Maybe I’m exaggerating with that title, but the truth is that Netflix has become a force to be rekoned with as far as video content is concerned. Not only are they frequently mentioned in talk of “net neutrality,” but recently Netflix CEO Reed Hastings predicted that Broadcast TV will be dead by 2030. I agree.
Broadcast TV has been suffering a lingering death for a while now. Competition killed it. That’s not only competition from the Internet, but from video games and streaming services like Netflix. Add HBO into the mix, and get them off the Cable company’s smorgasbord, and soon the only reason that you’ll be paying the cable bill will be for broadband Internet.
I suppose someone could make the same argument for printed books as well, but it’s not the same.
Books have been around for hundreds of years — thousands if you count scrolls and other printed material. People treasure books and enjoy them. The same can be said for vinyl records, which are still available, treasured, and worth listening to. You can’t say the same for broadcast TV. In fact, you never could; since its inception, TV has offered up so much drek that “good” programs are the exception, not the rule.
When you have a tool like the Internet, one that can connect a producer with a consumer in such a direct, expedient, and elegant manner, then the middle man needs to go buh-bye. Unless they can somehow add value to the content, broadcast TV will definitely be gone by 2030 — maybe even earlier.
>>”The same can be said for vinyl records”<<
Its not just a music storage format that has died, it is the entire music industry. The record industry has completely failed to do anything with internet content. Ironically the only music artists that make money are the ones who make it on tv. The record industry is completely out of touch because…they are a RECORD INDUSTRY…they still want to sell records (CDs) which is an obsolete format instead of get into internet download content.
Comment by BradC — November 29, 2014 @ 12:29 pm
Sometimes a market isn’t going to grow as much as the CEO or shareholders would like. They should cater to and respect their existing market.
The recording industry was dying before CDs came along. Musicians typically made their money by going on tour, where they had more control. But the CDs caused most people to re-buy what they already owned. After that peaked, music sales flattened and the industry panicked. I know good musicians are out there, but the drek is still pretty thick. I don’t even listen to music on the radio any longer. Haven’t done so in years, unless it’s a classic rock station.
Comment by admin — November 29, 2014 @ 2:07 pm