Television set the standard for the entertainment business for almost 70 years. After which emerged the internet which derived its ideas from the former and implemented them better. The Internet is changing the definition of television in our country. Television has had an incredible power to bring people together, by getting them to invest in the characters and stories. And that is not likely to change, whether episodes are metered out or binge-watched over a weekend.
With changing times and busy schedules, people want to watch tv shows at a time that is convenient for them, and not follow the network timings.
Television programs demand a time schedule, which busy people find difficult to adhere to. Online streaming on the other hand, unleashes consumers from the limitations of viewing their favourite shows at a certain time. But even as that has happened, it is clear that the audience is gravitating towards the same shows, movies and sports that do well on TV.
Online streaming is essentially reinforcing the centrality of television. However, the nature of storytelling on TV varies from that on smartphones and other online streaming sites. This is because TV has always been and will always be a household device where as a cell phone is personal.
In today’s day and age, millennials want to be entertained with stories made for them and watch them on devices, at a time and place of their choice. Youngsters prefer this medium because of its inherent advantages: the convenience of VOD, gamification, variety of content and on-the-go viewing. Avid viewers like to set their own schedules.
However, with technology playing a major role in this entire switch of how television shows are viewed, television itself is not obsolete. Major companies have invented fire sticks and other such devices which allows you to display the online viewing platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar on your television set. It all started with downloading TV shows on the Internet and went on to streaming on video on demand service providers.
Today online streaming services have started producing their own shows, under their banners. So these websites and applications not only release latest shows, movies and documentaries that come on television but also shows and movies that are specific to them. This has made it the shift from television to online streaming grow even more.
In India especially, where very few channels release TV shows right after the international telecast, websites like Netflix & Amazon Prime are helpful for those who like to watch tv shows as and when they come out.
Another major advantage and reason to why this massive shift has been made is because of the fact that unlike television where the shows are interrupted by advertisements, online streaming is ad-free where you can enjoy a sense of continuity without distractions. Not to mention that online streaming does not face the same censorship banns that are made on shows and movies that air on television.
All this makes online streaming simply a better, more convenient and hassle free experience for avid viewers.