Online television is a fast growing entertainment medium where we can watch any show or film whenever we wan
t. With the advent of Youtube the mainstream world took notice of streaming and downloadable content, since then we have seen our favourite programming become available through services such as Hulu and BBC iPlayer, however a few new networks have recently entered the fray and are about to change the game.
The great thing about the internet it allows anyone to publish, while there is a considerable amount of rubbish, a few people and companies have emerged that are producing top quality content that is rivalling current television cable stations in the US.
The reason these specific people have succeeded is due to them paying attention to their niche. So far the most successful independent online television networks base their shows around technology and geek culture, the best two examples of this are TWiT TV and Revision 3.
As all of you know, last week Apple grabbed the media attention with the introduction of the iPad (read Sam Bell’s thoughts about the iPad!). But, what you may not know is that Leo Laporte’s TWiT network was live streaming their coverage of the whole event beating previous viewer numbers of over a quarter of a million live viewers.
These kind of numbers rival mainstream television cable networks. Similarly Revision 3 announced they have delivered 1.5 billion minutes of video to their viewers. While these numbers don’t even compare to mainstream titans like NBC and FOX there is certainly a surge in interest in this way of watching. The user is now in control, what used to be a monologue that we used to have with the mainstream networks has now transformed into a dialogue, networks have started to listen to what the public has to say.
I’d like to know what you think about the first few steps the world has taken into online television, is there something missing? How are we going to control the quality of the shows and what do you think will happen to the television schedule as we know it since we now have access to content whenever we want it?
Image source of Hulu Image: http://screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/hulu-logo.jpg