There is a lot of hype over whether or not Online-Capable Television will threaten the standard viewing experience when popularity grows, but many households already have devices connecting the TV to the web. From the Xbox, to laptops, to the sometimes overlooked Blu-Ray player, viewers can already access online content through the tube. After getting his new Blu-Ray player, writer Nicholas Carr discovered it could access the internet, and now claims:
I’ve been using the device more to transmit Internet content than to play discs. I stream TV shows and movies from Netflix, music from Pandora and videos from YouTube. Beyond my existing $11-a-month Netflix subscription, I haven’t forked out a penny for any of this programming. It comes flowing out of the Web, whenever I summon it, free.
When you can use your television to view otherwise unavailable online content, as well as the same premium programming streamed online for free, why keep paying? Premium cable stations such as Showtime even stream most of their biggest hits (Dexter, Weeds, the Tudors, and reruns of House) only moments after they air on TV, prompting Carr – and many other former viewers – to cancel his expensive subscription to the channel.
This movement of the audience could explain all the hubbub over Comcast attempting to control both content and distribution by purchasing NBC. Any viewers lost during the regularily scheduled airing could be made up for through a new online-system spearheaded by Comcast, or they could throttle the online content to try and deter viewers from skipping out: a very dangerous decision.
Even if organizations like Comcast figure out a way to slow their losses through acquisitions and online charges, it seems that web-enabled devices will allow viewers to watch content on their terms, for less money. But as Spider-Man tells us, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
The most creative programming, such as Mad Men, Community, 30 Rock, and the Office are usually the most expensive to produce: featuring star-studded casts. If we continue to bypass the system and reduce studio paychecks, these shows could be hard pressed to prove themselves irreplacable.
We may be responsible for the future takeover of reality TV.
1848news
Laura
JJ Lesk
mugu
jennalester
