When will scheduled broadcast TV become obsolete?

[RailWonderer]

I rarely watch live TV. I like to watch mostly movies and some series and doccumentaries on amazon prime and the players. The exceptions are Sky news and the occasional BBC/film4 program. The car and bike fixing and restoring shows now and again also.

There is so much choice everywhere these days my guess is 40 years time the main providers move to a subscription only model and the TV licence ends.

 

[AM9]

Plenty of us quite happily do it, though. It does require a quality Internet connection, yes, but increasingly that will be universal.

On something a fundamental as watching TV, I think pushing to watch a scheduled programme will be the norm for some time yet. Faffing around with a desktop, laptop or especially a phone, won't displace sitting down in a lounge with a remote in front of a decent sized screen for some time. Bear in mind, everbody posting (and browsing) here* will be used to internet, but successful as RUK is, it hardly represents the majority of the linear TV viewing population's time.
* and every other social media platform

 

[Bletchleyite]

Faffing around with a desktop, laptop or especially a phone, won't displace sitting down in a lounge with a remote in front of a decent sized screen for some time.

I use an Amazon Fire Stick to watch TV via the Internet on the actual TV, not a laptop, tablet or phone. It has a remote control which is just as easy to use as the one for a Sky box. You plug it in and use it just like a normal TV.

They cost about £30, so the barrier to entry is very low as long as you don't have an ancient telly without an HDMI socket.

 

[JamesT]

I use an Amazon Fire Stick to watch TV via the Internet on the actual TV, not a laptop, tablet or phone. It has a remote control which is just as easy to use as the one for a Sky box. You plug it in and use it just like a normal TV.

They cost about £30, so the barrier to entry is very low as long as you don't have an ancient telly without an HDMI socket.

Or indeed, given how hard it is to buy a TV that isn't Smart, using the appropriate app on the telly and the normal remote.

 

[Dai Corner]

Or indeed, given how hard it is to buy a TV that isn't Smart, using the appropriate app on the telly and the normal remote.

Hard to buy new, but very cheap second hand after being discarded by those who want 'smartness' but don't realise they could have got a Firestick instead of a new TV.

 

[johncrossley]

There has been a huge step forward to delivering linear TV using the internet in the last year. Sky Glass, launched about a year ago, gives you nearly all the Sky channels through the internet. Obviously that's annoying for those who don't want to buy a TV through them but last Thursday they launched Sky Stream, which gives you the same channels without having to buy a TV through them. You just need to buy a small handsized box and take out a subscription. That's a boon for people who want Sky but haven't been able to get it because of the need for a dish.

Until recently, BTTV used Freeview to pick up the free channels, but their latest boxes now have an internet only option where you pick up most of the Freeview channels over the internet. Virgin also has a similar system. However, BT and Virgin require you to take their broadband. Sky Stream/Glass will work with *any* broadband (recommended over 10 Mbps).

There are a few exclusions, for example no shopping channels and no +1 "timeshift channels". But with Sky Stream/Sky Glass, you can start the existing show from the beginning for most channels, largely removing the need for +1 channels.

So we just need a "Freeview" box that works just off the internet and doesn't need an aerial.

As for linear TV actually being scrapped, I don't think that will ever go away completely. BBC Three lost a load of viewers when they went internet only, hence why it came back. Even Now TV has linear channels, even though all or virtually all their content (except live sport) is also available through catch up.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think in time what constitutes a "channel" will shift. It won't necessarily be a linear thing (except rolling news, sports coverage and the likes), but instead a curated collection of series to watch as you wish, perhaps with new episodes added weekly etc (as Amazon already do).

Linear radio I think will survive more or less as is (though mostly delivered via IP rather than broadcast), but that's consumed differently by most people - generally it's just on in the background.

 

[johncrossley]

I use an Amazon Fire Stick to watch TV via the Internet on the actual TV, not a laptop, tablet or phone. It has a remote control which is just as easy to use as the one for a Sky box. You plug it in and use it just like a normal TV.

