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Only 39 Percent of Viewers Choose Live TV As Their Default Option, Says Study (deadline.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the channel-surfing dept.

According to a new study by Hub Entertainment Research, viewers are increasingly defaulting to on-demand sources like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu instead of live TV. The study found that only 39% of viewers tune into live programming from a traditional pay-TV provider, down from 47% last year. On-demand sources, collectively, were the first choice for 48% of viewers. Deadline reports: For viewers aged 18-34, the pattern is more stark -- only about a quarter (26%) of the demo lists live TV as a default, compared with 35% a year ago. One clear influence on consumer behavior is the increase in TV sources -- the average person has 4.5 distinct sources to choose from (including linear TV, DVR, VOD, Netflix, etc.). That number is up from 3.7 in 2014. Among viewers 18-34, the number is higher, at 5.1 sources -- plus, Hub found that fully 50% of 18-34-year-olds subscribe to at least two of the "big three" SVOD services, Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. Even older generations accustomed to the "clicker" have turned away from live TV as a default. About 56% of viewers 55 and older listed live as their first choice, but that's down from 66% a year ago.

96 comments

  1. dvd.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's my choice and I'm sticking to it!

  2. Commercials by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Excessive advertising, they did magazines in, now so too TV. The world-wide-web is next.

    1. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet they are planning to add more advertising to cover their losses. Positive feedback loop into oblivion.

    2. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They can try.
      My ad blocker is ready.

    3. Re:Commercials by gravewax · · Score: 1

      Not sure about you but I frequently now find the Ad blocker detected and I get blocked and restricted in my viewing of the web sites. I think we are fast approaching the time when either people with Ad Blockers get blocked completely or we end up with subscription model. Sadly I could put up with Ads if they were Not intrusive cunts about how they did the advertising. Auto play sound and video, scroll over expanding ads, pop ups, pop unders etc etc. We are fucked one way or the other.

    4. Re:Commercials by jwhyche · · Score: 3

      This is truth. I don't mind ads. Some ads I even like to see. I don't even mind a certain level of targeting. I would much rather see ads about computer hardware than ads about vaginal cream.

      I draw the damn line when the ad is a video that auto plays, that I can cut the fuck off, and chases me down the damn screen.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
    5. Re:Commercials by quenda · · Score: 1

      people with Ad Blockers get blocked completely

      If necessary, ad blockers can be stealthy and download all the ads. Maybe even "render" them, but blanked over.

    6. Re:Commercials by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Same. The Reader View trick seems to work against many of them though.

      View a page, adblocker notice pops up being annoying as shit. Reload page, press F9 ( Firefox ) and the page is loaded into Reader View.
      Content becomes readable, no ads. No blocking notice. YMMV, doesn't work on all sites.

      Those that it doesn't work on, I simply skip.

      Those sites that are known for blocking I skip completely by default.

    7. Re:Commercials by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No lie there.

      Once advertisements in magazines exceeded the number of articles or information I wanted to read, I ceased all of my subscriptions. ( years ago mind you )

      I've actually blocked entire TV networks ( I'm looking at you FX ) because of their advertising methods. Early in the show, the ratio of show to commercials favors the show. However, the longer the show runs, the less you get to see in one segment before the next set of commercials ( which, maddeningly, are the same GD commercials over and Over and OVER again ) breaks in. By the end of the show, you're lucky to get 5-7 minutes of show without a commercial break.

      Fuck that. Program it out.

      You're right though. We're seeing the same shit happen with the net and excessive advertising will be its demise.

    8. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's when I stop visiting those sites. If they're blocking me because of my adblockers then their content is no longer worth my time.

    9. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If necessary, ad blockers can be stealthy and download all the ads. Maybe even "render" them, but blanked over.

      That's all well and good, but for some of us, part of the reason for blocking ads is to reduce wasted bandwidth usage and speed content delivery. Not everyone has unlimited, high-speed internet.

