Television’s Future Is Looking Set For A Radical Revolution
Where does the future of television lie?
In the UK, traditional live broadcasting now only accounts for about 75 per cent of total viewing.
With pressures on the transmission spectrum and the cost of maintaining broadcasting infrastructure, how long can the aerial on the roof survive?
And how will we watch films at home?
With the rise of iTunes and the like, the CD player is already ‘dead tech walking.’
Is the same also true of DVD and Blu-ray players?
Given that younger people are already moving on from iTunes and spurning the idea of ever buying music, turning instead to streaming services such as Spotify, Rdio and Deezer, what does this say for the future of purchasing movies? There are indications that the market sees streaming on demand as the way ahead for film and TV.
In the US, Walmart launched its own streaming stick last week, to compete with Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
The week before, its UK subsidiary, Asda joined the Digital TV Group, an industry association which ‘drives innovation and growth in the television and technology sectors,’ prompting speculation about its intentions to enter the fray here.
There are two more questions to ponder.
Will we need PVRs, like TiVo and Humax boxes, when content can be streamed easily, whenever we want it?
Do satellite services have a future when BT can now deliver up to 76 Mbps of broadband through its Infinity service along the copper wires fitted to most homes?
As long as the reliability of broadband speeds continues to improve as they have, we are probably seeing the early stages of a radical revolution in home entertainment.
