Are tv channels outmoded?

Anybody who has Sky will probably attest, there are now so many channels that having them in one great big list renders many programmes undiscoverable.

Can you imagine having all the apps in the apple appstore sorted by developer rather than genre? You'd never find anything.

There are now so many channels that I really don't care what they are called, I'd rather just be able to go through my EPG and select Movies and see every single Movie regardless of what channel its on, or see every single sitcom regardless of the actual channel.

Basically, what I am saying is that whilst I think there is still a place for TV channels, I think bunching up all the content in a linear unsorted timeline means you actually miss and can't find some genuinely interesting stuff that might appear outside the range of the normal terrestrial channels that most people stick to.

Does it make more sense to have programmes tagged and searchable so its easy to find kids films,uk sitcoms, everything with harry hill in a way that now seems so natural on the net and in other digital media?

Have you used Netflix? It's sort of like that, and before too long I can see that being the method of delivery for most television programmes. Fitting live stuff like rolling news and sport in to that is where the challenge lies.

Can't you do that with Virgin Media - Wasn't that the focus of one of there adverts a few years back.

I watch DVDs, Netflix and iPlayer. Occasionally for big events I may watch live. And for background sound when cooking etc I may have BBC Parliament on.

For US shows I will download or buy DVDs. And for the only itv show I watch (Law and Order UK) I intend to download them, rather than try to watch on the POS that is itv Player.

Although most likely not with Netflix.

No; but that method of getting to content is definitely the best I've seen. If the Netflix interface had a tab somewhere for live news and sport services - that'd be it as far I'd be concerned. It does make the notion of having hundreds of satellite channels seem like a silly waste of the airwaves.