Quote:
Originally Posted by spiderplant
What is the difference between a category and a channel?
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It depends on the extent to which the channel is themed. For the commercial PSBs plus BBC1 and 2, it’s a very significant difference because they are all generalist channels. For what we used to call digital multi channel tv there’s generally a lot less difference because the channels are already heavily themed.
The biggest noticeable shift *if* we went streaming only would be in pubic service tv. These operators would have to decide whether their channel brands could survive the change and how useful they would be as indicators of what they were offering. Does a BBC ONE brand, for example, make any sense if you’re not looking for something that was broadcast on BBC1, but rather a decent drama that could have been on any one of their channels?
I should add that it’s in this area the “streaming only” argument is weakest because I think it underestimates the usefulness and the popularity of a curated schedule. Plenty of people don’t know exactly what they want and are happy for the controller of a channel brand they trust to decide for them.