Broadcast TV is out!

Why do I say so?

Broadcast TV is losing its ground as we are introduced to the new genre - Internet TV especially with the increase of connection speeds, technology advancement and huge number of people online.

Internet TV can be defined as TV over the web delivered by a broadband connection. There are many Internet TVs available such as WWITV, TV Bistro , Holersoft , Democracy, etc.

Photo: Democracy Internet TV

According to Professor of Public Understanding of Technology John Naughton (2004), the dominance of the broadcast medium will erode and to be replaced by the Internet. This shift is significant because it means a change from 'push' media to 'pull' media.

Differences
Broadcast TV
- Broadcast TV is considered as push medium as the content providers decide what content is to be offered to the passive audiences.
- The audiences' choices are limited.
- Range of offerings is still narrow compared to the enormous diversity of human appetites and interests.
- Scheduled programmes.

Internet TV
- The Web, in contrast, is a 'pull' medium as audiences are free to choose which programmes they want. All they need to do is pull it down from a server across the net.
- Variety of choices available for active audiences.
- Flexible programmes. Audiences can choose to watch anytime.

It is obvious that the Internet TV wins out with all the significant advantages.

Heard of Joost? Joost - "all the things you love about TV, fused with the interactive power of the Internet." It is the revolutionary Internet service that streams TV shows, movies, music videos, documentaries and much more directly to your computer. It becomes hot since earlier this year, I'm pretty sure that most of the internet entertainment savvy are aware of this new buzz.

Just download the software that allows the transmission of content via the Internet and you can watch more than 150 channels for FREE! Sound really good, isn't it? Content is acquired directly from the copyright owners and different from YouTube, Joost users can only view, but not upload content. This is to prevent anyone from posting copyrighted material.

Let's check out this transcript entitled 'Getting the juice on Joost' and 'Technology: The (Really) New Way Of Watching TV' by SinChew-I to find out more about the latest Internet TV.

Reference
Naughton, J. 2004, 'Testimony to Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport', viewed on 7 June 2007, URL: http://molly.open.ac.uk/papers/evidence.html