The Revolution against Television

[TheOne]

Many people are turning away from cable and even antenna services in favor of streaming and downloading.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/20...n-their-homes/

As they state, it isn't a huge problem for cable companies and such right now, but it looks like it could be soon.

What do you guys think? Is television outdated? Personally I do not own a television. Anything I want to watch comes from the internet. I love watching sports, but I'm content with just getting score updates on my smartphone.

[Kisho]

I'd imagine that we'd still have televisions... However, how we get our shows will almost certainly change (and already is).

Instead of getting a cable service, we'll just have a service that automatically hooks up to the internet. We then download all the shows we want from a user-friendly interface/service to a hard drive connected to our TVs.

It will even download new episodes as they're released automatically, via an 'always-on' mechanic.

Hm. Doesn't this exist already? But yeah. That sort of service will be popularised. Think of it like Steam for TV.

[Deleted]

TV is outdated, haven't had one myself for years, and I've noticed the phenom spread across my friends as well.
Edit; TV as in cable/satellite/antenna broadcasting, not the machine itself.

[obdigore]

I own a television and everything I watch on it comes from the internet.

[jahasafrat]

For me it's definately outdated, I haven't sat on a couch and watched TV in something like seven years. Haven't even had a TV in quite some time and my DVD player is gathering dust in the garage. With Netflix, Hulu, torrents, et cetera there's just no reason for me to own a TV, let alone watch one. Hell, my computer monitor is bigger than the television my family had while I was growing up.

My only concern is that a drop in popularity will lead to a drop in revenue which leads to a (further) drop in program quality.

[TJ]

Why watch channels filled with crap when you can watch EXACTLY what you want online at anytime?

[Taros]

I stream everything because I can't afford cable. If I weren't impoverished I'd prefer to just watch the T.V. because the quality is usually better.

[Frolk]

I havnt watched much TV the past 5months, only used my TV for xbox
With all the on-demand stuff on teh interwebz u dont need or wanna watch "normal" TV with 15min commercial breaks every 30min
Yes i think the "TV" is outdated, at least for my needs

[Clockworks]

I own a television and everything I watch on it comes from the internet.

Same here, everything from the internet. only diffrent boxes to turn on.

[Deleted]

Classical TV will not disappear, the content will just be available on other media sources and devices. I guess they just need to find out a good way to earn money with that.
I would never stream anything illegal so as long as there are things that can't be streamed, I will continue to watch TV.

[Deleted]

No wonder. The amount of shite that's on is unbearable. i can name 4 channels out of the 200 I have are worthy of being watched.

[Cybran]

People forget that TV pays the bills. If TV broadcasting goes away we will lose a lot of quality programs, because they will be not financially justified.

This trend is already obvious when you look at Anime in the West. Japanese firms don't make enough money to create content that appeals to western audiences and the medium suffers. Too many people watch pirated series online (Game of Thrones comes to mind) and that hurts the business.

[Pull My Finger]

I'm not into the whole watching things on the internet thing. People might see it as convenient and on-demand, but what it actually is is everyone locking themselves in their rooms and diving in their own little, pesonally tailored media worlds. That's too much consumer mentality and too detached for me.

But then again, TV has lost it's function as a cultural medium anyway and it's only purpose is to keep complete morons somewhat entertained to be able to batter them with as much advertising as possible.

Both options suck. I do miss proper television and I don't really watch TV any more, but not in favor of the internet.

[melodramocracy]

Why watch channels filled with crap when you can watch EXACTLY what you want online at anytime?

Because you watching online = less revenue for various companies via ads, or cable bundling, or fees = less money for the shows you do enjoy.

[Deleted]

People forget that TV pays the bills. If TV broadcasting goes away we will lose a lot of quality programs, because they will be not financially justified.

This trend is already obvious when you look at Anime in the West. Japanese firms don't make enough money to create content that appeals to western audiences and the medium suffers. Too many people watch pirated series online (Game of Thrones comes to mind) and that hurts the business.

That's what services like Netflix are there for. Too bad it's available in so few places.

[N-7]

Because you watching online = less revenue for various companies via ads, or cable bundling, or fees = less money for the shows you do enjoy.

Not necessarily (e.g. YouTube ads, Netflix fees, pay per episode).

[Kisho]

People forget that TV pays the bills. If TV broadcasting goes away we will lose a lot of quality programs, because they will be not financially justified.

This trend is already obvious when you look at Anime in the West. Japanese firms don't make enough money to create content that appeals to western audiences and the medium suffers. Too many people watch pirated series online (Game of Thrones comes to mind) and that hurts the business.

I can think of several shows that never touched a TV, were only distributed online, yet are very high quality. It's not impossible to assume we could get more like this as well.

Besides, money can still be made online. As I said in my prior post, imagine a service like Steam but for films/TV series. You're still paying, and I believe that people would use that option rather than pirated shows if it was made convenient/cheap/high quality.

