9 Comments Add your own

• 1. Jennifer Yarter  |  May 30th, 2008 at 8:16 am

  Ha! So this has been happening for a long time to broadcast stations, but now that its happening to cable stations, its a problem with networks wanting it “both ways”?

• 2. Robert Cannon  |  May 30th, 2008 at 8:33 am

  Dont they already put their full episodes -well almost full episodes - online? I watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report regularly on my laptop. Sure they break the show into 4 or 5 segments - but they automatically load so once you have hit play, you watch the whole thing. Colbert just won a Webby (or something) for his online presence.

• 3. George  |  May 30th, 2008 at 10:11 am

  This ain’t looking good for cable distribution. I’m watching half of my viewing on the internet and the thought of dumping cable keeps crossing my mind. Internet distribution will become the a-la-carte of TV programming.

• 4. Jennifer Yarter  |  May 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am

  Perhaps the thought of dumping cable (heck perhaps even dumping your TVs altogether) may come to mind. However, isn’t there something to be said for the improved EXPERIENCE of TV. Sure, I can watch “Lost” on ABC.com, but that computer monitor is awfully small, and its tough for my husband and to cuddle together in front of the computer to watch.

  I’d much prefer to watch it on my beautiful 50″, surround sound HDTV. TV continues to best internet in terms of picture and sound quality and the multi-viewer experience.

• 5. Anonymous  |  May 30th, 2008 at 12:09 pm

  Robert’s right, you can already get the shows online, broken into clips. Which is better, actually, because they cut out the intros & outros, as well as all the ad time (seriously, go to dailyshow.com, there are no video ads), reducing a 30-minute show to 20.

• 6. Anonymous  |  May 30th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

  Well for one thing, they’re much larger on a TV.

  I could win a Wedgie award for my presence : )

• 7. internet television  |  May 31st, 2008 at 12:58 am

  I don’t think Cable TV will ever be dumped. I think Online TV just brings another way of watching some of your favorite tv episodes. Cable TV though offers mor quality channels and of course the major networks. You also get live sports channels with Cable TV.

• 8. discreet_chaos  |  May 31st, 2008 at 2:09 am

  Licensing fees or subscriber fees are one matter, but I think that if the cable companies want to survive beyond the next ten years, then they’re going to have to back away from the idea of charging three times for one wire.

  Television, telephone and the internet are all converging and whomever supplies the connection is going to profit, unless the government takes it.

  Right now, we’re increasingly getting closer to having everything available online and within the next ten years, I really don’t expect there to be any separation between the three communication services, they’re all just going to be dependent on the consumer having access.

• 9. adria  |  June 5th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

  discreet_chaos is on the right track, I would rather just pay one bill for my “wire” and get whatever media I want, depending on what “box” I want to watch it out of.

  As for Jennifer Yarter, sure watching TV on a 50″ HD screen from your couch is awesome…but I have a decently sized computer monitor jerry-rigged to my living room stereo, which I watch from my couch, which suits me fine.

  I guess the point is, it’s kind of irrelevant how you watch your media, as long as the service price points and # of ads converge, TV vs. Online will become a non-issue

  If you like to watch TV online, check out http://www.links2.tv which makes it easy and convenient to access all available streaming full episodes from network sites. (my plug for the day)

  

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