People today aren't watching TV the moment it airs. In the early days of TV, people had to sit down and watch TV the moment it aired or else they would have no other chance to see it. Today, we are watching TV on Netflix and online when it is convenient for us to watch. How is this changing the way we consume TV? Is this making the TV industry weaker and will it slowly die out like past mediums (radio, newspaper, etc.)?
It is in a sense making TV weaker, because honestly, I watched about four episodes of The Flash, but when I heard it was going to be on Netflix I stopped watching it and now that it's currently on Netflix I'm honestly just going to binge watch it. I think that's how it's going downhill. A lot of consumers probably do that, unless the show is the best show you've ever seen, it's better to just wait till you watch it online. Shows like Rick and Morty, you can only watch on Adult Swim, you can barely find it online, except on the website, so it's harder to say with R&M because I watched that faithfully on screen. You can basically find every show online now, not even with a streaming service, the minute it airs and even sometimes before it's on the internet for you, so it's an interesting generation we have here. – scoleman9 years ago
The format of TV series is likely not to die out, just the way the business and marketing strategies currently run. With more and more shows being produced by Amazon and Netflix strictly for their exclusive online markets, and plenty of shows like Doctor Who, Steven Universe, Star Wars Rebels, and any number of others releasing their new episodes on Itunes a day to a few days after they first air: plenty of people, including myself, have less of a reason to watch an episodes premiere on cable television, and would rather wait to at least watch it when we want to, and be able to own it and download it at the very same time. There's a bit more power and control that way when it comes to my viewing habits. – Jonathan Leiter9 years ago
While I agree that to some degree it is making TV weaker, it's definitely expanding the variety of television shows available. However, I feel like there's a collective knowledge impact that would probably be lost in this new era where everything is available instantly and nothing is delivered. For example, everybody knew what Twin Peaks by the time it finished it's first season in the early 90s and the television show Beverly Hills 90210 was zeitgeist to the 90s decade, albeit the final season did end in 2000. I like the idea where the reign of television is questioned and as to whether or not it would fade away, but would it be possible that for it to just morph into an amalgam medium that retains its former structure but just presents itself without a cable/channel service provider? – tvguyd9 years ago