19
August
Traditional Broadcast vs Internet TV
Technical news sources have been abuzz for some time about developments in Broadcast vs Internet TV.
Streaming Video
For some time we have had access to streaming video such as YouTube or various web sites providing catch up viewing for old episodes of broadcast TV shows etc.. To demonstrate how things have changed, past US President Obama is said to have won his last election largely because of his use of online video and social media using sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook etc.. Elsewhere it is said that 2/3 of the members of the US House of Representatives have used private YouTube channels for public promotion.
vs Broadcast TV
Predictions have been long flying thick and fast about online TV. Meaning shows in real time either coming from the traditional broadcasters or in competition with them. It seems to me that there are 2 problems with this concept. First that the supply chain of producers and then broadcasters is pretty well established and one might say rather entrenched for much to change very quickly. The other is that we would all need to have much easier access to very fast reliable internet connections before the concept would have any chance of it becoming anything like universal.
The NBN Is Coming
In Australia the NBN is coming, and coming, but there is still the question of whether the connection will be fast or reliable enough for real time TV viewing as such. Too many comments seem to be surfacing about connections still being slowed by the system being loaded down elsewhere. Having experience the fairly old coaxial cable internet delivery system for a number of years I can say that it often would slow down for example first thing on a Monday morning when office staff would be checking their email , generally around lunch time and late afternoon when most people would be getting home and turning on their computers or cable TV channels.
My own feeling is that the path things end up taking is more likely to be something quite different. After all it does come down to just what people actually want and are prepared to pay for.