They cost about £30, so the barrier to entry is very low as long as you don't have an ancient telly without an HDMI socket.

Do you have to fire up individual apps for each broadcaster?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do you have to fire up individual apps for each broadcaster?

At the moment this is the best way, but with each software update it seems to be better integrated.

 

[johncrossley]

At the moment this is the best way, but with each software update it seems to be better integrated.

I believe people will still want to have all the channels in a long list like in a traditional electronic programme guide. For example, my partner is technology savvy and uses apps for catch up and uses Amazon Prime and Disney+, but she also still likes to browse the channels starting at BBC One.

 

[JamesT]

I believe people will still want to have all the channels in a long list like in a traditional electronic programme guide. For example, my partner is technology savvy and uses apps for catch up and uses Amazon Prime and Disney+, but she also still likes to browse the channels starting at BBC One.

That appears to be one of the points that Sky are trying to push their kit with, that programmes from various sources are integrated into one interface.

 

[AM9]

I use an Amazon Fire Stick to watch TV via the Internet on the actual TV, not a laptop, tablet or phone. It has a remote control which is just as easy to use as the one for a Sky box. You plug it in and use it just like a normal TV.

They cost about £30, so the barrier to entry is very low as long as you don't have an ancient telly without an HDMI socket.

But the Firestick only offers the much the same as an average smart TV, - the 'live' TV facility is just i-player and the ITV/C4/C5 equivalents. We're talking here about a live TV function that operates just like a normal on-air TV receiver, i.e. gives very near real time programming, using an internet path instead of dvb channels to receive the video stream.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But the Firestick only offers the much the same as an average smart TV, - the 'live' TV facility is just i-player and the ITV/C4/C5 equivalents. We're talking here about a live TV function that operates just like a normal on-air TV receiver, i.e. gives very near real time programming, using an internet path instead of dvb channels to receive the video stream.

The live stream function of the iPlayer does let you stream a BBC channel, but I don't see why you'd want to.

 

[johncrossley]

The live stream function of the iPlayer does let you stream a BBC channel, but I don't see why you'd want to.

You might want to watch the programme as soon as it "premieres". Even YouTube, Facebook and Twitch sometimes have schedules when you can watch a video for the first time. A lot of them involve live interactivity with the audience, but not all.

 

[raafif]

Broadcast TV is has been obsolete for a few years. I only watch live tv as my set can't access streaming etc. In my country (not UK or EU) most TV programs are American or have copied American styles - therefore mindless crap for the uneducated. I download some programs from YouTube on my computer.
I get most news from foreign programs like DW & Aljazeera - BBC shown here is 99.9% politics so not worth watching unless you want to get depressed for the UK. In my opinion intelligence in Western Society has been in decline for some decades.
I'm too busy working in tram & aircraft museums to watch much tv anyway.

 

[eldomtom2]

I think there is a lot of life in it yet. Streaming has turned out much less profitable - if at all! - than the big media companies expected it to.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Will consumption be simultaneous if we are all receiving streams rather than broadcast TV? Apart from live sporting occasions and news channels, won't people start, pause, and watch at different times, even if only a few minutes? Once they have the capability, do people not pause dramas to get a drink, snack, or toilet break, for example? Without a local hard drive, this will remove simultaneous viewing in a lot of cases.

Biggie for me would be the ability to fast forward through the adverts.

I use an Amazon Fire Stick to watch TV via the Internet on the actual TV, not a laptop, tablet or phone. It has a remote control which is just as easy to use as the one for a Sky box. You plug it in and use it just like a normal TV.

They cost about £30, so the barrier to entry is very low as long as you don't have an ancient telly without an HDMI socket.

