The End Of Television?

[KremlingWhatnot]

I just noticed an ad saying that Television itself is ENDING for online programming THIS YEAR, what do you think about this? should Television end for the Internet? I don't think it should, but other people's opinions are welcome.

 

[Oscarfan]

ALL of television can't be ending; that'd be insane. TV has been such an institution for so long, it's not going to disappear like that. Things are certainly going online streaming, but TV's not going anywhere for a short while.

Where would we watch sports? I'd rather not have to squint on an iPhone to watch the SuperBowl.

 

[Drtooth]

We'll still have television in some degree. It will not be completely phased out, and the internet will be incorporated to some extent.

The full scale obsolescence of television, if there is one, won't happen at the end of this year. The technology is there, just not perfected and mainstream enough. And while there are several online only programs, Arrested Development and a Turbo cartoon (which is actually pretty good- the same team behind MegasXL and Motorcity is behind this cartoon) among a couple others I can't name at the moment are still not being produced to the same capacity as regular TV programming.

 

[charlietheowl]

I don't think TV is ending or dying just yet, but it's definitely starting to show its age. It will always have the advantage when it comes to live events, like sports or news telecasts. I think the future for TVs will be ones with internet connections built into them, so you can access Netflix and Hulu and whatever else right through the TV without needing another device.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Television sold out so much to the Reality nonsense, I'm not sure it deserves to stick around, lol. And frankly the future is where people can actually seek out what they're looking for and find it, rather than having to settle for what some executive decided will be aired.

Now something that might get lost is the pleasure of channel surfing and finding a show you weren't aware of.

 

[Drtooth]

Television sold out so much to the Reality nonsense, I'm not sure it deserves to stick around, lol.

What makes you think the internet won't? If television programs move to the internet, no doubt there will be more reality TV programming due to the non-union cheapness of the whole deal (I'm not sure how things work for writing for the internet, but that's part of the reason the strike a few years ago happened), and the fact that internet revenues of TV shows so far are kinda iffy. Plus, with no censors, be prepared to see worse reality shows if any of this does happen.

 

[CensoredAlso]

That is a valid point, but it will be easier to avoid online, lol.

 

[D'Snowth]

Everybody's just simply wanting TV to die now, like Drtooth keeps saying, everything is going to the internet now, and that's apparently all people want now. I can totally agree there's nothing good on TV anymore these days, there hasn't been for about a decade or maybe even longer, and so many actual shows are internet-exclusive now: HOUSE OF CARDS, the revival of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, the revival of that one soap opera that I can't remember which one it is, they're all internet-exclusive now. Not only that, many miniscule web series are considered actual "TV shows" now... Nostalgia Critic is even considered a full-fledged series as far as IMDb is concerned.

 

[Drtooth]

That is a valid point, but it will be easier to avoid online, lol.

That depends on the economics of new media. On the one hand, you can pick and choose (to an extent) what you can get. But variety is something that will be controlled by the entertainment industry (Netflix keeps getting titles pulled as a result of wanting more money and exclusive deals), and if they limit what those choices is, it's not much better than television.

Ideally, the internet is where shows that don't make it should go. But how does that get an audience? How many shows do you only watch because you stumble upon them one day? Arrested Development has a fan base that was willing to follow it online, any new to the internet series would have to rely solely on word of mouth. Also, ideally, it's where older shows should go, and some do indeed... but under terms and conditions and certain ones never get a legal option.

Plus, there's also the issue of having to buy subscriptions. It doesn't seem too bad to get an 8 dollar a month membership to one site... but then, backroom deals will split your shows among other sites, having to buy more subscriptions from them. It sounds slightly better than cable, because at least you get to choose channels to purchase... except for the fact you also need to continue to buy internet connectivity. And they stress you buy the biggest, most expensive package to get your shows in HD without choppy outages.

Above all, there's also this... the internet can go down.

 

[mr3urious]

Remember when television was expected to take over films back in the '50s? I don't see the Internet completely taking over TV anytime soon, but I do see more of an incorporation of the Internet into TV, like with Samsung and their Smart TVs.