New Media Killed the TV Star

Not according to Cable service providers...

First, this article on the Business Insider makes some pretty obvious predictions about where the Television industry is headed.

"...[E]ventually the cable-satellite-airwave monopoly over TV content in local markets will be circumvented by simple, global Internet distribution. You won't have 5 channels, or 50 channels, or 500 channels. You'll have millions of channels. You'll be able to watch anything you want, live or taped. You'll be able to watch it wherever you want--TV, computer, mobile device. You won't have to sorry about "slinging" video content around or programming your DVR. You'll just plug a pipe (Internet) into a box (device) and watch. This is where the future is going."

For many, this future is practically here. A combination of Hulu and Streaming Netflix has already rendered my TV useless. But, I've been really wary about Time Warner's pay-per-use shenanigans. Using the internet for streaming video content could sadly turn out to be far more expensive than Cable TV.

Yesterday it was announced that, believe it or not, Time Warner (along with Comcast) plan to distribute TV shows online.

"The concept, known as "TV Everywhere" or "On-Demand Online" is viewed as a way the pay-TV industry can allow customers to watch TV online through personal computers and mobile devices without enticing them to drop their cable TV subscription."

I'm hoping this is an alternative to their ridiculous metered-use experiment, because it seems absurd to charge customers for a Cable TV subscription, and then charge them AGAIN to transfer the data through their computer.

I feel like the Cable industry is stunting the progress of technology. Streaming web video has been a really powerful propellent in spreading information. It has increased the ease at which consumers can find and share entertainment, and video programs with educational and artistic value. It's changed the way companies market, and it's opened up endless opportunities for new business. And to me, the potential of extending this power to mobile devices is exciting.