The Emergence of Online TV
The Internet is fast becoming the only place to go to for everything that you need to know and want to do. Many times, we have heard how the Internet parallels the real world. It lets us remain in touch with friends, even if they are halfway around the world. It keeps us informed and up-to-date with various news sources and social media. It helps us with our work, studies, hobbies, or just about anything else. It also keeps us entertained.
When people say online entertainment, most of us comes up with images of hosted videos like those on YouTube or Google Videos, online books that are downloadable for free or for pay, online games, or Internet music services like Yahoo Launch, iMeem, and streaming radio stations. A few, however, will also think of online TV. Although not exactly as popular as videos or music, live streams or recorded TV programs are also available on the World Wide Web.
Using popular video players such as Windows Media Player, Quicktime and Winamp, you can instantly view TV channels from all over the world. Some online TV portals claim that they have more than 3,000 channels with tens of thousands of shows in different languages. Indeed, all the most reputable TV channels like Business Week, CBS, Bloomberg TV, CNN, Comedy Central, E! Entertainment, ESPN, Discovery has online streams that may be accessed for free.
For some, online TV services have also come to mean catch-up TV services, which allow you to view programs after they are aired or programs you have missed for some reason. Services like the BBC iPlayer and YouTube competitor, Hulu, are popular catch-up TV service providers.
Others play on fan fever, bringing back canceled TV programs online. Imagine being able to watch episodes of Family Ties or Three’s Company or even Friends, all over again!
And so viewers are not constrained by the time when they watch their favorite TV show. If they are on the road, all they have to do is to open up their laptop and connect to the online TV provider, and they get instant access to their favorite shows. This is true even when they are out of the country. Fans and viewers can still get their weekly Family Guy fix even when they are in Iran.
The benefits of online TV, however, extend to content producers. With traditional TV, getting a channel on traditional broadcasters can mean paying a hefty sum of money just to start up the channel, and then a hefty monthly fee just to keep it broadcasting. On top of that, you have shows to produce and talents to pay. Online TV providers, however, can help you set up your own channel for a much lower cost. This has made niche programming available for even the smallest of niche. We currently have online TV channels on sailboat racing, poker channels, lacrosse channels, obscure horror films, and even local entertainment channels. This is because of the low cost of putting up content on online TV services, making sure that every segment of the long tail is covered.
More than this, TV channels from far flung places like Vietnam , Latvia and Romania are cropping up online.
Like in everything else, the Internet has revolutionized the way we look at TV. We are no longer stuck with the 100 or so channels on cable or satellite TV that hold no appeal for us. Instead, we can go online, and search for TV programming and content that we would like to see. No more wishing fervently that your favorite programs back home will be syndicated at some local channel wherever you’re vacationing so you could continue to watch it. You could even bring back a canceled show or a pulled-out channel back via online TV.
It is all about choices – YOUR choices. What’s more, much of the content is provided for free. Sure some have lengthy commercials, just like regular TV, but they are still worth it.
So if you feel like catching an old episode of Mr. Belvedere, or perhaps the season finale of M*A*S*H*, or get the latest recipe for cooking shitake mushrooms or getting the latest news from the world of Hollywood stars, online TV is sure to have a show or an entire channel for you. From the weird to the weirder to the mainstream, it is all available online!
TV on your Personal Computer
Technology has continued to make things easier for the people. It has produced a lot of new things for all individuals to enjoy and spend their time into. Watching television shows is one of the most preferable past times of most individuals. It is undeniable that almost everyone wants to have a TV set within their homes and watch their favorite channels but others want to access more channels that are from different areas of the world that is why they go for internet satellite television.
Our computers are of many purposes. One of which is allowing us to see television shows through the internet. Yes! You heard it right, online TV. This is not like those videos we see in the internet wherein we have control over a lot of its options like rewinding and replaying. A best way to describe it is simply TV on the internet. It has been present for quite some time now but many are unfamiliar with it and right now it’s starting to gain a reputation among consumers. It’s an enjoyable way of watching television because unlike television sets that are connected to cable lines it has so many channels to choose from. We can access channels that are from other parts of the world. We do not easily get bored because we can switch to other channels if we like and get to experience the maximum entertainment television shows has to offer.
