Will the Internet Kill Television - Research Paper Example

?Will the Internet Kill Television? Introduction Television and television watching has reigned supreme in the entertainment landscape of society forover a hundred years. It has been the primary tool for receiving and spreading information to people within countries and relating the same information to people across the globe. It is said to deliver information faster and more accurately than the radio and newspapers can ever accomplish. It is. by all accounts, the most technologically advanced method by which people access information. Now that might be true, for those living in 3rd world countries without access to the internet. Since the internet began to get a foothold among the younger members of our society, television watching has slowly seen a decline in its demographic. With teenagers opting to spend more of them viewing time online due to the vast variety of available viewing material and the ease with which they can access the same. The constantly evolving faces of the computer has allowed teenagers and people in general, to bring their entertainment with them on the road, never missing an episode of their favorite program or the premier of a much awaited and talked about show. The internet has in effect, changed the television landscape as we know it. This paper will use the most up to date information culled from scholarly sources that will help me to shed light of the question “Will the internet Kill Television?” Using a variety of factual data, I will attempt to bring discussion closer to those involved for a better understanding of the topic. In conclusion, I will make a prediction about how I see the viewing habits of people 10 years from now and if it will still involve television viewing, or a dominance of internet viewing instead. 1. What does scholarly research have to say about teenagers and the amount of television they watch? Will these trends broaden to include other demographic groups? Experts have said that up until 2008, teenagers have spent an unhealthy amount of time in front of the television. During this period of time, teenagers were observed to have been spending more than 30 hours of their time daily watching the boob tube. Longer exposure time to television screens were also seen to have spiked during the high school years of these individuals. Tracie A. Barnett, PhD., who led the observational study in 2008 explains that: “Boys and those whose parents had lower educational attainment were much more likely to be in the 'high-screen time' group. Teens with high levels of screen time may be at increased risk of obesity“ (American Heart Association n. pag.). This was the analysis that her team concluded after observing 1,293 students in Montreal high schools. The study was conducted using a combination of surveys and questionnaires four times a year covering a span of 5 years. These figures have changed over the past 4 years though. By the time 2012 rolled around, the European Travel Commission TrendWatch indicated that there was a significant shift in the television viewing habits of teens. They were now more preoccupied with watching internet based content than television streamed content. This is attributed to the increasing shortening attention span of most teenagers today. Their data indicates that these teens are connected 24/7 and being constantly online has changed the way that they use their television screen time (“Demographics” n. pag.): 23% of all teens (aged 13 to 17) own a tablet, 27% when it comes to girl - 80% own a computer - 78% own a cellphone and 37% a smartphone. It was noted in the study however, that the “hyperconnected generation” as their generation has become known, gains a positive influence from being more connected to their computer screens than their television screens. Although concerns about becoming gadget independent, shallow consumers of information, and instant gratification, which were also concerns raised by experts when television was first beginning to gain a foothold in our society, still exists and does not show any signs of changing. 2. Describe some of the notable efforts to bring television programming to the Internet? Television based businesses agree that the rise of internet usage has had a direct effect on their programming decisions and advertising charges for their network based television programs. Since the trend is now leaning towards internet based video streaming, there have been some television networks and internet based video companies that have decided to jump on the bandwagon by offering their viewers online access to their favorite shows or developing internet only video content in some instances. All of which can be accessed either for free for for a fee. One of the major television networks to have taken the plunge into these unknown waters include the CBS network. They launched their iOS application for the Ipad and Iphone on March 14 of this year. Their reason for doing so? More and more of their viewers are leading time sensitive lives but they still need their daily fix of television entertainment. The internet offers them the avenue with which to keep their regular channel fan base entertained even if they are not able to readily access a television. Their television shows will now be streamed directly to these mobile devices either on the same day or a week after the original television airing. A cunning marketing move that places CBS in a position to double their advertising revenue by being able to charge companies for double exposure on their network (Perez “CBS Brings Ad-Sponsored Streaming TV To iPhone And iPad; Social Integration, Android & Windows 8 Support Still To Come”). They will not however offer viewers a chance to view retired or canceled television programs from the years past. Their streaming media content will be solely limited to currently airing programs. Aside from networks such as CBS, NBC, and ABC, all of whom have opted for free internet streaming for most of their television current programs after the television airing, companies such