[Surfd]

Why watch channels filled with crap when you can watch EXACTLY what you want online at anytime?

This. A MILLION TIMES THIS.

Once the service providers adjust to the new paradigm of being a CONTENT provider, and not simply a SERVICE provider, everything will probably adjust back to status quo. The main issue is that they have to realise that the modern net savvy consumer is not going to put up with dozens of channels full of crap, or being forced to subscribe to 10 channels you dont want to get the 3 you do, when the world of video providers is steadily shifting to an "on Demand" model for just about everything.

People forget that TV pays the bills. If TV broadcasting goes away we will lose a lot of quality programs, because they will be not financially justified.

Actually, that is not really true. COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING pays the bills. Once they figure out how to get commercial adverts or similar product endorsements attached to your on-demant content, the show will go on as usual.

This trend is already obvious when you look at Anime in the West. Japanese firms don't make enough money to create content that appeals to western audiences and the medium suffers. Too many people watch pirated series online (Game of Thrones comes to mind) and that hurts the business.

Completely not relivant to the topic at hand, and probably worth an entire thread on it's own, but Anime's status in the west has more to do with the Western Production Companies not understanding their target market and having a long history of shitting in their own bed then it does with Japanese firms not being able to make good product.

It hasn't really been untill very recently that Western Production companies for Anime stuff have cought up with the notion that if they halfass their english releases, they are going to lose more customers then they gain. I mean, why would I pay to watch a terribly dubbed English edit of something several months to YEARS after it airs in Japan, when I can get a superior free subtitled version, usually done by fans of the series who put honest to god LOVE of their show into the work they do subbing it, mere DAYS after it hits Japanese airwaves?

Case in point: Anyone who watched the american version of One Piece released by 4 kids. The american edit of that show was an abomination. It practically spit in the faces of anime fans everywhere.

And yes, while Anime may not be as main stream over in the West as other things, it's exposure is now growing almost exponentially, and we are finally seeing companies that are not shackled by the idea that if it is animated, and not Simpsons or Family guy, then it must be for kids.

Also, not to point out the obvious, but Japanese studios shouldnt be makeing content that appeals to western audiences in the first place. The whole point of Anime is that it is different from standard western animated faire. If I wanted to watch animated shows created to appeal to western audiences, I wouldnt be watching Anime, would I?

[SparkofImagination]

Many people are turning away from cable and even antenna services in favor of streaming and downloading.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/20...n-their-homes/

As they state, it isn't a huge problem for cable companies and such right now, but it looks like it could be soon.

What do you guys think? Is television outdated? Personally I do not own a television. Anything I want to watch comes from the internet. I love watching sports, but I'm content with just getting score updates on my smartphone.

Cable companies are trying desperately to stifle services such as Netflix, and even watching videos on Youtube by imposing bandwidth caps, they claim it puts stress on their network but for anyone who has been hanging out on the broadbandreports forums, you know that is hogwash, there is no magical bandwidth mine where bandwidth is a limited resource. If you have recently talked to a customer service rep for these cable companies, they are trying desperately to keep people, they even have protocols set in place should you mention "Netflix" as being the reason why you are cancelling your service. But let's set that aside and go for the meaty part.

And that is....

They make it easy for consumers to cut the cord and give you no reason to stay. Id gladly pay $15 a month for HBO or $5 for the Science channel but that would be impossible to do so, id have to first buy a starter package and only then would I have the option of having HBO. Before you know it, that $20 subscription turns into $40+ by adding channels you won't ever watch. Either they offer a la carte programming or they will continue to bleed sales.

Just look what happened to Blockbuster video. I remember when Blockbuster was the go to place if you wanted to rent a movie, I remember the outrageous prices and the harsh late fees they had. They were killed by online video, cable companies are trying to prevent the same thing from happening to them by any means necessary. But like Blockbluster, when you fail to embrace technology or a business model early on, your business tends to suffer in the end.

I think Google has the right method, their Google Fiber service would be great, fast, cheap broadband with no bandwidth caps. They have just recently said they're sprouting to Austin Texas. Once something like that goes national (which will take a while), all these other companies will either assimilate or die off, and only then will services like Netflix grow cause as I mentioned, they are stifling growth ATM.

Even though I don't play console games, I really do hope everyone here who buys a PS4 or the next XBOX takes advantage of downloading your games instead of buying a physical copy, force these companies to increase bandwidth consumption across the board, or force them to upgrade their infrastructure by using the money the government gives them, instead of pocketing it like they always do.

[Ichifails]

Because you watching online = less revenue for various companies via ads, or cable bundling, or fees = less money for the shows you do enjoy.

But as soon as these old farts understand that Online media will take over and that VOD (Video on demand) is the right step to go, companies will pay more for ads.
We are still at the point in time where an Youtube channel like TotalBiscuit's (1mil+ subscribers) is denied review copies over blogs that have 200-300 people traffic a day.
Once the media moves, so will the revenue.