    10. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That used to be a viable method, it is getting less and less viable as more and more sites put in adblocking detection.

    11. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Call up your local ISP and ask for the "I'm a cheap bastard"(*) internet plan.
      The speed will suck, but it'll be unlimited for like $10 or $20 /mo.

      (They're all required by law to offer it, but only cheap bastards use it.)

    12. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I haven't watched network TV since YouTube, Netflix and Hulu became available.

      Before YouTube Red / Premium, I used adblock. But, once it they offered a no-ad subscription... I went for it.
      The only ads I see are junk mail that I throw away without looking at it. ...and annoyingly, some ads on Reddit that adblock doesn't filter.
      Most of the content I watch is just YouTube stuff, for background noise.... or interests / hobbies.
      If i'm not really watching, i drop the quality down to SD.

      I don't miss TV at all.

    13. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First time I came across one of those ads I found it hilarious, and then closed the site. I don't use an ad blocker. When a site has annoying ads, I don't come back. It is that simple. On most sites, for example Slashdot, I get small ads about things I recently purchased.

    14. Re:Commercials by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Try a different ad blocker.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    15. Re:Commercials by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Ads in magazines I never had a problem with. Byte, Computer Shopper, and Personal Computer World were about 70-90% ads, and it was fine, because the magazines were also massively thick reflecting the fact that the ads didn't mean less content, and it wasn't as if the ads were interrupting your reading.

      TV on the other hand, hell even 25% ads is a problem because those ads are shortening the content and interrupting the content. If a TV show that runs for 60 minutes is barely over 40 minutes long because the network needs to ensure there's more than 15 minutes available for advertising, it's a problem.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    16. Re:Commercials by Local+ID10T · · Score: 1

      Try a different website.

      --
      "You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
    17. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Paramount Networks (PAR) runs advertisements for its own programming during episodes of other television series broadcast on their network. Watching Bar Rescue and see Bellinator and even ads for Bar Rescue repeatedly shown, sometimes twice or three times in a row before returning to whatever show you were watching. At least they are not running ads for cars, soap, and feminine hygiene products unlike say W Network, formerly The Women's Network in the early 2000s.

    18. Re:Commercials by Tyger-ZA · · Score: 1

      I haven't watched network TV since YouTube, Netflix and Hulu became available.

      Before YouTube Red / Premium, I used adblock. But, once it they offered a no-ad subscription... I went for it.

      Same here. Paying for Youtube Red so that I don't have to see their fucking adverts, I don't give a fuck about their "youtube originals" content

      The problem is, they're not paying their content producers enough for them to not also show their own adverts embedded as part of the fucking video so I can't skip it

      Every time Linus Sebastian interrupts his own show (Linus Tech Tips) to tell me about Tunnelbear or some other shit, I feel like punching him in the face

      I wish I'd never heard of Patreon either

      Although it's not all content producers doing this so it's semi manageable, I just end up having to avoid certain channels after the first advert

    19. Re:Commercials by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      I just DVR that shit. I never watch a program live because of the damn ads.

      --
      Cheap storage VM.
    20. Re:Commercials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I actually prefer the subscription model. Similar to how I would subscribe to Netflix or Hulu. It's a purer form of evolution then. The sites that get enough subscribers who actually like and enjoy the content survive, the rest die off. Only the strong [websites] should survive.

    21. Re:Commercials by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Not sure about you but I frequently now find the Ad blocker detected and I get blocked and restricted in my viewing of the web sites.

      The vast majority of content is available elsewhere. If a site is restricting your access when you use an ad blocker, don't use that site. With very few exceptions (/. being one), the commentary simply isn't worth the effort of reading. (And /. is declining towards that standard as the UID count pushes towards 10^7.)

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  3. I've been using Tivo since 2000 by SensitiveMale · · Score: 5, Informative

    FF, rewinding, and saving programs are necessary. Watching a 60 minute show in 40 minutes makes a huge difference. Skipping over a boring segment and saving another 10 to 20 minutes saves even more time.

