Spring Break
TV on the PC
Jason M. Wallace
Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: Opinion
I'm tired of watching pixilated clips of "Saturday Night Live" in my free time. I wish that there was some way that I could keep myself from missing every new episode of "South Park" without watching the reruns later. I have longed to see some of the Nickelodeon shows from my childhood again as well.
It seems that there is a simple solution to the problem: Put TV shows on the Internet. I don't see why the networks keep their programs restricted to just television. Streaming TV on the Web would be the sensible idea to draw in more viewers.
I would gladly pay a more expensive Internet access bill every month if I could watch my favorite program anytime I wanted instead of having to pay a cable bill when I rarely have a chance to watch TV, or the schedule compatibility to catch new episodes or having to choose between two programs scheduled at the same time.
Television is a medium of entertainment and information that will be around forever, but it needs to be as flexible as the Internet. All the networks need to put their programs, new and old, on a digital format and upload them to their own Web sites or to YouTube channels.
There have been so many times that I hear about an interesting program, but then learn that I've missed the first six episodes. When this happens I either have to keep my interest level in constant check until the network runs a recap marathon of the whole season before the finale or wait until the season is released on DVD.
Well, when the marathon rolls around I'll be busy that day as well, and when the season's DVD is released I'll probably be saving my money to pay next month's rent and bills, including the worthless cable bill.
I can listen to any music that has been recorded since the dawn of audio recording on the Web. Netflix allows me to rent movies--new and old--on DVD format. I can find articles that are decades old on different newspaper Web sites. However, I will never again see segments from "60 Minutes," the seventh "Tree House of Horrors" from "The Simpsons" or a one and time only special tribute to The Who on VH1. I've essentially paid for all of these programs with my cable bill, but did not have the chance to use them.
The music industry learned that compact discs weren't the only medium to sell their product and they have richly benefited from online music sales. You would think that the television networks would have done the same by now.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
It seems that there is a simple solution to the problem: Put TV shows on the Internet. I don't see why the networks keep their programs restricted to just television. Streaming TV on the Web would be the sensible idea to draw in more viewers.
I would gladly pay a more expensive Internet access bill every month if I could watch my favorite program anytime I wanted instead of having to pay a cable bill when I rarely have a chance to watch TV, or the schedule compatibility to catch new episodes or having to choose between two programs scheduled at the same time.
Television is a medium of entertainment and information that will be around forever, but it needs to be as flexible as the Internet. All the networks need to put their programs, new and old, on a digital format and upload them to their own Web sites or to YouTube channels.
There have been so many times that I hear about an interesting program, but then learn that I've missed the first six episodes. When this happens I either have to keep my interest level in constant check until the network runs a recap marathon of the whole season before the finale or wait until the season is released on DVD.
Well, when the marathon rolls around I'll be busy that day as well, and when the season's DVD is released I'll probably be saving my money to pay next month's rent and bills, including the worthless cable bill.
I can listen to any music that has been recorded since the dawn of audio recording on the Web. Netflix allows me to rent movies--new and old--on DVD format. I can find articles that are decades old on different newspaper Web sites. However, I will never again see segments from "60 Minutes," the seventh "Tree House of Horrors" from "The Simpsons" or a one and time only special tribute to The Who on VH1. I've essentially paid for all of these programs with my cable bill, but did not have the chance to use them.
The music industry learned that compact discs weren't the only medium to sell their product and they have richly benefited from online music sales. You would think that the television networks would have done the same by now.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
Be the first to comment on this story