Pablo Luna
Tech has rapidly altered the new, old avenues and expressions of television businesses – from provider-centric to consumer-centric. It won’t be wrong to admit that the internet has challenged the conventional definition of digital entertainment. Movies and TV shows at a pre-announced time, be it live transmission, recorded or repeat telecast, TV, and radio still entertain us in so many ways irrespective of age, gender, and any other factor as long as you’ve got a reliable Cable TV provider, which covers everything you and your family may need.
Internet, however, has gradually eliminated a long list of restrictions which include time, the discomfort of any sort, socio-economical, geo-political, and so much more. One of the reasons why people are switching to the internet from TV connection is that they don’t have to take out time from their busy schedules to watch their long-awaited shows. They can now watch the latest content via the internet at their convenience along with their favorite company. This reduces all the discomforting factors like tardiness, not being able to watch live broadcast due to whatsoever reason, or missing anything important because everything is now available online.
What basically is TV? It is usually referred to as the cabinet like device, some scheduled and some live broadcasts on a limited number of available broadcast channels. It evolved into cable, satellite, and now internet television (IPTV) with channel-line up comprising of hundreds of names. People typically watch their favorite shows, repeat telecasts if they missed something earlier, local and some international news and informational content, drama/ series/ shows, movies, gossip and educational interactive shows with some influential personalities on their panel.
The next phase leads to commentary on the broadcast content over social media platforms. This is where the magazines reviewing TV content, weekly guidelines on what to watch or what not to, and critiques in daily or weekly newspapers become obsolete. The commercial content and YouTube are merging on one side. Also, the TV industry came up with digital recorders, apps, live features, and other features to combat the challenges carried along with the emergence of the internet today. The transition has been taking place for over a decade now and the TV business is flourishing.
The whole generation is now surviving on live streaming, addicted to Hulu, YouTube, and Netflix – binge-watching their favorite series without having to follow any timeline, waiting or making themselves available accordingly. Live telecast on cable TV has become a relevant niche for sports, replays, newscast, or high-quality subscription-only channels – also known as over the air (OTA). However, a couple of cable TV providers charge for giving access to the applications that let those channels to be viewed over the top (OTT) as a feature of the cord-cutting model. This is how the evolved version of watching TV appears.
The industry is not only taking notice but also action by bringing HQ over the top TV such as HBO Go, which requires access to the steadfast broadband connection. However, this service is not readily available at very reasonable prices. Social TV is the ultimate result of the conjunction of the internet and TV both.
The finale of Breaking Bad was apparently the most interesting topic due to its popularity and stayed there for over a week. Then, owing to the massive viewership and binge-watching of “House of Cards” dinners were canceled – some even successfully engaged their parents with these shows.
The fun part is, students stayed online on their laptops while completing their assignments and watched the shows. People who work at night picked up their favorite shows in the morning. Corporate class managed to catch it on their tablets while commuting to work before finding spoilers. The Internet has unsettled the entire TV industry and now the TV itself.