    Oh, and pausing at boobs on TV. That's killer.

    1. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      Oh, and pausing at boobs on TV. That's killer.

      It was what got me watching Survivor again.

    2. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same here except with MythTV circa 2002. Then not long after, I cut the cord and switched to XBMC. Been using that ever since.

    3. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "boobs"? Are you a child?

      You need to be looking further south for the real action.

    4. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by philmarcracken · · Score: 1

      Skipping over a boring segment

      Since the rise in reality shows, its been a bit more than 10 to 20 mins here. Some might say the entire genre.

    5. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by markdavis · · Score: 2

      >"I've been using Tivo since 2000. FF, rewinding, and saving programs are necessary. "

      Me too. Been doing it since the first TiVo came out. I can't stand commercials and the lack of control. I also can't imagine watching any other way. It is even MORE convenient that streaming because it doesn't require a live Internet connection to play it, all actions are instant and smooth, I can even look frame-by-frame, and it starts at full res (no "ramping up and down" depending on bandwidth or checking). Plus the remote is far more functional, and I can do "slow-mo" and "speed watching". And things I planned to watch months from now that I have recorded don't just "disappear" because it isn't carried anymore.

      I find it amusing the summary calls watching cable or over the air "live TV", which it is not... as if DVR's don't exist.

    6. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to be looking further south for the real action.

      Sorry to disappoint you mate, but it's winter right now in the southern hemisphere. You'll have better luck down here in January or February.

    7. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by antdude · · Score: 2

      Only boobs? What about other stuff? :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    8. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess this proves what I've always said, you Aussies are mostly faggots. Boobs? What a fakedick.

    9. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Skipping over a boring segment

      Since the rise in reality shows, its been a bit more than 10 to 20 mins here. Some might say the entire genre.

      I think you meant to type "reality" shows. Not a fucking real thing about any of them.

      First time my wife saw "Survivor", she said "Bullshit. Kidnap the camera crew, demand a million for each contestant, DONE." Doesn't make for a good show, but each contestant walks away with a million.

    10. Re:I've been using Tivo since 2000 by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Comcast might be a bunch of asshats, but their x1 interface does it right. I can record a program, easily switch to a streaming version if I tune into something midway throught, or set a recording for a later airing if no on-demand is avaliable.

      They throw up the 'no-fast forwarding' warning on the on-demand programs, but I have yet to find one where ff or 30-second skip button doesn't work. When I had U-verse, they really meant it and it was a huge pain to ff on-demand. God forbid your DVR misses the last 15 minutes of a show and you just want to watch that part on-demand.

      --
      Cheap storage VM.
  4. They equate Live TV with Pay TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What percentage watch OTA broadcasts, where the only fees are the commercials? (Usually the commercials are for drugs, cheap insurance, or easy ways to consolidate all your debts nowadays.)

    1. Re:They equate Live TV with Pay TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What percentage watch OTA broadcasts, where the only fees are the commercials? (Usually the commercials are for drugs, cheap insurance, or easy ways to consolidate all your debts nowadays.)

      In most parts of Canada you cannot get OTA any more. Any channels available OTA are grainy and often worse to the point of not being watchable plus all the "snow sound."

  5. Sure.. blame streaming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's amusing TV networks continue to cover their eyes and blame everything but their own damn greed. People are fed up with abusive networks, shitty in your face advertising, and general rip you-a-new-ass-because-we-can cable companies. "Live TV" is almost like they are trolling people with how absurd it's become. My kids will grow up watching reruns like StarTrek over the crap they are running now. I'll take Archie Bunker and Al Bundy too thank you. Builds character, understanding and not snowflakes.

    1. Re:Sure.. blame streaming by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      I've given up live TV, and I live in the UK where the BBC is ad free, and the main commercial channels are very tightly regulated. Streaming is simply better. The broadcasters know this. They blame streaming because streaming really is the cause of their problems.

