TV on PC / All you need is an up-to-date computer and a high-speed internet connection
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1 Comment [ View ]Garth Tuck wanted to stop paying monthly cable and satellite bills, but to keep watching all of his favorite television shows.
Who wouldn't?
But Tuck actually did it.
"We just recently canceled our cable and dish connections, and are getting all our video online or over the air," the Ogden family man said. "We have our computer hooked up to our TV. We found that you can get a lot of shows online for free, a lot of them in high-definition quality."
Watching TV on PC is a growing trend. If you have an up-to-date computer and a high-speed Internet connection, there are hundreds of recent shows you can view for free.
All of the commercial broadcast networks have most or all of their series available, free, on their Web sites in streaming video -- a play-at-will option that does not include downloading.
So do most of the major cable networks, such as TBS, TNT, MTV, FX, Disney Channel, Animal Planet and the Discovery Channels. Many networks now have large online libraries of series and episodes. Some also offer clips, highlight videos, and playful character quizzes and blogs.
Hadn't noticed the TV on PC trend? Don't feel bad. It's new.
"Up until about a year ago, I don't think any of the major networks had content online," said Tuck, 37, who works as a multimedia producer at Weber State University. "Now, all the major networks are really scrambling, because a shift is taking place. We have a generation of people coming up that is not watching TV, but is consuming their content over high-speed Internet."
Portable viewing
Bob Thompson, founding director of Syracuse University's Center for Television and Popular Culture in New York, has seen the trend in his own classroom.
"My students are watching all their TV on the Internet," Thompson said. "They're watching '(The Daily Show With) Jon Stewart,' and Sarah Palin on 'Saturday Night Live.' They don't watch it on TV. There's an Internet revolution going on, and it's all about how news and entertainment are distributed.
"We don't necessarily have to watch it at home. We can watch it in the back seat of a bus, in a car, and during my lectures. A lot of that happens. We have the technology that we can watch TV at work. Most people spend a huge amount of their day in front of a computer."
Tuck keeps abreast of all of the technological trends.
"It's part of my job, to know about all this stuff, how it works, and what's going to happen next," he said. "Right now, it's totally up in the air, and the major networks are really scrambling. They have been trying to protect their cash cow, which is their advertising dollars."
Network television, when viewed live, encourages viewers to sit through commercials financed by advertisers. For a while, television networks seemed at a loss on how to make money from online viewers. Now, most streaming video sites require the viewer to sit through a single commercial at the points when a block of commercials would air during regular broadcasts.
Chris Ender, senior vice president of CBS communications, said investing in online content makes sense.
"First, it's good business," he said, in an e-mail reply to questions. "CBS is a content company that is always seeking new ways to monetize its programming. Second, we recognize the changing dynamics of the consumer, who is looking to engage programming in a variety of ways. They now want their programming anytime and anywhere and this is one way we accommodate that."
Ender believes online viewing will be a big trend in television's future.
"Without question, streaming is growing and here to stay," he said. "But we see it as a complementary medium to television, not cannibalistic. We consider the programming we put online as a great form of 'catch-up theater' for the viewer to stay up to date when they've missed their favorite program.
"In addition, the communities we build online around the shows with message boards, social viewing rooms and other interactive platforms help create an even more engaged and loyal audience for our television programs."
The online library
Thompson believes that within the next few years, televisions will come standard with computer or Internet hookups, allowing TV viewing from both network and online sources.
"I don't think there's any technological hurdle we have to overcome for that to happen," he said. "I think it just really hasn't occurred to people that they might want to integrate their televisions and their personal computers. But I can't imagine it won't happen soon."
He points to the growing libraries of the networks, and to Hulu.com, an online site that provides streaming video of shows from current and bygone TV series, from "Family Guy" to "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." At last check, 346 pages, each with 20 episode-viewing choices, made up the "television" category.
Hulu.com, founded in 2007 by NBC Universal and by News Corp., also provides streaming video for more than 2,000 feature films. Clips and games also are available.
Tuck is a Hulu fan.
"There are other sites, but Hulu is the biggest and the best," he said. "So far, it's all free, with limited commercial interruptions. It's enjoyable.
"And really hot shows, like 'Lost,' that aren't available there, you can usually buy and download from iTunes or Amazon.com. At $2.95 an episode, $3.95 if you want high definition, or about $40 for a season, you can buy a few favorite shows and still spend a lot less than you would on cable or satellite subscriptions."
The downside
More viewing options and a choice of delivery systems may sound like good things, but Thompson has a serious concern about the exploding media universe.
"People forget about the network affiliates," he said. "Those are the places doing local news. CNN is not doing local school board meetings. When local broadcasters get taken out of the picture because we don't need a middleman, we suffer an immense loss, especially given the decline of newspapers in many states. Where will we get our local news? What will happen if the mainstream press goes away? Who will hold the government accountable? What happens if everybody is getting information off the Internet? It's not like the Internet has bureaus of trained reporters."
Thompson said he believes it is unlikely that the Internet will kill off network television in the near future. A more likely scenario is that traditional television, as a news and entertainment delivery system, will have to survive on a smaller portion of the entertainment pie.
The coming years should be pretty interesting, Thompson said.
'We're in a period now where everything exists together," he said. "It's like 1910 in a city, with a few cars driving by, a few horses walking by, and maybe a canal boat. This is a period when old, current and new all exist simultaneously. How you feel about it depends on who you are and what industry you are in. How it will all work out is the big question."
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I recently starting using http://ovpulse.com which is a super aggregator, I can get a quick scan of popular movies, tv shows, cartoons and news and they update the site ON the hour every hour so for me it's a time saver if you kow what I mean? don't have to visit 28 different sites to get my fix :) They also let me 'chat' with others while I'm watching aNY videos via their guide..
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