My stepson got an Amazon fire stick. His main reason was his Panasonic TV is so slow - so bad I find I put off channel hopping when I visit. Second reason was he has to wait for me to visit when a re-tune is required (or obediently been done). He lives in Cardiff and an auto re-tune picks up all the Welsh speaking versions of channels and puts them before the English speaking channels. A lot of people in Cardiff are bugged by this incidentally !. I am an old so and so but I worked out how to lose all the old channels and do a manual tune but he cannot be trained !. I even spent time ensuring the aerial is pointing at Mendip (in England East of Bristol) but this did not avoid the nearer Wenvoe transmitter. So we could add better choice, regionally to the internet way of doing things.

Or indeed, given how hard it is to buy a TV that isn't Smart, using the appropriate app on the telly and the normal remote.

See above - his TV is too slow !.

I think in time what constitutes a "channel" will shift. It won't necessarily be a linear thing (except rolling news, sports coverage and the likes), but instead a curated collection of series to watch as you wish, perhaps with new episodes added weekly etc (as Amazon already do).

Linear radio I think will survive more or less as is (though mostly delivered via IP rather than broadcast), but that's consumed differently by most people - generally it's just on in the background.

Good point. It is like buying an LP (er music CD). You are buying a set of songs that almost never were broadcast as one set in one go.

Actually I can see what will kill of terrestrial TV. It is when enough peoples aerials have decayed. Added to there being less chimneys. Added to elf and safety making the job harder.

 

[gswindale]

Biggie for me would be the ability to fast forward through the adverts.

My stepson got an Amazon fire stick. His main reason was his Panasonic TV is so slow - so bad I find I put off channel hopping when I visit. Second reason was he has to wait for me to visit when a re-tune is required (or obediently been done). He lives in Cardiff and an auto re-tune picks up all the Welsh speaking versions of channels and puts them before the English speaking channels. A lot of people in Cardiff are bugged by this incidentally !. I am an old so and so but I worked out how to lose all the old channels and do a manual tune but he cannot be trained !. I even spent time ensuring the aerial is pointing at Mendip (in England East of Bristol) but this did not avoid the nearer Wenvoe transmitter. So we could add better choice, regionally to the internet way of doing things.

See above - his TV is too slow !.

Good point. It is like buying an LP (er music CD). You are buying a set of songs that almost never were broadcast as one set in one go.

Actually I can see what will kill of terrestrial TV. It is when enough peoples aerials have decayed. Added to there being less chimneys. Added to elf and safety making the job harder.

What's a chimney got to do with anything?

Chuck the aerial in the loft and be done with it.

 

[Dai Corner]

What's a chimney got to do with anything?

Chuck the aerial in the loft and be done with it.

Unless you're in a fiat of course.

What provision for broadcast TV is made in new-build flats, by the way?

 

[Peter Sarf]

What's a chimney got to do with anything?

Chuck the aerial in the loft and be done with it.

As I have done. But can degrade reception especially if you have heat reflecting insulation in the way.

Unless you're in a fiat of course.

What provision for broadcast TV is made in new-build flats, by the way?

I think a communal aerial. Although I encountered some blocks of flats that only had cable TV.

 

[Bevan Price]

Personally. I find more than enough worth viewing on Freeview, either live, or something I have recorded because the the networks choose to transmit two (or three) "good (in my opinion) programmes" at the same time.

I think, in the near future, no government would risk public wrath by trying to destroy Freeview. However, in the fairly long term, some "right wing" government may ignore public opinion and sell the "transmission space" used by Freeview - possibly to some "subscription - only" service that may donate generously to party funds.

 

[johncrossley]

Personally. I find more than enough worth viewing on Freeview, either live, or something I have recorded because the the networks choose to transmit two (or three) "good (in my opinion) programmes" at the same time.

I think, in the near future, no government would risk public wrath by trying to destroy Freeview. However, in the fairly long term, some "right wing" government may ignore public opinion and sell the "transmission space" used by Freeview - possibly to some "subscription - only" service that may donate generously to party funds.