    2. Re: Sure.. blame streaming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also live in the uk where the BBC is free of *third party* ads. My PVR is essential for skipping the ads infesting every channel. Haven't willingly watched live TV actually live since before the VCR days. Ironically I have to do it for streamed sport though!

    3. Re: Sure.. blame streaming by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      There are no ad breaks. Who cares what happens between shows?

  6. Hohoho "NuKLeeR ShUtDoWn" 4 antifa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Watch Antifa WEEZIL get his "computer rebooted" by good U.S. Patriot https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    * Hahahahaha - A good dose of the "ole' 5 knuckle shuffle" sleeping potion!

    ( "WHAP!!!" )

    APK

    P.S.=> Hilarious/Priceless/CLASSIC - the traitor "not-man" pussy went DOWN like a SACK OF POTATOS in 1 punch - (-=*** "SPLAT!!!" ***=-) lol... apk

  7. Re:I am God's gift to you rotten bastards... apk by Narcocide · · Score: 1

    Woah, its like all the trolls just reached critical mass and started imploding upon themselves into a singularity!

  8. You WISH you were me (impersonating me) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IMPERSONATING me YET again PROVES you WISH you were ME & could create such effective native simple smarter solutions for more speed/security/reliability/anonymity online via native methods vs. ILLOGIC-LOGIC "Bolt-on-'MoAr'" stupidity that's loaded w/ bugs, slowdown & inefficiency not doing NEARLY AS MUCH from ANY single competing method vs. hosts.

    APK

    P.S.=> Must BLOW to be a JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" like you, lol... apk

  9. Watching TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Haven't watched live TV in 10 yrs .

  10. Only 39% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    2 out of 5 - surprises me.

  11. Re:I am God's gift to you rotten bastards... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lol, all the trolls? You mean one single retard with turbo autism and no life?

  12. Narcocide = fake name massive human fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Your MASSIVE FAIL in this life is you're nothing more than a chattering little do-nothing "ne'er-do-well" online & you know it...

    * Is that the best your "phantasyland FAKE NAME" (for your fake lie of a so-called 'life') can manage?

    When a FAKE NAME do nothing like YOU does better than I have? Then talk (you're all talk & no action)...

    You can't help you're an immature little BUTTHURT no-mind, lol! I blew you away in TONS OF PLACES and easily dust your no-mind bullshit blatherings.

    APK

    P.S.=> The TRUE PRICE of your UNIDENTIFIABLE FAKE NAME do-nothing selves like you that I can ALWAYS CASH IN ON (lol) is that I can use FACT/TRUTH on them to SHATTER their all TOO fragile delusional egos that they actually know A DAMN THING in computing, lol... apk

  13. Tech changed by darkain · · Score: 2

    A large part of this is due to the fact that the switch over to ATSC, there was a lot of confusion. Most people think that OTA TV doesn't even exist anymore now that analog TV is gone. My peers, even tech ones, are shocked to find out that I have a network attached ATSC tuner for my house and can stream live TV on every device in my house from it.

    1. Re:Tech changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FYI: Your peers aren't shocked that you are capable of getting OTA TV. They're shocked that you're willing to watch commercials.

    2. Re:Tech changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A large part of this is due to the fact that the switch over to ATSC, there was a lot of confusion. Most people think that OTA TV doesn't even exist anymore now that analog TV is gone. My peers, even tech ones, are shocked to find out that I have a network attached ATSC tuner for my house and can stream live TV on every device in my house from it.

      With an antenna on analog TV, I could pick up about 15 channels that were watchable (some noise on a few). All the programming was crap, and loaded with ads.

      With an antenna on digital TV, I can pick up about 4 channels that are watchable (others freeze or just don't tune). All the programming is crap, and loaded with ads. Those 4 channels look nice though.

