Last week ABC announced that it will be offering some of its top-rated shows, for free, over the Internet. Until now you’ve had to pay $1.99 for downloads of
Lost and other fare. Now they’re free, but you have to watch the embedded commercial spots. You might think, hey, its just like watching commercial TV…and you’d be right, except that now it’s on-demand. Competing networks have also been offering their programs as podcasts viewable on a computer or video-equipped iPod. NBC’s
The Office is an example of a TV show that has really found its niche online. While most people still watch by turning on their TV and tuning in to a local station or cable network, the traditional “appointment TV” paradigm is beginning to wear thin around the edges. People want control of their media experience…and that means they want to watch what they want, when they want it. All of this is leaving local broadcast affiliates feeling unnecessary. Of course, it’s the bottom line that they’re worried about. More Internet downloads means fewer viewers for the broadcast of the program, and that means less advertising revenue. What do you think? Will all TV programming eventually move to on-demand delivery? And if so, what will be the role of the local broadcast affiliate?
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4 comments:
I was amazed when they came out with an iPod that had TV but of course it is much too expensive for me and I really dont find the need for one. But the issue is that of this and broadcast tv. I think that more viewers will choose this route of going with the iPod only because they can watch whatever they want when they want it. Whether they are on the move all day or come home late but miss their shows, with this they can watch it anytime they want.
I think ABC made a smart choice in showing tv shows for free on the Internet. I like watching Big Brother on CBS and it is for free. If I miss a show or don't want to deal with commercials then I can just get on my computer and go to the site and watch the show with little commercials and for free.
With the rise of video and television that can be seen over the internet I do believe that broadcasts will eventually be seen over the internet and in an ipod as well. We are getting to a point when people can watch anything anywhere, so the idea of showing something live thats not through a tv is not as far fetched as it used to be. This is also a good idea because you are know able to watch a show you missed instead of taping it or waiting for a rerun.
I think that it's awesome that they actually have TV on your iPod now but I also think that it's going a little overboard and that it's also very unnecessary. Also I think that having TV on your computer is unnecessary unless you go on a lot of road trips. However, I do very much support the idea of everything becoming on demand. I do have the Comcast program that comes with On Demand and I think it's the greatest thing ever and all the movies are in their own categories so that if I think I want to watch a comedy I select Comedy and it gives me a list of movies that I can choose from with no charge except for the bill you get for having Comcast. But I can definitely say I wouldn't mind if in the future everything was changed to on demand.
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