There is a shift in the tides of television programming in today's modern world. Ideas and thoughts are being spread around faster than ever before with the internet, and regular cable is falling behind. What is the shift? User-centric entertainment. The fact that I can go on putlocker or YouTube and find whatever I want to watch is incredible. Anything from music festival concerts to movies, youtube vloggers, gamers, comedy, and even things I never knew were entertaining are incredible in terms of possibilities and chances. Cable and sattelite TV have completely fallen prey to this since they only provide whatever shows they are contractually obligated to air. So, compared to hilarious cat videos on youtube, or watching Maury or Ancient Aliens, I would prefer to go on my laptop and get to finding what I want to look for.
Many other online companies have caught on. Services like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, and even some TV networks have begun to use the growing trend to their advantage. However, regular cable has one major caveat that unfortunately cannot be ignored. It isn't user friendly. Of course, you could watch your favorite prime time shows at 11PM or later, or order them on demand with a couple of clicks of a mouse. Shows on TV also have seem to lost a lot of contact with their prime viewing audience. MTV for example, slowly de-escalated from being a music television channel to airing somewhat cringe-worthy shows of teenage mothers, and fantasy high school drama. Sure, this may be all good, but are people really watching like they used to? Not quite.
What does this mean for the future of Television? For one thing, cable television really won't be a huge staple of modern life anymore. In the next 20 years, instead of flipping through a seemingly endless stream of boring dramas, cooking shows, news channels, and other countless television shows that air day in and day out, people will scroll through news feeds, read articles such as this one, and be able to catch that same prime time show during their lunch break. Shows will no longer be advertised as 30 second timed commercials, but as 15 second bits that can be skipped after 5 seconds before the beginning of a Youtube stream.
In time, television that we millennials grew up with will no longer be a thing. Our news, entertainment, and cartoons will now be at our fingertips ready to play whether its on a bus or at home. Only time will tell how the tide will shift once again with the growing entertainment beast.