as NetFlix, Hulu, and Amazon Video have also made a conscious effort to reach out to their target demographic by launching a television arm that will air syndicated television programs or currently airing shows for a fixed fee. Companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video have succeeded in creating an advertising niche that did not exist for companies before. That of uniquely promoting a program without the benefit of sponsor supported promotions and trailers over a regular television network. Their unique advertising campaigns have been met with enthusiasm by sponsors who continue to look forward to sharing their advertising budgets with this up and coming form of media entertainment (Perez “Now NetFlix is Promoting ' Arrested Development' On Seamless.com”). A study from February of this year (Perez “Now NetFlix is Promoting ' Arrested Development' On Seamless.com”) suggested that: Netflix’s quality, original programming has the potential to not only bring in new subscribers but keep current ones from canceling. About 86 percent of those surveyed said they would be less likely to cancel after watching “House of Cards,” for example. 3. Describe some of the notable efforts to replace the 30-second television commercial with other forms of advertising on both traditional TV and Internet TV. I once heard the actress Stephanie Zimbalist say that her father once told her a story about television. Her father, the noted actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. explained to her that during the early days of television, the only content that could be found on it were advertisements. Later on, the advertisements were interrupted by shows in order to remove the redundancy of the advertising content on television. So television was originally created to simply advertise products and nothing more in its previous incarnation. Think of it as the forerunner of the modern day Home TV Shopping networks. However, products now exist in what is known as the Post Television Age (Perez-Latre “The Paradigm Shift in Advertising and Its Meaning For Advertising Supported Media”). Thanks to technological advances in the field of television and internet streamed content, people now have the option to fast forward through commercials (on a Digital Video Recorder), or close the advertising banner (on the internet). So it has now become much harder for companies to promote their products and be sure that their target demographic will actually view their advertisements. The new name of the advertising game is viral marketing. Traditional marketing is a thing of the past. These days, people prefer to not have advertisement so “ in your face”, opting instead of the more subtle program integrated advertising spots that are not obvious ad campaigns and do not detract from the attention and interest that they have in the show they are watching. Viral marketing simply put, means that advertising is done on the sly and has proven to be much more effective than the traditional advertising campaigns of these companies. An advantage for these integrated ads? The companies do not need to spend as much on this particular ad campaign when compared to their traditional TV ads that still exist today, but have also taken the form of more entertaining a viral type advertising so that the viewer can be prevented from fast forwarding through the commercial. 4. You predict along with the experts: How will the TV viewing experience be different in 10 years? How will it be the same? The predictors for the future television viewing habits are already in place 10 years before the fact. The internet will rapidly become the de-facto method by which people will view their television programs. That is why seamless internet usage has been integrated in the modern flat screen television screens. People will continue to shy away from ratings driven television programs due to their rapidly time consuming life style and view their programs on demand rather than on the air date. As such, the landscape of television will forever be altered for all of us. Advertising reliant programming will slowly fade into the background as pay per view, view on demand, or streaming subscriptions to internet channels become more prevalent. Thus leaving advertisers with no other choice than to go back to their original state when advertising was a part of a television program hence the term “no commercial interruptions”. In other words, the television viewing habits of our society will forever be altered, never to be the same again. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, I would have to say that all of the data that I have collated for the writing of this paper has led me to one conclusion alone. The internet will not kill the television. Instead, it will only offer our viewing public a new venue and a new feel for television watching. The rules of the game may change due to the platforms upon which television programs are viewed and accessed, but that does erase the fact that these gadgets have just made the wide flat screen TV that now sits in the 21st century modern home more portable and accessible to the viewers. Television will never die, it will only continue to evolve in its existence. Works Cited American Heart Association. "Many Teens Spend 30 Hours A Week On 'Screen Time' During High School." ScienceDaily, 14 Mar. 2008. Web. 18 May 2013. “Demographics”. European Travel Commission New Media Trend Watch. newmediatrendwatchcom. 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 2 May 2013. Perez-Latre, Francisco. “The Paradigm Shift in Advertising and Its Meaning for Advertising - Supported Media”.Academia.edu. Academia.edu. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2013. Perez, Sarah. “CBS Brings Ad-Sponsored Streaming TV To iPhone And iPad; Social Integration, Android & Windows 8 Support Still To Come”. Apps. techcrunch.com. 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 1 May 2013. Perez, Sarah. “Now NetFlix is Promoting 'Arrested Development' On Seamless.com”. News. techcrunch.com. 18 May 2013. Web. 18 May 2013. Read More