With the uses of on demand catch up and various other ways of watching TV. Will it get to the point in the upcoming years where companies such as Sky and Virgin won't be able to afford to provide TV subscriptions? I can imagine people streaming TV from a laptop and connecting it through their TV. What's your say?
Will Internet bankrupt TV services?
- Thread starter Sintect
- Start date
It is certainly an interesting thought, I think that the TV companies (Sky, Virgin etc.) will start to offer services similar to other streaming services (I think Sky is offering one already for example). In that respect I don't think it'll be the end of traditional TV. They will likely offer them as part of a package deal incorporating on-demand streaming of newer programs/movies for example which costs a premium in addition to their normal tv subscription service. To help (or maybe hinder depending on your viewpoint) this you can now access many of the VOD/streaming companies from smart tv's now and have no need to connect a laptop/pc to your tv to be able to stream content.
There are several interesting articles on the web around this topic, all of which are discussing the growing trend of the streaming services.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/489706-Despite_Growth_of_Streaming_Content_Traditional_TV_Viewing_Still_Rules.php
http://corporate.discovery.com/blog/2012/10/03/viewers-like-love-tv-everywhere/
I appreciate that is US mainly but I would imagine the metric's track over to the UK fairly well too.
I think its possibly worth mentioning there has also been a fairly large contingent of people who illegally download TV content too and this has been going on for many years. I dont know if this is becoming less popular as the VOD/streaming services are becoming more and more affordable however.
There are several interesting articles on the web around this topic, all of which are discussing the growing trend of the streaming services.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/489706-Despite_Growth_of_Streaming_Content_Traditional_TV_Viewing_Still_Rules.php
http://corporate.discovery.com/blog/2012/10/03/viewers-like-love-tv-everywhere/
I appreciate that is US mainly but I would imagine the metric's track over to the UK fairly well too.
I think its possibly worth mentioning there has also been a fairly large contingent of people who illegally download TV content too and this has been going on for many years. I dont know if this is becoming less popular as the VOD/streaming services are becoming more and more affordable however.
Grimezy
Prolific Poster
I think the streaming population is actually quite small in the grand scheme of things. I haven't read Steaky's articles so I'm not sure if my post contradicts them but I still find that people don't understand streaming and that families won't bother with the hassle of downloading everything they want to watch and playing it through a laptop or whatever. I mean we've only just switched over to digital and look how long that took.
I don't think you'll ever be able to replace the likes of Sky because it's just too convenient and easy to sit down after a day at work, turn the tv on and whatever you want to watch is there, no hassle. Plus Sky and Virgin are starting to add more and more services for on-demand shows and catch-up so in effect they are streaming shows for us anyway. I personally think I am quite clued up when it comes to gadgets and technology and even I haven't adopted into the streaming population, probably because my internet is so poor!
Maybe in the future there might be a service that lets you choose what you want to watch at the click of a button on your tv but I can't see that coming for a long time and I certainly can't see families sitting in their living room streaming from their laptop onto a tv while they sit and eat dinner. It is interesting to see where all these on-demand services that sky offer and also services like Netflix and Lovefilm are going to take the future of television though.
And what I didn't mention is that I still love sitting down and watching the rubbish that's on tv. I know there's not always something on but I find it quite a lot of hassle to watch recorded tv or on-demand. I would much rather sit down and watch whatever's on! Which is why I think Sky and Virgin will be just fine for the moment.
I don't think you'll ever be able to replace the likes of Sky because it's just too convenient and easy to sit down after a day at work, turn the tv on and whatever you want to watch is there, no hassle. Plus Sky and Virgin are starting to add more and more services for on-demand shows and catch-up so in effect they are streaming shows for us anyway. I personally think I am quite clued up when it comes to gadgets and technology and even I haven't adopted into the streaming population, probably because my internet is so poor!
Maybe in the future there might be a service that lets you choose what you want to watch at the click of a button on your tv but I can't see that coming for a long time and I certainly can't see families sitting in their living room streaming from their laptop onto a tv while they sit and eat dinner. It is interesting to see where all these on-demand services that sky offer and also services like Netflix and Lovefilm are going to take the future of television though.
And what I didn't mention is that I still love sitting down and watching the rubbish that's on tv. I know there's not always something on but I find it quite a lot of hassle to watch recorded tv or on-demand. I would much rather sit down and watch whatever's on! Which is why I think Sky and Virgin will be just fine for the moment.