    3. Re:Tech changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was there no promotion of digital terrestrial TV in the USA? Here in the UK there was a big push under the "Freeview" brand - tens of channels (including a few HD). Works well, if you like TV - I don't watch much TV (either live or streamed), but my parents do, and it's good enough that they cancelled their pay TV subscription.

    4. Re:Tech changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There were tons of information regarding the transition. The .gov even gave you a voucher to "buy" multiple tuners (I bought two at $40 or $50 each, covered 100%).

      The problem is, no one seems to know it still exists; Were confused by the transition ("What do you mean I can't just plug rabbit ears into this TV anymore?"); or lost a ton of channels. I went from 10 channels to 2, 4 once I got a "better" antenna.

    5. Re:Tech changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's interesting. Here it was the opposite - there are far more free to air channels than there ever were before (5 SD on analogue vs about 15 HD and over 50 SD on digital), so people had an actual incentive to switch in advance rather than just being forced into it. You generally do need a better aerial than for analogue, but a standard rooftop or loft aerial is fine, which most people would have had anyway.

      Maybe it's because pay TV has long been more "standard" in the US compared to here. Even the headline "Only 39% Of Viewers Choose Live TV As Their Default Option" leads into the main text that says "Hub found that only 39% of viewers tune into live programming from a traditional pay-TV provider", seemingly ignoring free to air TV altogether.

    6. Re:Tech changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The large majority of Americans don't live close enough to a stations transmitters to benefit from OTA.

    7. Re:Tech changed by Agripa · · Score: 1

      Was there no promotion of digital terrestrial TV in the USA? Here in the UK there was a big push under the "Freeview" brand - tens of channels (including a few HD). Works well, if you like TV - I don't watch much TV (either live or streamed), but my parents do, and it's good enough that they cancelled their pay TV subscription.

      Sure there was promotion and they even subsidized converter boxes but the broadcast footprint was so much smaller that to 2/3rd of the potential viewers, it was all lies.

  14. Content Changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TV shows used to be individual episodes. Now they all end in cliff hangers part way through a story to get you hooked and coming back for more. I really hate that. So now I refuse to watch any individual episodes. Instead I'll binge watch over a weekend or two a couple times a year. I won't be watching Doctor Who or Game Of Thrones until their next seasons finish airing. I will be watching The Orville as that show comes out.

    The other thing is shows used to be consistent. If you started watching it a time T on day D it would stay that way for years on end. Now it'll skip around and sometimes the show won't air for weeks or months on end. It's too easy to lose track of shows when they're aired like that. I don't know how the media industry manages to survive when it keeps constantly shooting itself in the foot over and over. They must have Acme shoes or something.

    I've recently rediscovered books and audio books. I don't expect to pick up any new TV shows. The stories versions in books are far, far better compared to their TV/movie versions.

  15. NEWSFLASH: apk 2 lrn2engrish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    prease 2b lrnink2engrish

    1. Re:NEWSFLASH: apk 2 lrn2engrish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Learn to read.

  16. You're proving it again... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You IMPERSONATING me only proves you WISH you were ME & imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (but you're POOR imitation)

    APK

    P.S.=> Grow up & seek professional psychiatric help for your "StRaNgE" OBSESSION w/ me... apk

  17. Re:I am God's gift to you rotten bastards... apk by jwhyche · · Score: 2

    Damn! I guess he told us. I don't even think I've reached that level of jackassery.

    --
    I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  18. WYM "Next"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's already happened.

  19. Proof of it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Khazar Talmudic Jews believe this of all they call goyim/gentiles (any non-jew): Jews = biggest racists of all (for which they "jew guilt" you for no less! They're hypocrites known as thieves all thru history or were Argentines in the 1940 under Peron, Spanish inquistion, France (1306), Egypt (despoiled/robbed by jews), Arabs (pre & post 1948), England (1330 Edward longshanks), Romans under titus, Russia pogroms and Germany who got rid of them from their nations nazi german's too? No. Driven into DESERTS ages ago! Don't wonder why after all those exilings above.