In the "fairly long term", almost all houses will have either fibre broadband or 5G. Freeview could then be replaced by a system that picks up the same channels, plus many more, in full HD or even 4K quality.

 

[Cambus731]

This thread has concentrated on the technical side of things, but the human side hasn't been adequately discussed in my opinion.
A lot of people like to watch television as its broadcast, in a high proportion of people it's largely for the human contact. People associate this with the elderly, but it also applies to middle aged as well.
In my case I'm 53, and live on my own. So if I'm at home in the evenings, when not on late shift, the television is my main source of human contact. Even if its an episode of Porridge say that I've probably seen about 50 times before.

 

[johncrossley]

The public broadcasters in Switzerland and the Flemish region of Belgium have already stopped terrestrial broadcasting (because of good cable and/or IPTV coverage) but they still maintain linear channels on other platforms.

 

[Dai Corner]

This thread has concentrated on the technical side of things, but the human side hasn't been adequately discussed in my opinion.
A lot of people like to watch television as its broadcast, in a high proportion of people it's largely for the human contact. People associate this with the elderly, but it also applies to middle aged as well.
In my case I'm 53, and live on my own. So if I'm at home in the evenings, when not on late shift, the television is my main source of human contact. Even if its an episode of Porridge say that I've probably seen about 50 times before.

I'm not sure how watching a selection of programmes chosen by somebody else rather than your own choice equates to 'human contact'?

 

[Peter Sarf]

I'm not sure how watching a selection of programmes chosen by somebody else rather than your own choice equates to 'human contact'?

I know what you mean. It is one way, they talk and you listen. But it is better than nothing. Watching live news is better than a repeated soap.

But I kind of get it that it is nice to be presented with a program rather than looking up by yourself something to watch. It is perhaps the feeling that you are sharing the program with someone who decided to show it to you. A very thin justification but such is loneliness.

 

[Cambus731]

Maybe I should have used my mother as a better example. My father died in 2017. My mother does get very lonely as not only has she now lost her husband, but unfortunately almost all of her friends have now 'passed on' To her, and millions of other people, watching tv, or having it on in the background is her main human contact. Having TV or radio on as it is broadcast, even if only say 20% of your attention is focussed on it as you do other things, is a form of human contact with the rest of the world. There are millions of people in the western world just like her in this regard.
This form of 'human contact is absent when one is watching a DVD or something streamed or downloaded. This is invaluable to a large number of people, especially as about a third of households in the UK (and similar nations) consist of one person. When I visit her, she almost always has Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on. (Or whoever is covering for them). I personally would rather have the stereo on, but this is her human contact. I think it would be a mistake to do away with broadcast TV.
Maybe this is straying from the original idea of the thread, but I did notice some people advocating a shift away from broadcast TV, to people essentially streaming from a database.
I personally like to watch classic shows when they are broadcast, eg Porridge, Fawlty Towers, Blakes 7, Brittas Empire, The Goodies, OFAH, Minder, The Sweeney, etc. I am more than aware that virtually all of these are available on DVD or platforms such a Netflix, iPlayer, Youtube etc, but it is in my nature to 'reach out and grab' these programmes when they are shown. (I just wish that the broadcasting channels didn't cut them so much)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I still don't get why watching a string of recorded programmes on an arbitrary schedule is any sort of human contact.

What you're looking for there is live radio - it's a big part of the role of BBC local radio in particular.

 

[Dai Corner]

I still don't get why watching a string of recorded programmes on an arbitrary schedule is any sort of human contact.

What you're looking for there is live radio - it's a big part of the role of BBC local radio in particular.

I'd say participating in forums such as this one is even more like human contact.

 

[adc82140]

I still don't get why watching a string of recorded programmes on an arbitrary schedule is any sort of human contact.

Particularly, when aside from the "main" channels, all you are watching is the output of some server somewhere with little to no human input.