long time. Why should it?
Heck, they’ll just figure out a way to charge for it on the internet.
Now TV is a vast wasteland, but there is a nugget or two in there I like. I’d have cable if I could afford it. But I can’t.
No sportsfan can drop the satellite, especially if his teams are not local. We like all the internet ways to watch entertainment, but we still have a few shows we like on regular TV.
TV without having to “find” things to watch a la Netflix is EXCELLENT medicine for people in pain or sick. I think that is TV’s highest value, as a distraction for people in great discomfort.