The Evolution and Future of Television
While the initial progression has taken many years, the status quo and current definition of "television" is in rapid flux. From cord cutters (those who have cancelled cable) and cord shavers (those who have trimmed back cable services) to cord nevers (those who have never and will never pay a cable bill) each of them have played an integral role in the evolution of television.
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Consumers are no longer bound by the linear television programming schedules. In the past, if you wanted to watch the latest episode of Sons of Anarchy, you had to tune into a cable channel at the time that show aired (or manage to catch a re-run later on). This changed with the evolution of time-shifted viewing with use of digital video recorders (DVR's) and gave consumers a whole new way to watch - on their own time.
Now, the future of TV is here in the form of OTT (over-the-top) distribution. Over-the-top distribution encompasses services like Netflix, Hulu and many others who are giving consumers direct access to their content via an internet connection. Connected streaming devices like the Apple TV, Roku or Fire TV allows for on demand viewing of the content - whenever and wherever you want.
"By the end of 2018, 231 million installed devices are expected to be connected to the Internet and able to deliver apps to TVs, representing 82 percent growth from 2014 to 2018, according to the Connected Home Entertainment Forecast report from global information company The NPD Group."
The growth of this industry is mind boggling, and for good reason; it appeals to everyone. Myself personally, I no longer have a cable subscription. It was liberating for me to call up the cable company and explain that I no longer needed to pay them $150+ per/month because I was able to watch everything and more that I wanted via my AppleTV and an internet connection. The industry is clearly trending towards putting the consumer in the driver's seat when it comes to content consumption.
There's no doubt that OTT is here to stay; it has and will continue to evolve our definition of television.
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9 年Great write up! I think Yahoo is also beginning to make headway by streaming NFL games when they take place in England. Unfortunately until these other avenues begin live streaming sports (think sports betting), I dont know how quickly everyone will be ready to cut the chord with their providers.