    Should anyone doubt any of this see Jacob Javits' crony Rosenthal spill the beans on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4zMVZ8HnFI/ where he called all Christianity fools for helping Israel and the biggest scam of all time per their beliefs below from their Talmud.

    This is the province of the synagogue of Satan (Pharisees whom Jesus Christ himself kicked to the curb out of the temple & they killed him for it. Jeremiah did the same to them also + the Essenes could not stand them either breaking away from the pharisee corruption):

    Mark Zuckerberg stole the Winklevoss twins' code for Fakebook (figures as he is a thieving low jew too).

    Maria Abramovic satanist spirit cooker pal of Hillary Clinton the Voodoo queen is a jew https://www.google.com/search?...

    Like Hillary Clinton's mentor Saul Alinsky author of rules for radicals book dedicated to Lucifer

    "Most Jews do not like to admit it, but our god is Lucifer Â- so I wasnÂ't lying Â- and we are his chosen people. Lucifer is very much aliveÂ" Harold Rosenthal http://www.thetruthseeker.co.u...

    Jewish rabbi openly admits to satan worship use white children's blood they kill for passover bread, infiltrating and subverting the catholic church, creating the Jesuit order https://www.youtube.com/watch?... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Barbara Spectre, a jew, tells everyone it's jews orchestrating the muslim migrant problem in Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFE0qAiofMQ/ . No migrant raping of women in Poland. Tons in Sweden. Do the math. Use common-sense. This is to get muslims and other goyim/gentiles to wipe one another out as incompatible cultures that will clash and always have.

    Rabbi A. Finkelstein ADMITS their greatest enemies are ARABS and WHITES (blacks too) whom they wish to kill one another in a 'theater of war' which they find AMUSING https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Finkelstein also admits JEWS DID 9/11 (perpetrated by the Mossad & Bebe Netanyahu of ISRAEL) https://www.youtube.com/watch?... profiting by it (and that 3,000 jews employed there did not show up for work that day knowing about it beforehand).

    Finkelstein also admits JEWS are going to destroy the U.S. Dollar and dumping it for other world currencies and gold to destroy the United States.

    George Soros who funds groups to create division in the USA?? A jew. One who sold his own jew people into death for the nazis.

    Zucker now FIRED @ CNN is another frying publicly for lying about "russians" and John Bonifield a producer @ CNN said it is bs. Van Jones did also.

    Bernie Madoff (who made off with everyone's money, especially construction union pensions) shows the thieving nature of the JUDEN!

    Eric Schmidt had to step down @ JEWgle (a jew).

    Adam Schiff (gosh s

  20. Live TV? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is this live TV they speak of? Is this a source of the fake news they have been telling us about?

    I am considering a no viewing content unless it is over two years old and highly rated rule.

  21. as a coincidence... by roc97007 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    As a complete coincidence, according to the last census, people in the US age 45 and over account for 39.4 percent of the population. Expect the percentage of "live TV" viewers to drop almost directly as people born in 1975 and earlier age and drop off the end.

    In other words, watching "live tv" is largely an old person's pastime. What I choose to call "the TV tray generation".[1] And it's dying out.

    [1] Yes, I know 45 to 85 or thereabouts can arguably be called two generations. Work with me here.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:as a coincidence... by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      As a complete coincidence, according to the last census, people in the US age 45 and over account for 39.4 percent of the population. Expect the percentage of "live TV" viewers to drop almost directly as people born in 1975 and earlier age and drop off the end.

      In other words, watching "live tv" is largely an old person's pastime. What I choose to call "the TV tray generation".[1] And it's dying out.

      [1] Yes, I know 45 to 85 or thereabouts can arguably be called two generations. Work with me here.

      See, I think the question's wording is going to alter the calculus in one form or another.

