Online Video Begins To Threatens Television

eldavojohn writes, "The BBC has an article reporting that a survey of 2,070 Britons revealed that online viewing is on the rise against television. From the article: 'Some 43% of Britons who watch video from the internet or on a mobile device at least once a week said they watched less normal TV as a result.' The figures the BBC is reporting are up from last year when they ran the same survey. It seems the digital world has disintermediated Magazines, Music, & Newspapers but somehow never really tapped books. Will the internet also take on the role as the family television?"

Comments

Isolation on the rise too

[suso]

I think that as online TV becomes more popular, people will isolate themselves more and more from a shared experience. So people will end up having even more polarized views of things.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[grapeape]

For many watching online is more of a shared experience. How many families really sit down and watch programs together and when they do, how many actually communicate during them. Many of the media sites offering video content have chatrooms, forums, and other collaborative places that are the online equivalent of talking around the water cooler. So yep gone are the days of dad yelling at Jr. to shut up because the fishing show is on, now dad can watch outdoor sportsman and talk to others that like the same thing.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[CarlJagt]

as online TV becomes more popular, people will isolate themselves more and more from a shared experience

Instead, I'd say that as online TV becomes more popular, people will timeshift their viewing more and more. This does not eliminate a shared experience altogether, but it does stretch it thinner. But to the point of isolation? Naw. A good series remains a good series, and word will travel.

In fact, I find it refreshing that, at our watercooler, co-workers introduce each other to new shows, as well as help filter out the crud. Instead of a dozen people investing 12 man-hours to all learn that the Such-and-Such show blows ... the investment was perhaps one or two.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[Nos.]

I was going to post something similar, but one other thing that is beneficial when visiting an online forum, is that you get a broader view of things. Depending on the subject it could even be a more worldly view than you could ever get, even watching the show in a public place like a bar. So, in some ways, yes it is less social, but at the same time, it can expand your view more than has been happening before.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[Lostconfused]

But that was the entire point of the parent. The person isolates oneself from outside views or opinions, well its not that drastic but the opinions are very likely to be similar in those chat rooms and forums, if they aren't people would most likely move to some other place thats more agreeable to them. So yeah people are still isolated from different opinions and different points of view

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[AKAImBatman]

See that DVI, HDMI, or SVideo port on the back of your computer? See that DVI, HDMI, or SVideo port on the side of your new TV? Got any bright ideas? ;)

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[siriuskase]

no, it's more like sharing a meal. We don't watch much TV, but when we do, we do it together. We usually watch DVD, talk while watching, hit rewind if we manage to miss something, etc. It's not exactly educational talk, but fun talk, our own commentary, etc. It's frequently more interesting than the "How was your day?" stuff at the table. Kids talk more when they have something interesting to talk about.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[Mad Dog Manley]

For many watching online is more of a shared experience.

Not only is it shared because of online forums, chatrooms, etc, but how many times have a friend or relative sent you a video clip from Youtube or some other site, something funny or interesting or a good TV show that interested both of you? The comments and thoughts and shared experience is real - albeit a very 21st century experience - and will probably only grow in the future, as video allows more thoughts to be expressed without words.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[deathy_epl ccs]

the opinions are very likely to be similar in those chat rooms and forums, if they aren't people would most likely move to some other place thats more agreeable to them. So yeah people are still isolated from different opinions and different points of view

heh. Yeah, 'cause we've never seen a flamewar errupt on a forum before. heheheheh.

To the outside world, the Slashdot users appear to have very similar opinions too.

1. Make inflammatory remark.
2. Take part in erruping flamewar.
3. ???
4. Profit!

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[timeOday]

Until they start making it easy for Joe Average to pipe Internet based content to the big LCD or Plasma they're been fighting for on black friday for Xmas...I don't see internet streamed content displacing regular, cable or satellite tv.

