Scheduled TV - your time is up
The way we watch television is changing. Even now we are watching television on demand. In the (near) future, the vast majority will not watch scheduled television programming at all. We’ll put together our own schedules of the things we want to watch. In fact, I’ll wager that the likes of the BBC and ITV will give viewers a list of things to what to watch and let them choose.
It’s already happening. Online providers such as Joost give you select programmes when you like. BBC iplayer let you save programmes for later viewing in the week. On-demand is available anytime on terrestrial and satellite.
The infrastructure is in place. All that needs to change is the mentality of the viewer. And as ever, that’ll take longer to change. People are creatures of habit. They like their Eastenders on a Monday at 7.30pm and their news at 10pm. Give them a choice and many of them won’t know what to do with it.
Once again it’s a case of technology leading the user rather than the other way around. But, as with the digital switchover, programmable schedules will be forced on people. For those who can’t, or won’t, put together their own schedule, I think there will be a ‘recommended’ schedule that all can watch during peak periods of the day.
The cross over from passive to interactive media and the way we digest it is changing yet further. Before it was the internet into our homes. Now it’s television into our front rooms. All that’s holding us back is society’s ability to stomach it.