      I've got more friends who will actively sit-down-and-expressly-watch a TV show on Netflix than they will watch it on the actual cable channel when it broadcasts. At the same time, many of those same people leave NCIS reruns or HGTV running in the background just to add a little noise to their apartment. I'm not saying the TV tray generation didn't do passive TV watching at all, but I think the lack of both streaming services as an alternative and internet services competing for attention (as well as generally-better radio content for 'apartment noise') factors in pretty heavily. I think it's similarly possible that Boomers and X-ers might be more willing to call apartment noise "TV watching", while millennials and Gen-Z might limit that term only to sitting down and explicitly watching a particular show.

    2. Re:as a coincidence... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      As a complete coincidence, according to the last census, people in the US age 45 and over account for 39.4 percent of the population. Expect the percentage of "live TV" viewers to drop almost directly as people born in 1975 and earlier age and drop off the end.

      In other words, watching "live tv" is largely an old person's pastime. What I choose to call "the TV tray generation".[1] And it's dying out.

      [1] Yes, I know 45 to 85 or thereabouts can arguably be called two generations. Work with me here.

      See, I think the question's wording is going to alter the calculus in one form or another.

      I've got more friends who will actively sit-down-and-expressly-watch a TV show on Netflix than they will watch it on the actual cable channel when it broadcasts. At the same time, many of those same people leave NCIS reruns or HGTV running in the background just to add a little noise to their apartment. I'm not saying the TV tray generation didn't do passive TV watching at all, but I think the lack of both streaming services as an alternative and internet services competing for attention (as well as generally-better radio content for 'apartment noise') factors in pretty heavily. I think it's similarly possible that Boomers and X-ers might be more willing to call apartment noise "TV watching", while millennials and Gen-Z might limit that term only to sitting down and explicitly watching a particular show.

      I think you have a point, and this is difficult to accurately categorize. I've seen examples of leaving the TV on for "background noise", so you're on to something there. (I personally hate this -- if I'm going to watch TV I'll sit down and watch it -- I saw Lion (2016) last night, and Please Stand By (2017) a week ago, otherwise haven't seen much of anything... oh, and one time-shifted episode of The Expanse around Tuesday (I'm way behind). And then I'll get up and turn it off and do something else, because the TV is a distraction to conversation in a way that music in the background is not.) Wife, on the other hand, will sit in front of the oldies channel for 18 hours on a stretch on weekends, (she has her own TV) watching reruns of Emergency!!! and Love Canal, sorry, Boat, reruns of soap operas and old black and white horror films. When I ask her what she's doing, she says "just killing time". Well, ok, I'm taking the dogs to the park, why don't you come along? Get some fresh air, a little sunshine? No, she doesn't care to do that, Judge Judy is about to come on.

      I freely admit this colors my thinking. And that I'm probably blaming the device. But I observe that we (wife and I) are both of "the tv tray generation". Both sets of parents commonly ate dinner on trays in front of the TV, because dinner time was when all the good shows came on, and that was our experience growing up. As a geek, I was an early adopter of on-demand TV, and this slowly weaned me off sitting in front of the glass tube when the networks wanted me to be there. And later, I realized I was watching less and less TV overall. There's a real world out there, etc etc. Wife never broke free. Sometimes I'm really sad about that.

      But to the point, what is measurable is that real time TV (broadcast and non-demand cable) is dropping in viewership. There are, what, three generations now? who have grown up or were introduced in early adulthood to the idea that TV is something they could watch on their own terms, not whatever the stations spew whenever they want to spew it. And lo and behold, the networks are finally starting to notice, and in what resembles a panic, starting their own on-demand services. Too late, I believe.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  22. I don't always watch TV but when I do... by Archfeld · · Score: 2

    Even when I do watch TV it is very rarely live. Usually I watch off my DVR, after the fact so I can FF thru the commercials.