Coming Soon via Your TiVo: Internet Video on Television. And you can bet the Internet/Cable TV companies like Comcast won't be far behind.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[rucs_hack]

since starting to watch online content I've found that my friends and I talk far more about video content then we ever did about tv. Links to cool new things get bandied about, and there's a constant hunt to find the next cool thing to share.

Redvsblue is my current favorite for quality comedy online.This was found not through brainless channel surfing, but via a conversation with a friend.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[Captain Splendid]

Mod parent up. The real danger to old school tv channels isn't where you can get content, but when. I'm currently using Bittorrent a shedload simply to be able to watch the 5 or 6 tv shows I'm interested in without having to contort my life around somebody else's schedule. Once the general perception shifts from "gotta get home, Lost is on soon", to "I'll download it this weekend/I'll wait for the DVD", TV networks as we know them are dead.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[Plutonite]

How many families really sit down and watch programs togetherand when they do, how many actually communicate during them

As a fellow geek I would love to join this parade, but you are wrong. Families do get together over T.V, even if it's just for the news or the odd movie. Television is a culture, to the extent that some people cannot initiate conversation without having something flashing on the tube. The online streaming thing is an entirely different world: you are connected to many people who may share your interests but who you interact with through playback controls. They are not real. I mean of course they are, but they are real only in the microcosm of existence that is your online experience.

If you do not have a family, there can be little difference (most of my comp.sci mates watch their shows from their PC/laptop) but if you are in a household where everybody is shut off in their room staring into their monitors and the static buzzing from their headphones, then you know something is not right.

Sometimes it's good to fight over the channels. And remember, this is coming from a Computer Science grad student, not your aunt.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[LunaticTippy]

I bought a low-end 3d graphics card for $40 just for the TV-out ability. I figured not wasting time and dvd blanks would pay for itself in a matter of weeks.

Oddly, I'm running 50' of coax and using the plain ol' composite video signal and it looks good!

Not every PC has built-in tv-readable outputs you know.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[Technician]

In the USA, with the pending end of analog over the air TV and a bunch of TV monitors, but very few TV sets that can recieve over the air digital broadcasts has been disturbing.

Got any bright ideas?

Yea, lets download and stream content that I can no longer recieve free over the air. Who didn't see this a mile away. One home theatre system simply does not meet the diverse needs of a modern family. Mom wants the soap or gardening show, dad wants the big game or evening news, and the tweens want the latest sitcom such as friends or reality TV. In the end everyone finds their nitch online and the big set is religated to being a monitor for the cable box or game console. The lack of smaller sets with a tuner able to pick up over the air broadcasts and the ability to find good stuff online has made an end run over real time commercial laden over the air TV.

I moved last January. We don't have Cable or Satelite TV. We also have not bothered to put up an antenna. We have a broadband internet connection instead.

Re:Isolation on the rise too

[StikyPad]

Once the general perception shifts from "gotta get home, Lost is on soon", to "I'll download it this weekend/I'll wait for the DVD", TV networks as we know them are dead.

Except that if nobody watches TV, there will be no "Lost" to download this weekend/wait for the DVD. (Although I'd venture a guess that exponentially more people use a VCR/PVR to record shows anyway.) TV won't "die" until there's both a viable distribution method to replace it, and an unmarketable remaining audience -- something which will take decades, if ever, to achieve. A substantially larger number of people still watch TV than even have internet access, let alone those with access but lacking the savvy to download and play videos. That your extremely limited sample (friends/peers) of people is gravitating toward a particular method of content aquisition says nothing for the millions of grandmas, soccer moms, laborers, etc. Further, by your logic, radio would already be dead. People don't always know what they want, and sometimes they just want to browse (channel surf) until they find something they like.

Is it online video or internet in general?

[LiquidCoooled]

I see it as more people having "something" to do with their time than specifically crappy videos.

Perhaps the survey questions weren't correct.

Most people who spend time online have a community - some have slash others have flickr, theres some on youtube and loads in numerous other communities.

TV cannot give the level of participation the web does.

