There will always be people who want schedule driven tv. Television has evolved from three, to four, five, multi channels delivered via satellite, cable and more recently IPTV, along with VoD and yet linear TV is still delivering numbers of viewers which advertisers are still spending budgets on attracting specific audiences.
Watching EastEnders and discussing it via social media as it happens requires a linear channel. People still like event tv, including those Millennials who are more likely to watch catch-up tv and Netflix than BBC One.
I don't. I can look through an EPG and choose something I quite fancy watching from one of 20 channels. Give me a choice of anything* and I can't decide what to watch. Or I just want to relax and just want to veg in front of the telly and not have to make decisions.
a linear tv channel is just a playlist that somebody else has created, just like an music album. i can't see how it wouldn't be possible (or indeed desirable) that various general entertainment and genre mixes would be available that people could view on demand, like you can watch/listen to playlists and albums on youtube and itunes - it would encourage people to discover all sorts of content they'd otherwise be missing by just watching the said 20 channels.
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That's not what I was saying. What I was saying is I find it odd when people on here say they want linear TV dead, not that I find it odd that the powers that be don't think of us poor TV Forumers when factoring in big decisions.
i accept you may not see what i see, but i see something beyond linear which is better than we have now. being able to view what i want, when i want, on any device is the next step from what we have now, and clearly when you look at how music streaming services evolved is the next step for video and entertainment (and gaming too - why build the same game for 3 different devices when it can be streamed in a device agnostic way to everything)?
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Not sure what would "move online" if you're referring to the BBC since everything is online on the iPlayer anyway.
sorry, i was ambiguous, what i meant to say is that when the default delivery method of new content moves from broadcast to an on demand model, delivered over the internet - we are starting to see this with amazon and netflix but it will take time.
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The live and reactive nature of linear TV is one of the reasons I think it won't ever be replaced fully by on demand. For example, when Andrew Sachs died, an episode of Fawlty Towers was scheduled on BBC One. That's an example of a TV channel being more human than an on demand algorithm ever will be.
that does not seem like an intellectually stable to position or a particually good reason to consign vod to the dustbin. what about when david bowie, george michael and michael jackson died? all their music hit the top of the charts and started turning up in playlists and charts - all completely organically. is that not possible with a vod service? surely all their music being consumed by the public and hitting the charts is just as human as a man in the bbc 1 office slipping in an episode?
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You can watch it together, with everyone else, and talk about it on social media.
don't people talk about "stranger things" or "the grand tour" on social media then? it makes no difference how the content is distributed, if producers make interesting content, people will watch and talk about it. we don't all have to be watching it at the same time!
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Inspector Sands has already mentioned this but faced with so much choice, it's hard to decide what to watch, particularly if picking an episode from a show that has lots and lots of episodes. I can instead just sit down and watch what episode of Friends or The Simpsons is currently on TV rather than having to pick out of hundreds of different episodes myself. This is coming from someone who has used on demand since Telewest introduced it a decade ago.
i think you are deliberately arguing from a position which lacks imagination. if you look at how the model of youtube, google music and itunes works there are "huge" prebaked and algorithmically generated collections of content you can choose from. you don't have to look for a needle in a haystack if you don't want to. i have discovered so many interesting bits of music and video by just following where the suggestions took me.
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Also I highly doubt that every film or TV programme would be available at once. Indeed, certain shows expire from on demand services and music can be taken down from streaming services, which is why I'm not throwing out my DVDs and BDs just yet.
i accept that the licensing model is going to be the hardest hurdle for content producers to get over, but it happened with music, it will happen with video, eventually. i find it impossible to believe that in 50 years we'll still have our 500 channels on our sky box, all waiting patiently for the next programme to start, at the same time.
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TV presentation is only "dying" (if you want to call it that) on the BBC where the quality of graphics overall seems to have taken a big hit in the last 5-10 years. It's thriving on virtually every other channel, there are very few where you can say they are anything close to bad.
but tv presentation is dying. nearly every network, every trail looks the same, there are very few identities which really stand out - it's all pretty bland to me these days.
idents are either a random bit of footage with a logo stuck on, or a cheap bit of cg, i can't really think of a single tv channel which looks great or an identity is clever - but if i've missed something then do share.
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There will always be people who want schedule driven tv.... linear TV is still delivering numbers of viewers which advertisers are still spending budgets on attracting specific audiences.
Watching EastEnders and discussing it via social media as it happens requires a linear channel. People still like event tv, including those Millennials who are more likely to watch catch-up tv and Netflix than BBC One.
there will always be people who yearn for lots of things from the past, doesn't mean the rest of us can't move on.
like i said, soaps and other continuing drama can still have an episode appear every day on a platform, people will still talk about great content whenever and however it appears.
advertising and advertisers will change and adapt. maybe interval adverts will disappear and more sponsored product placement will appear - who knows, these things will take time to work out, but we will get there.
As has been said, it's not about holding on to the past, simply that you are wildly predicting something that you have no idea about whatsoever, other than the ratings have dipped and new technology is available.
There are a large number of reasons for that. People working varied hours and being more active is a couple. People's behaviour has changed in general from sitting in front of the TV from 5pm to 11pm through the week and all weekend, but that does not mean they have all switched to streaming.
The problem with linear TV is that it's got very expensive with the majority of channels not watched on Sky and VM. However, subscriptions of Sky Q have soared, so there is obviously still demand regardless of price...for now at least.
There'll be a place for both for a long time to come.
like i said, soaps and other continuing drama can still have an episode appear every day on a platform, people will still talk about great content whenever and however it appears.
What about the still profitable talent show formats? These formats are still bringing in advertisers regardless of the change of patterns in viewing. You may suggest that they all watch on YouTube or similar instead, but we're not in a situation where every viewer is able or would volunteer to use streaming media.
The UK isn't ready yet to fully switch from linear to IPTV/VoD and won't do for many years to come and this is from a viewer who watches 80% of television via the platform.
don't people talk about "stranger things" or "the grand tour" on social media then?.
They certainly didn't talk about The Grand Tour to the extent that Top Gear would be trending on Twitter every Sunday night. Partly due to not being universally available, but more due a large chunk of the nation sitting down to watch it at the same time.
don't people talk about "stranger things" or "the grand tour" on social media then?.
They certainly didn't talk about The Grand Tour to the extent that Top Gear would be trending on Twitter every Sunday night. Partly due to not being universally available, but more due a large chunk of the nation sitting down to watch it at the same time.
Not helped that they were also behind a paywall (or other not so legal ways of distribution).