Television, which has been around for more than 90 years and was once available only to the elite, has become commonplace today. Not only that, television is now undergoing changes like never before, and they are fundamentally changing the entire market. On World Television Day, we invite you to look at the future of TV – when the TV knows what we want to watch when we wait for commercials, and we don’t need a helmet to immerse ourselves in virtual reality.
From the rich to the broad masses
The first regular TV broadcasts began in the United States in the 1928s. True, televisions were only available to the rich for several decades and only began to become cheaper after World War II. As the number of viewers grew, the time of TV broadcasts increased, and commercials began to run. Colour television has brought new experiences, and digital technology has led to a leap in video and audio quality.
However, smart or video-on-demand (VOD) television has become the catalyst for fundamental change, allowing shows to be rented not when they are shown, but when it is convenient for the viewer to rent movies, series and other content without leaving home.
Live watching
With modern TV, it doesn’t make sense to wait live for the start of a particular show, so people have stopped planning their evening on TV. True, there are a few exceptions. Eurovision, for example, is improving viewership records every year – but it’s a one-day event that has been cancelled altogether this year.
People are also more likely to watch live broadcasts of sporting events. Although, say, football fans “cut corners” and opt for accelerated viewing instead of waiting for 90 goals, watching the scoring episodes more closely.
In terms of total TV viewing time, only 40 per cent. it falls on live television. The popularity of regular TV is declining because it offers only two types of shows – the ones you haven’t started yet and the ones you haven’t started yet. Even people don’t watch live news shows anymore but turn on a little later to skip the news that isn’t relevant to them.
Advertising
Experts note that not everyone is advertising today. On the other hand, the advertising of medicines, toys, or utensils repeated for the tenth time for all viewers is hardly effective. For an advertisement to work, it must be targeted, shown to those who may be actually interested in that product or service, and it must be interesting. Currently, individual advertising technologies are still in their infancy but are already moving in the direction of solutions and standards.
That is likely to be the future of TV advertising. For example, during a commercial break for a live basketball match, one viewer will see an advertisement for an electric car, another will see a range of innovations at a nearby bakery, and a dog-raising campaign will be offered to feed the dog. Interesting, useful advertising will be able to stop, view more detailed information or even order a service or product.
TV channels will become “content gadgets”
The other alternative is not to watch or rotate the ads, but to pay for the content. For example, rent a movie or subscribe to a subscription service, such as HBO, Netflix, or another.
The TV Solutions Expert predicts that the different platforms – free content with ads, purchased and subscribed content – will be merged in the long run, and current rebroadcasters will play the role of aggregators. People will have to choose what to watch, how to pay and what to pay for. These libraries will have their own content layout, menus, news presentations, and other attributes. In other words, channels will become “content gadgets.”
VR TV – for grandchildren
There has been a lot of talks lately about virtual reality (VR) and how it will change TV broadcasts, yet TV experts are talking cautiously about its future and considering that the fate of 3D TVs may await the current VR equipment – people will be disappointed.
When the 3D collapsed, experts explained that people did not want to wear extra glasses. Therefore, according to A. Klim, it is strange that after a while it was assumed that people would like a helmet on their heads. So while both technologies leave an impression for the first 10 minutes, they’re inconvenient to use all the time, at least for now.
On the other hand, other interesting technical solutions are already being developed in TV laboratories. For example, TV remotes recognize the user. However, they will reach consumers in a few years, as more work is needed to make them work reliably.
Of course, someday there will come a time for both 3D and VR television when watching a movie will make it difficult to separate what we see from reality. But I think there will be real times for VR, the keypad that recognizes you and intuitive advertising, unless our future grandchildren. And living here and now, it’s worth rejoicing in the kind of television we have today.