Will the TV station become obsolete?

  • seaners87655
    • 6 months 1 day ago
    • Posts: 56
    		 This is interesting, yet sad at the same time. I loved the concept of a diversity of channels with different feels to it. I loved the 24-hour continuity of it rather than today's on-demand nature. I may be too nostalgic here and I feel alone. This is something that cannot be emulated in the age of the online streaming monopoly. Or can it?
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  • vkimo User is online now
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    • 6 months 1 day ago
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    		 That's the allure of TV over internet entertainment. You have to BE there at the time of airing. Even on a DVR, it just doesn't feel right unless you're watching it when it comes on. Like an awards show or sporting event.
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  • Drahken
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    • 6 months 1 day ago
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    		 Deja vu: http://www.retrojunk.com/forum/post/list/default/50740

    I do agree to a large degree. When there were a handful of channels, no DVRs or internet, and not many people could afford VCRs or to keep buying blank tapes, watching TV felt like more of an interconnected experience. You knew that whatever you watched in primetime, approx 1/4 of the town would have also watched. The somewhat grainy/staticy reception (even when you had cable, since cable transmition quality wasn't so good back then) added to that sensation, almost like you had a can-phone connecting you to the broadcaster.
    Adding to the effect even more was the way that certain content was broadcast at certain times of the day or week. You had kiddie stuff & news in the early morning, then game shows, then soaps till afternoon, then a couple hours of cartoons, then.... (I don't remember what broadcast channels had around the 4~5-8pm range, syndicated reruns of 60s & 70s shows?), then primetime dramas & comedies.
    I don't even know WTF networks broadcast these days. I know they still have afternoon soaps & primetime "reality", but other than that... *shrug*. The last time I watched anything on broadcast was some holiday special in 2007. The last time I watched an actual show on broadcast was quite literally well over a decade ago (probably "home improvement";).

    That being said though, I wouldn't change & go back. The ability to watch something when you actually are in the mood to watch something instead of having the good stuff on when you're not available & having jack shit when you're in the mood, being able to skip commercials, being able to pause it to take the dog out, etc, etc is just too good.

    As far as award shows & sporting events, I don't know which of the 2 is more mind-numbing. :p

    As far as emulating the experience, you could watch live streams online. Go to a site such as justin.tv & find something appealing. While the content of a channel tends to be quite homogenous (star trek 24/7 or anime 24/7, etc), it is extremely difficult to record & playback at your convenience.
    If you have the willpower, you could also create the experience for yourself. Set up a playlist to play all your video files in a given order, then you can only watch a given show when it comes up in the list. Alternatively, stop choosing to use the DVR/internet adn force yourself to watch your shows live.

    Lastly, you could see what your area has in the way of broadcast channels. We have retroTV and PJBTV here, and I don't have a feasible way to record digital broadcasts, forcing me to watch them live or not at all. (My dish network reciever can recieve & record OtA channels, but when the signal for one craps out (which these retro ones frequently do, because the broadcaster is a low-power one), it throws up errors, even when I'm not watching nor recording said channel.)
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  • eddstarr88
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    • 6 months 1 day ago
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    		 My best friend slammed me for saying this . . . so I'll mention it here; broadcast television by its very nature is a shared event. Therefore watching traditional TV has a special "feel", (maybe in my imagination), that popping a dvd can't match. That same magic is the key to real-time sports on television, Super Bowl highlights the day after don't quite cut it for most folks.
    The Eldorado is dead. Long live the Eldorado.
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  • vkimo User is online now
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    • 6 months 1 day ago
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    eddstarr88 wrote:
    My best friend slammed me for saying this . . . so I'll mention it here; broadcast television by its very nature is a shared event. Therefore watching traditional TV has a special "feel", (maybe in my imagination), that popping a dvd can't match. That same magic is the key to real-time sports on television, Super Bowl highlights the day after don't quite cut it for most folks.


    I totally get what you mean. When I play a movie off a DVD I feel like it's not as good. Where as if it's on TV it feels a little more current, like the movie is actually occurring in real time.
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  • New Age Reto Hippie
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    • 6 months 1 day ago
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    vkimo wrote:
    eddstarr88 wrote:
    My best friend slammed me for saying this . . . so I'll mention it here; broadcast television by its very nature is a shared event. Therefore watching traditional TV has a special "feel", (maybe in my imagination), that popping a dvd can't match. That same magic is the key to real-time sports on television, Super Bowl highlights the day after don't quite cut it for most folks.


    I think the reason for that is a time management issue. When we watch a show we like on T.V, there is no rush because we would have to wait the next week or so for the new episode, whereas if you had the dvd set you groan at the thought of watching the episodes all at once. Why? because no one likes to be rushed or feel obligated to watch something they enjoy.

    I totally get what you mean. When I play a movie off a DVD I feel like it's not as good. Where as if it's on TV it feels a little more current, like the movie is actually occurring in real time.
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  • bassman21
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    • 6 months 1 day ago
    • Posts: 12786
    		 Even with DVR I find myself turning the TV off to watch videos on Youtube. I'm getting a lot of customers that could care less about watching TV and want to do everything online. I don't think TV is going anywhere, but it will continue to change. I'm already seeing infomercial on network affiliates during the day which is very sad. Television will need to reinvent itself if it wants to continue to be profitable.

    I think the networks shot themselves in the foot with the excessive number of commercials. Most shows in the 70s were 25 minutes long before commercials. Today they are only 20 minutes long (or so). Most of them are not even for products, but promos for other shows. Top it off they keep showing the same promos over and over again.
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  • Sunriser
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    • 6 months 54 minutes ago
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    		 I get what you mean, but I don't see the problem at the same time. The only reason TV networks started out that way is because there WERE so few of them and they had to cater to a vast audience (families, singles, perverts, insomniacs.) An art, for sure, but not what is required to make truly good entertainment. I have seen a "freeing" of the entertainment industry lately and I hope that continues.

    I mean, it may seem like we're losing something, but Hulu is super popular, and these shows are going to need places to film and do business, so they will always be around in some capacity. As popular as homemade Youtube videos are, people will always want good production value. And pretty soon people will start creating online streaming channels that cater to certain tastes, just like radio stations and cable networks.

    Things won't change too much, just evolve and move to a different medium. And cut out commercials as we know them. I'm not too worried.
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  • stake n sheak
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    • 5 months 29 days ago
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    bassman21 wrote:
    Television will need to reinvent itself if it wants to continue to be profitable.

    I think the networks shot themselves in the foot with the excessive number of commercials. Most shows in the 70s were 25 minutes long before commercials. Today they are only 20 minutes long (or so).

    Sunriser wrote:
    people will always want good production value.


    It's true. Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy are the best things on right now imo. I am watching them on Netflix so I don't know how much commercials they have. In Sons the episodes range from 43 minutes to 61. I'd guess the longer ones run without commercials. And they are very high production value. The writing and acting is top notch, while the editing is at least decent, and the sets are at least very good.
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  • bklynbren
    • 5 months 29 days ago
    • Posts: 367
    		 Lately I've been watching shows on Netflix. After I get all caught up on netflix I try to catch the new episodes on T.V. or Hulu. Cable television is good when I want to watch something but don't know what. Once I lock in on a show I try to pull it up on netflix and inhale the whole series.

    Recently I watched all 7 seasons of Supernatural, awsome show. Now i'm on The Walking Dead, season 1, so far so good.
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