A decade ago, the first thing people talked about when they saw their friends in school or colleagues at work was: the TV show they watched on television the night before. And most important, have you seen it? Because, if you hadn’t, you were not able talk about it with your friends.
Nowadays, the TV shows are less popular. At the coffee machine, people no longer talk about that particular TV show, but they talk about things they saw on the internet. How is it possible that this changed so rapidly in such a short time? Well, because of the disruptive new platforms with which people can see whatever they like whenever they like. We are not forced to watch a certain TV show on a predetermined time, but are allowed to watch it the next day or sometimes even earlier than it would have been broadcasted.
This disruptive change has an influence on our morning talk with our friends and colleagues. This change enables us to talk about other stuff then just the regular TV show. It allows us to discuss videos on Facebook and topics on blogs. In other words, we are encouraged to develop our own interests.
Of course, there are still people who have the tendency to watch the same TV show as their friends. The ultimate solution has taken over the world since 2010 and is called Netflix (Netflix Nederland, 2016). This online streaming platform allows us to watch the same show as our neighbors, but at 4 AM instead of 8.30PM. On the other hand, there is YouTube which enables individuals to post a self-made video online. This platform is very popular among young people and creates a new subject to talk about during recess. These two forms of new information goods show that our lifestyle changes very fast. It is up to the media platforms to keep up with the changing needs of this generation.
Dear Evy, thank you for your blog! This is in my opinion a very interesting subject and one that everybody thinks differently about. I have actually also posted a blog with in in the same question as you ask: Will traditional pay-TV as we know it come to an end? If your interested here is the link:
https://digitalstrategy.rsm.nl//2016/09/27/streaming-services-vs-traditional-pay-tv-the-battle-for-viewers-of-the-21st-century/
In my blog I have linked the question to age. The role of age seems to be very important in the acceptance of online streaming platforms. The young generation actually prefers streaming vs traditional TV. This makes it hard to imagine a future with traditional TV as we know it. However I wouldn’t call it the end of the Television Era. With networks such as HBO and CBS already having launched their own online offerings it is clear that traditional TV channels are evolving and finding ways to survive, extending beyond the traditional television screen and including custom (not full TV package) programming from new sources that can be accessed in new ways. This in combination with TV companies pivoting their business models to distribute on social platforms and the formation of partnerships with digital media brands to create new content will probably secure the future of TV companies for the following years to come.
Dear Evy, Thank you for your post! I was wondering if television is coming to an end as well. A few years ago, when people came home, they turned the television on and start watching the news. Nowadays, people can see the news whenever they want.
Besides the news, it is as you mentioned in your post more than just the news. Shows, series and movies, people will watch it whenever they want, but there are some exceptions. Think of football for instance. A few weeks ago, Feyenoord was playing against Manchester and there were almost no tickets available for the game. It is one of the best matches, so everyone wants to see it live. Some channels broadcasted the match live and many people were watching the match on their television.
Television is still used for live events, while many of these events are also available on other media. For now, it is probably easier to watch the live event on television than on other media, but if the live events are getting more accessible on other media, then this could be a disadvantage for the television.
Furthermore there are probably more problems than time. As mentioned in the article I added below, high costs are a problem was well. People have to pay for more channels than they want, they are stuck to the monthly payments and they don’t trust the channels they pay for.
Your post makes people consider about the television as it is used nowadays. We will see which alternatives will appear and if the television will still consist over 10 years.
http://www.bralin.com/will-television-disappear-in-the-years-to-come
Hi Evy!
Great post! To add to this, I don’t think the television era is only coming to an end because of online entertainment possibilities (such as Youtube and Netflix), but also due to social media. The number of social media platforms has increased over the last years to the point where we now have 2.3 billion active social media users, whilst the daily social media usage has also increased from 96 minutes to 118 minutes a day per user. People now have the ability to use multiple features on their computer, instead of watching a television where they could only watch one channel at a time – I believe this also plays a role in why the television era is coming to its end!
– https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/