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  23. Yea, that one IMPERSONATING me... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Saying shit I'd never say in "I am God's gift to you rotten bastards" - I may say some things but I'd never say that.

    * It's truly unbelievable...

    APK

    P.S.=> That "Lil' ole' Me" garners THAT much ATTENTION (albeit from some sick PSYCHO obsessed LOON that also stalks me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts) - I've gotta say it (lol, it's becoming TRADITION): It's NOT EASY being "World-Class" (lol, like ME) - See the crap I have to DEAL with due to it? A psycho-troll fanclub... LMAO... apk

  24. 10 years ago. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    10 years ago I stopped watching TV.

    1. Re:10 years ago. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah I know right. Whacking off to porn is much more entertaining than watching TV.

    2. Re:10 years ago. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And? Is that supposed to interest anyone? Are you trying to act all aloof and intellectual? You failed. I laugh at you. You're a turd, floating in an unflushed toilet.

  25. Re:I am God's gift to you rotten bastards... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Russia started hiring schizophrenic trolls.

  26. Sports by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ONLY reason most adult subscribers hang with cable is live sports, esp regional content.

  27. Why waste time watching live TV by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    I can watch exactly the content I want on any number of streaming services for around $50 bucks a month total (assuming I want to subscribe to them all at once). I don't care for sports so the cable tv industry can bite me. Of course, they own the wires so they've been hosing me on my Internet to make up for it though. Hopefully we'll get some pro-consumer congress critters in during the mid terms and they'll have to back off on that crap though.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  28. Watching live TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Also known as watching ads.

  29. That's because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TV sucks ass these days.

  30. Misleading post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I watch "Live TV", or I at least have it running in the background a lot. But I never watch "pay-TV".

    HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???

    I use something known as a rabbit-ear antenna, which pulls TV signals over the airwaves! I know that people who write about cord cutters tend to exclaim how much it costs to ditch cable TV. But so many articles, including the post I am responding to, forget (or intentionally ignore) the fact that cord cutting does not mean that one is obligated to use streaming services.

    I have not paid for cable TV since 2007. In 10 years, I have saved at least $6000 assuming a cable TV bill of $50/month, or more like $12,000 assuming a cable TV bill of $100/month, which I did not have to pay by instead using over the air TV. So while streaming services are popular, articles and posts like this one about them far too often exclude the possibility that yes, I can still watch "Live TV" without using pay TV services.

  31. Only 39% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If only 39% of people ordered ham sandwiches I'm sure the restaurant would take them off the menu. We can't serve something unless it is more popular than all other things combined.

  32. Live TV picture quality is too bad to watch it... by c120plus · · Score: 2

    Have you tried really watching a complete show on a traditional US broadcast channel lately? It's not only the ad breaks, there's a terror of logos and banners running over the content. This is fine if you have the TV blaring in the background while you play with your iPad, but useless if you really want to watch the show. Netflix has none of that, is cheap and has decent programming. No wonder that people prefer to watch that instead of broadcast TV, at least for anything that's not a live event.

  33. Unlimited wireless too? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Anonymous Coward wrote:

    Call up your local ISP and ask for the "I'm a cheap bastard"(*) internet plan.
    The speed will suck, but it'll be unlimited for like $10 or $20 /mo.

    (They're all required by law to offer it, but only cheap bastards use it.)

    Are even satellite and cellular ISPs required to offer unmetered service? Because many less populated areas are outside the service footprint of fiber, cable, and DSL, particularly areas where farmers have to upload big files to a crop consultant.

  34. And get dinged for not reading TFA by tepples · · Score: 1

    Once the majority of featured articles on the front page of Slashdot at any given time use adblock detection, it'll become less practical to just "Try a different website."

  35. When your roommate is a parent by tepples · · Score: 1

    The most recent economic recovery hasn't resulted in a lot of wage growth. Thus economic circumstances have forced a lot of late Xers and millennials to move back in with parents, exposing them to a baby boomer's TV tray habits.