Re:Is it online video or internet in general?

[kfg]

I see it as more people having "something" to do with their time

A lovely young lady of my acquaintence is one hell of a little piano player.

She grew up in one of those little dying dipshit towns out in the boonies with two diners; and one of them is boarded up.

She told me that she learned to play the piano just to have "something" to do with her time. It's now her life and her career.

Think about it.

KFG

And what is the big deal?

[zappepcs]

My flatscreen has a pc input...
Just a different source for video feeds...
current content providers will adapt...

News at 11

Disintermediated

[Tx]

You've just been looking for an excuse to use that word in an article, haven't you?

Re:Disintermediated

[Red Flayer]

Disintermediated

It's a pretty scary word, too. If we break it down, we see that it is a compound word derived from disinter- (to dig up a corpse) and -mediate (to intercede). Therefore, it's obvious that the digital world is a broker of graverobbing services, not a supplier of porn as commonly assumed.

Re:Disintermediated

[drinkypoo]

Therefore, it's obvious that the digital world is a broker of graverobbing services, not a supplier of porn as commonly assumed.

Among some circles, those are one and the same.

Is this a surprise?

[grapeape]

I would imagine that if they looked they would find that Internet Users on a whole watch less TV. Why just sit there when you can do something interactive. I watch video's online but usually they are shoved up in the corner of the screen while im doing something else more productive. I dont really see this as a bad thing, the major US networks are already catching on and are offering much of their programming online.

Isn't this exactly what has to happen for the mythical media/computer convergence to happen that everyone has harped on for the past 15 years? Its survival of the fittest, adapt or die, all media companies have to come to that reality whether is music, movies television, radio, newspapers or even books.

This is surprising?

[AKAImBatman]

We live in a world that is no longer as 9 to 5 as it once was (more like 24/7 in three shifts), and people are surprised that television viewers would rather decouple their viewing from "Prime Time Weeknights"? I'm not surprised at all. DVDs laid the groundwork for viewers watching the television they want when they want. Then shows like 24 and Lost further laid the groundwork for story arcs that take advantage of that medium. (i.e. Can't keep with Jack every week? Keep up with him on DVD!)

Now the Internet is threatening to combine the convenience and timeliness of broadcast TV with the time shifting and long-term storage capabilities of DVDs. The result can only be a positive change in the way we view entertainment.

Re:This is surprising?

[kfg]

. . .more like 24/7 in three shifts

Three shifts? I wish. The great thing about working on the Internet is that someone, somewhere in the world, thinks I've just come back from lunch no matter what time it is here.

The great thing about working from home is that you get to choose which 168 hours a week you're going to work.

KFG

Problem or Opportunity?

[Kombat]

Anyone want to lay odds regarding whether the TV networks will view this as a problem or an opportunity? Of course, they'll see it as a problem that must be "solved," rather than an opportunity to be seized. There is so much money to be made here for innovative and visionary content providers, so much cross-promotion and integration they could take advantage of, and yet you just know the "old guard" will fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo, even as their marketshare/revenues decline over the upcoming years.

It's sad, really. I would have hoped that the "younger" networks like MTV and Spike would have jumped aboard and shown the path, but the only network I can think of who has even remotely embraced the dual-delivery model of TV and online media is the Comedy Network/Comedy Central.

Logical step

[Damastus the WizLiz]

This is a logical step really. people will move to online viewing because it offers them the choice of what to watch and when to watch it that fits around their schedual. I think if networks put up their shows for people to watch at any time on the internet with commercials people would watch it with commercials just to be able to watch their favorite shows when they want to not when the network scheduals it.

It's obvious

[spyrochaete]

Why do we prefer online video over television? Doy! No advertisements!

Magazines and newspapers have non-obtrusive ads that can just be flipped immediately. TV ads must be watched or channel-flipped with the risk of missing content. Most internet video has ads on the site, not in the video.