If we may ask, how is this possible? Actually, the answer is not too far from the concept behind common television sets, since they are dealing with transmission of signals. The reason why cable has fewer channels, it’s because they utilize towers to capture signals, and it needs to have a straight line directly to the television for the individual to see channels. Those towers are not efficient enough because signals are usually blocked by things present in the environment like mountains and tall buildings. Satellites, on the other hand, are launched higher in the atmosphere of the earth, and it’s too high that signal disruptions are rare and the coverage is very wide thus explaining the accessibility of channels from other parts of the globe. The programming source will send signals to the satellite and the satellite will then send signals to different areas of the world. The only thing needed here is a mini satellite dish located in the surface of the earth to capture the signal from the satellite which acts as the receiver of the signal. This explanation applies both to satellite television viewed in our TV sets and those that we access on the internet. The only difference is that for users to access numerous television shows in the internet, one should have a reliable internet connection and the computer should be set up in such a way that it will be compatible with online TV viewing. The way you enjoy watching TV shows will depend on the internet connection you have. Poor connection means fewer chances of being able to access programs.
In viewing TV programs in the internet, one needs to have specific software for instant access and the person who wants these needs to pay for the download of this software.
The user should also be aware that there are many scams present in the internet showcasing the internet satellite TV and everyone should be vigilant about save time and effort. Upon having access to this means of watching TV, the experience will be somewhat the same with those you hate in television sets. You will encounter many commercials because programs are those that are currently broadcasted by a certain network. There are also certain channels that are of poor quality and due to the greater number of channels present, the viewer would get to encounter channels that are not of his preference. Since it’s a broadcast of different channels from all parts of the world, programs are usually making use of their own language, which would be unknown to the viewer and the viewer should expect more than a dozen of these on online TV.
Even with the presence of these drawbacks, many still find online TV entertaining and worthwhile. Overall, it’s a new way to enjoy television.
Say Hello to Online TV
It is an accepted fact that day after day, the Internet invades almost every aspect of our daily lives. The Internet had sunk in into our everyday living in such speed that it becomes an important commodity before we even realize it. True enough; the internet has become a rapidly emerging broadcast medium, providing information throughout the world. It now hosted many websites intended to deliver news, current events, and entertainment in many forms – text, voice, images, and videos.
Few years ago, the most prevalent broadcast medium is considered to be the Television. Television programs and formatting may include the news segments – world, regional, local, and entertainment news, business segment, television shows or serial films, sports, and many others. Now imagine these programs formerly exclusive to conventional Television be made available in the internet. Isn’t it amazing?
It is just at least two years ago that many conventional TV networks and online service providers like Veoh and Joost started delivering television programs via the Internet, but the audience reception is just too overwhelming. Based on a survey conducted in the US by the Opinion Research Corporation, Americans shifting to online television as a source for information and news are increasing. Conventional television usage declines a considerable 3.6% while online television is gradually gathering momentum with an increase usage of 1.9%. Another survey conducted in the United Kingdom suggests that one (1) out of three (3) Internet users are watching television online.
The Market
The online TV market is found to include mostly the young, the affluent, and women population, although this may vary depending on the varying Internet exposure of different countries and places around the world.
In many surveys, the young population generally accounted on the bulk of online TV audience. The age bracket of 18-34 years old reports the highest in terms of online source reliance for information sources like online TV. Also, college graduates tend to be frequent online source users.
Some surveys also indicate that considerably wealthy Households with $100K incomes are more likely watch online TV than its conventional counterpart.
Also, recent July 2009 study shows that women are more inclined to watch online television to watch episodes of their favorite programs than men do.
Contents and Content Providers
Most conventional TV companies are also the content providers of online TV. These include the well established Television networks as NBC, BBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, and many more. These Television networks provide episodes of their most watch and top rated TV shows and programs for the online community. Most of the top rated shows on conventional television also have a very good following online. Most of these shows are Serial Films, Reality based shows, talk shows, News programs, and animated series.
Profitability and Potential
The life-blood of online TV is advertisements, just the same as its conventional counterpart. In every television programming – online or conventional, a portion of the time or space is allocated as advertising space. The more hits the show generates or the larger the audience the more advertisers will line up and the more expensive the advertising space will become.
Online advertising is considered to be one of the most cost-effective and powerful advertising tools. Online advertising offers good product exposures in less cost. As a matter of fact, in United Kingdom it is predicted that online advertising spending will overtake that of the conventional TV. The study estimated that by the end of 2009, online spending will have the biggest share of the total spending for advertising, which reflects the trend towards online TV and its great revenue potential.
Future Trend
Although the reign of conventional TV is far from over, statistics showed that Television usage is declining in a gradual rate. Although online TV relies heavily on the accessibility of the internet throughout the world, especially the less developed countries, it is not far-fetched to say that online television is the next big thing to happen in the next months or years to come.
Online TV will transform the way we envision the communication media today and the near future. The promise of online TV access wherever you are, and whenever you want, is, therefore, not just wishful thinking.