Originally Posted by OLD BOY
I said ‘it may come’ earlier than I predicted.
I wasn’t ignoring the other issues set out in the source, I was merely discussing the parts of it that were relevant to my post. I attached the whole article and made no attempt to hide it. You quoted the part of it that you thought backed up your argument, which is fine. That constitutes a discussion.
Quite, and that’s fine, Chris. No need to get so upset over this. The source quoted Ofcom, but my point about Project Kangaroo was that this was a good example of Ofcom’s inability to keep up with developments in its own field of ‘expertise’, and so it was reasonable for me to question the value of their views regarding the future a decade ahead. Since Netflix came along, Ofcom has been getting increasingly out of touch. They are being left behind, which is shameful, because we are relying on them to create the right environment for British content providers to operate in the global market.
---------- Post added at 19:55 ---------- Previous post was at 19:53 ----------
I well remember the days when we waited with excitement to witness the launch of a brand new channel. I was excited by the advent of the Sci-Fi channel, even though the programmes shown were already well past their sell-by date. We even had a family get together to see the first broadcast of the Disney Channel.
I get all of that, I shared in that excitement and anticipation. I loved the very thought of new channels launching, having been confined to the handful of channels we had been used to.
But those days are long gone. Nowadays, there are some who become sweaty at the thought of a new shopping channel or the like launching, because that really is the only kind of news we ever get of a new channel these days. The overwhelming trend is now for branding changes and channel closures and for even more new material being lost to the streamers.
As streaming increasingly becomes a reality in people’s lives across the UK, the discerning TV audience is starting to appreciate the brave new world of choice and on demand viewing. No need any more to fiddle about with recordings and HDD management.
The regular contributors who continually bitch about what I say regarding the future of TV are slaves to the schedules, are obsessed with channel numbers and minute changes that they pick up on Virgin’s system that may (or more likely may not) indicate something major is about to happen. They are wedded to the idea that nothing will change as regards the systems on offer because of existing issues with new technology such as latency (that are being resolved). They actually don’t want anything to change.
For you guys, there will be some relief to savour with the FAST channels, which unfortunately are a very poor shadow of the popular channels we are used to, although it’s anyone’s guess how long they will last. But if you don’t mind selecting FAST channels for your viewing, only to find you are half way through the programme with no rewind button: well there’s no accounting for such a decadent choice when an online demand option is also available to select your programme of choice as and when you want to watch it, from the beginning. Pluto and others actually give you that option.
But despite my all my reservations, I get that awe some of you have with FAST channels too, but I think that will wear off pretty soon. Pluto fascinated me for a couple of weeks or so as well until the novelty wore off.
I have to say that sooner or later, you guys will have to wake up or you’ll find yourself watching blank screens. Sometimes I get the feeling that one or two of you wouldn’t even notice.
Like it or not, streaming is coming, and the choice between that and scheduled TV is only transitional. Everything I’ve predicted is coming to pass given that we still have over 10 years to go until 2035. The BBC is preparing for a streaming only schedule, as is ITV. You can scoff all you like, but in the end, that steadfastly conservative attitude that is in abundance on this forum is not going to do your credibility any good at all.
With that said, you will soon find, in the not so distant future, that the TNT Sports programmes are available on Discovery+ (or its successor) only, like it or not. Sorry, but it’s not my decision. It’s just the way it’s going.
Oh, and by the way, the electricity supply will hold up just fine. As long as our new PM doesn’t shut down all the gas fired power stations before clean energy comes through reliably in abundance! The managers of the National Grid is well aware of the exponential increase in future demand that is coming, and will adapt as necessary, as it has always done.
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