I can't wait until TV networks get smart enough to put a Pepsi ad in the corner of the screen and allow "TV pirates" to spread the show on the internet. The network is off the hook for the piracy because it's out of their hands, Pepsi gets advertised all over the world, and the audience gladly puts up with the ad being onscreen because it doesn't interrupt the show.

Re:It's obvious

[Mad Dog Manley]

The smart tv networks are joining the rush to online video, e.g. CBS. Their television shows are receiving some of the highest views on Youtube. (3 of the 25 highest viewed clips last week were from CBS shows)

Also good to note is the National Hockey League - they offer full hockey games on Google Video 48 hours after they are aired, and allow video clips on Youtube 24 hours after the games are aired. They are the only major North American sports league to do so.

Message to content producers and distributers - get with the program, or be left in the cold!

Re:It's obvious

[The-Bus]

the audience gladly puts up with the ad being onscreen because it doesn't interrupt the show.

Not an interruption?

Do you also believe [ How much ladies will love your new ROCK hard action!! Advertisement] that onscreen ads on the internet aren't intrusive? I'd be willing to [ Approve you for best mortgage at prime minus 4%!! Pay nothing! Advertisement] bet that most people don't share that view. Certainly, I can live without [ hottest mover & shaker stocks - investors shouldn't miss out Advertisement] them, and sometimes they're not terribly intrusive, but they are still interruptions.

I always liked the way that ZDF in Germany did it. They had a block of time each night were only ads were shown and the ads were interrupted by short 5- to 15-second animated shorts to get the kids to watch. As they wanted people to actually tune in, most of the ads were of Super Bowl ingenuity: actually fun to watch. I believe some of the American HD networks do something like this currently.

Sure it is.

[Rob T Firefly]

My PC plays DVDs, downloads from torrents and Usenet (shh!) and legit online streams (bless you Adult Swim!) My PC plays all the PC games and classic console ROMs I need it to. When I have a video card with the proper inputs, the PC displays my real game consoles as well. My last actual television died about four years ago, and I really never found a reason to replace it.

To be fair I'm not much of a fan of modern mainstream television, and the only two series (not counting Adult Swim) I really follow are British ones I can only torrent in until the DVDs make it here to the States, but with mainstream stuff like NBC's "Heroes" following the legit streaming model I can see standard televsions becoming an endangered species fairly soon.

Many areas currently plan to ditch plain old analog broadcasts in favor of digital, and I imagine that signal is really easy to plug into an Internet server rather than a cable company. I'd love to see a cost comparison of what it costs the networks to stream online versus broadcasting on the dwindling airwaves.

Threat or Opportunity?

[SuperKendall]

The increase of online viewing is only a threat to those stupid enough not to provide easy means of viewing shows online!

And by show, I mean any media!

Advertisers seem threatened by online media. Yet how many years ago was it that AdCritic had to start charging because they got too popular? Why is there no modern AdCritic that is free and supported by millions of companies that have ads they want consumers to watch?

The networks have started to air shows online but when will they stop treating online viewers as second class citizens and let the people download a show the moment it airs?

I canceled my cable a year or two ago and have not looked back, because downloading (even by purchase) media is just such an improved way to watch TV, better even than TiVO (which was always merely an intermediate step to true random access of, and within, media).

Re:Why is this a problem ?

[Purity Of Essence]

It's all about control and providing advertisers with the "intended audience". By forcing viewers to adhere to a schedule they think they know exactly the kinds of people who will be watching at any moment. That makes the marketing people a Proctor and Gamble happy. It's also good for the networks to help sell their new shows. They can make you wonder "Where's Lost?!" when "Day Break" comes on, but chances are you'll watch it anyway. They can make you watch "The War At Home" while you wait for the next good show in Fox's Sunday night animation line up. The meteoric rise in popularity of TiVo and YouTube has proven that the shift toward video-on-demand is inevitable, but it's going to take a lot of cajoling to get the networks for play ball.