Moving from TV to the Web

It used to be that if you wanted to watch a sitcom or a sporting event, you'd have to watch it from your television. As Internet technology improves, more and more shows and movies are becoming available online. Broadcasting¹ companies are putting their primetime² shows directly on the Internet, and movie rental stores are converting their DVD collections to digital libraries.

This is probably a good change—at least for viewers. People can now pick exactly what they want to watch, and decide when and how they want to watch it. A study done by Harris Interactive found that more than half of Americans (56 percent) surf the Internet while "watching" television, and approximately 40 percent say that they read blogs or go on social networking sites at the same time. But this trend could be a problem for television stations. Advertisers aren't getting a response from viewers, and they don't want to pay money if their commercials aren't being seen. In contrast, people who watch things online seem more engaged with what they watch. They read and write comments on the show, they look up details about the show, and they are less likely to ignore commercials. For broadcasters, online viewers may turn out to be more loyal fans.

Changing people's habits takes time. Even though many people are interested in watching television on the Internet, some may not want to make the switch completely. And some might be persuaded to, but only under certain circumstances. According to Harris, almost half of television viewers (44 percent) would cancel their cable television if they could get the same programs for free online. However, the number fell to 16 percent when people were told they had to pay a small fee for online viewing. This is strange, since most household's monthly cable bills are the same or even more than what they would pay for the same shows online. It's possible that people have become so used to getting online entertainment for free that they learn not to value it as much.

Even with growing interest in online entertainment, people still think it is important to watch television shows with their friends and family. People used to think that watching television would make families spend less time together, but it actually brought families closer for a few hours each night. Now it's feared that viewing shows online could make people more isolated. Who knows? Perhaps as online programming becomes more popular, people will find a way to make it into a social activity.

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¹ A broadcast is a television program. Broadcasting companies create and sell these programs.
² Primetime is the time period when the most number of people are watching TV, usually between 6 pm and 10 pm on weekdays.