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Is television becoming outdated?

posted Feb 7, 2017, 8:26 AM by Unknown user

There have been some who have said that watching television is becoming a thing of the past. While the days of channel surfing are over, I don’t believe that TV is outdated; it’s just changing. People aren’t willing to shell out money anymore for hundreds of channels they don’t watch when they could just stream all their favorite shows on the Internet.

This is why many streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are doing so well. These services cost less than cable packages, at around $10 a month, and come with an enormous catalog of movies and TV shows that people can watch at any time.

Since the streaming services kicked off, major television channels began to follow in their footsteps. Many channels have their recent episodes available on their websites, channels like FOX and NBC have free apps for devices like Apple TV and Roku with recent episodes available, and channels like CBS, HBO and Showtime and now all offer a paid streaming service for additional content, as well as their normal cable packages. Last year, Dish Network reported that their “Sling TV app has grown over 600,000 users, up from their 169,000 in March 2015.”Sling, a service that combines streaming of channels like TBS and HGTV with a selection of on-demand episodes and movies from those channels, is another cheaper alternative to cable and satellite.

One of the best parts about this is that there are so many different kinds of services that people can choose depending on what they want. If they like a broader catalog with a few originals, then services like Netflix and Hulu are suitable. If people like more current shows then HBO and Sling are good for that. Sports fans could get watchESPN. For people who like anime, Crunchyroll has that for them.

Even though you still have to pay for these services, people can have access to them anywhere. This is because most smartphones, tablets, game consoles, computers and televisions can just download an app for the service.

Cable is definitely starting to become outdated, but that doesn’t mean that watching TV is. Like everything else in the world, it’s just changing, and I think it’s for the better.
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