The Future of Television
With the introduction of any new technology comes the fear that old technology will be thrown out the window. However, history has shown time and time again that the evolution of media does not work this way. An old medium’s social status may rise or fall, but it rarely becomes obsolete. More commonly, old mediums converge with new mediums in order to keep with the times and maintain their place in popular culture. As Communication expert Henry Jenkins says in his book, Convergence Culture: “Printed words did not kill spoken words. Cinema did not kill theater. Television did not kill radio. Each new medium was forced to coexist with the emerging media.”
It is no surprise that many theories have been circulating since the rise of the Internet about the impending murder of all mediums before it. Doomsday “experts” have scared newspaper readers, radio listeners, television viewers, etc., into believing their end is near. This may be sadly true for very few locally owned mediums. But for the industry giants that own a vast majority of everything media, the end is nowhere near.
Currently, old mediums are adjusting to the monumental power that is the Internet. Their evolution has been unraveling before our eyes and the question becomes: what is their future? For example: what will television look like in five years? This post was inspired by several events that have occurred in only the past few weeks that will weigh greatly in the transformation of television. In essence, the convergence of Internet and TV.
Netflix, the world’s largest subscription video service has been making moves in becoming even larger. First, there has been the company’s growing selection of original programming. Programming of such quality, that it has landed two of its original series, House of Cards and Arrested Development, a total of 14 Emmy nominations, making Netflix the first digital distributor to be considered for an award. Then there is Netflix’s recent multi-year agreement with The Weinstein Co., that will give exclusive streaming rights to the company’s films starting in 2016.
Still, even with Netflix’s power in the U.S., it fails to make much of an impact abroad with similar competitors offering the same, or even better services. Take for example, the U.K.’s biggest retailer Tesco and its digital download service, Blinkbox. Blinkbox offers thousands of movies and TV series and will soon also feature e-books and music. The programs are streamed to computers, tablets, televisions, and Sony’s PlayStation 3 consoles.
Internet television has still not taken a definite shape or form considering there are so many types of services that operate in slightly different ways. Still, this is an industry worth billions and media giants are taking steps toward securing a portion of the cake. The Wall Street Journal reported that in the first publicly reported deal of its kind, Viacom has reached a tentative agreement with Sony to make its popular cable TV channels available on a paid Internet service. And Sony is not the first to pursue a deal like this. Intel, Google and Apple are all said to be seeking similar agreements with programmers. These companies have not commented on details behind their plans.
The Internet will not kill television. Instead, the two will converge in a way that will change the way we consume media. Already, most of us use channels such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon, and more. We need to look at this list of channels to watch some of our favorite programs. The Internet is revolutionizing television. You may also consider Spectrum Cable Television Provider as you internet provider. And the time is now to jump on the ship sailing into the future.
Sources:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-18/tesco-s-blinkbox-duels-netflix-and-amazon-in-britain.html
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/16/4628606/what-sony-internet-tv-viacom-means-for-your-living-room
