The Changing Face of Entertainment
Except for Alton Brown on the Food Channel and Mythbusters, about the only broadcast shows I watch on television these days are news shows. Why? There are so many options, why should I sit through some mediocre show just to have something to do.
First, we dumped all the premium movie channels and set up a subscription to Netflix. It’s cheaper, we choose exactly what we want, and the turn-around time is very quick. They also offer unlimited viewing from their collection of streaming movies and shows. A $100 Roku box lets us watch any of those programs on our televisions. We also have access to Amazon’s Video on Demand and for my baseball fan there’s MLB.com where he could not only watch his Braves but choose which team’s announcers he wanted for the game.
But wait – it gets better! Today, Roku expands their channel offerings to include some very cool Internet media options. There’s Pandora Radio for just about any kind of music you want to hear. Mediafly, blip.tv, TWiT.TV (with my hero, Leo Laporte) and Revision3 offer both familiar broadcast programming and new, independent programs. You can watch your own creations on your tv thanks to the MotionBox, Flickr, Facebook Photos and Frame Channel channels. Then there’s something called MobileTribe which bills itself as “your online community organizer”.
You may already be familiar with some of these services because they’ve been available on many smart phones for some time. The beauty of all this is that we can now control what we want to watch/hear and when and where we want it. Talk about video on demand! And, while I’m delighted to be able to watch my favorites like Evening Shade, Northern Exposure or Hill Street Blues, I’m really fascinated with the quality and quantity of independent productions becoming available. Roots Television is a great example. It serves a small niche (in the grand scheme of things) but it serves us well. TWiT.TV is geek paradise. Browsing Mediafly’s cooking section, I found several video podcasts that could be dangerous delicious. I don’t recognize any of the names, but that doesn’t mean they’d any less entertaining than Alton or Emeril.
Having it your way is fabulous, but it doesn’t stop there. Online media is a two-way street. You get to talk back! From things as simple as sharing what you’re watching with others to actually participating in a live event, we are not just viewers anymore. Recently I watched a panel discussion of NASA scientists broadcast live on Ustream with an embedded chat area that allowed anyone viewing the presentation to ask a question or make a comment. It was fascinating! And, think of the potential. Things like this can expand the reach of classrooms and conferences at a very affordable price.
The times they are a’changin and we get to enjoy its benefits our way.
Oh, and if you’re interested, right now I’m listening to my custom La Musica Cubana channel on Pandora.
