Yesterday I was watching TV when a show came on that I haven't seen in a long time. The show was "Home Improvement." I made a comment to my roommate about how it was a shame that they don't show as many reruns of it anymore and he quickly responded that he in fact watches it daily at noon on cable. I paused for a second to think why I had not seen in in so long yet it's on so frequently. Then it hit me. I do not watch TV anymore. The fact that I can just go to my computer and on demand have all the new episodes of my favorite shows along with reruns and now even movies, has rendered the television and cable for that matter, completely useless. Why I still pay to have cable TV, I have no idea.
This revolutionary thought that sprung on me got me thinking, how many people nation wide have zero desire to pay for TV anymore and simply get their fill on shows Via the web. Cable Networks must be starting to feel the effects of web sites like Hulu and Fancast. This thinking inspired me to do a little research. Turns out that cable channels are obviously aware of the threat and are trying to keep cable from becoming obsolete and loosing millions of dollars thanks to the internet. This is much like how the web hurt the music and the newspaper industries. Musics problem was the sharing of music through special web pages and networking sites, while the newspaper industry was hit hard when they began offering their stories online for free. Cable companies are now devising ways to give just enough online access to shows without giving up too much. It's a fine line that they must balance on so it will be very interesting to see how this story plays out over the next few years. Here's to hoping that it stays for a while longer though because being able to eliminate that cable bill would put some much needed extra cash in my wallet.
Here's a few links to web articles that might offer a little bit more insight into the topic:
http://www.physorg.com/news157829495.html
http://steadfastfinances.com/blog/2009/01/24/cable-bills-too-high-disconnect-renegotiate-better-rate-or-watch-tv-online/
No comments:
Post a Comment