The Coming Television Revolution

The revolution is simply acquiring started and wish begin to do its mark this year. By 2010, it wish begin to take off. By 2025, it wish be the standard for all TV viewing. It's called Computer network Protocol Television, or IPTV for short. IPTV works with a set-top box connected to any broadband interface and to a TV. It wish allow users to choose among thousands (and eventually hundreds of thousands) of hours of programming, including movies, sports, classic TV, etc., and transfer their selections from the computer network to the hard driving of the set-top box. Initially, set-top box hard drives wish be able to store up to 300 hours of programming at a time, but capacity wish expand as the technology becomes more refined. Also, transfer times wish become shorter and shorter as broadband connection speeds become quicker and faster. Eventually, a two-hour film wish be fully downloadable in a couple of minutes. Once the programs are downloaded to the hard drive, they can be viewed on the connected TV at any time via a DVR-type interface provided by the set-top box.

Besides the convenience of an all video-on-demand (VOD) environment, IPTV wish provide a more wider range of programming than broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, or even as major video chains, could ever provide. Because the programming is accessible from the internet, it wish be about wholly unlimited and unconstrained. Programming from all over the earth wish be accessible on with every conceivable genre of niche programming. Also, antecedently suppressed independent films that have been sitting on shelves for years due to the lack of a distribution source wish suddenly become accessible to the masses via IPTV. Films that antecedently could not be ready-made at all wish become a reality and be accessible on the IPTV services. Long forgotten films and TV shows wish have new life breathed into them by IPTV. To top it all off, more of this programming wish be eventually be accessible in high definition (HDTV)!

Most IPTV platforms wish be divided into "channels", but not the same kind of channels that we have full-grown accustomed to with traditional TV services. In this case, a "channel" is defined as a division of an IPTV service by individual content provider. Each content provider carried by a given IPTV platform wish have its own guidelines for delivering programming on its channel. Several wish provide their content for free to everyone who owns a given IPTV product. Several wish be subscription based, i.e., everything on their channels wish be accessible for a monthly or annual subscription. Others wish be all pay-per-view. Still others wish provide a combination of all of the above.

Several entrants into this market have either already debuted or plan to debut erstwhile this year. Among those are Crooked (www.akimbo.com), DAVETV (www.dave.tv), TimeShifTV (www.timeshiftv.com), and VCinema (www.vcinema.com). Please see their several websites for more details, as each one wish offer a slightly some variation of IPTV technology. In addition, a joint venture between TiVo (www.tivo.com) and NetFlix (www.netflix.com) wish be starting up later this year. TiVo plans to eventually do the entire Netflix DVD library accessible to its customers on an on-demand basis via a broadband connection to a TiVo box and a TV. Another potential IPTV contenders wish be announcing their intentions over the next year or two. One of these emergent IPTV services headquartered near my house has already started placing "help wanted" ads in my local newspaper.

Within the next 20 years, all the fuss over broadcast TV indecency wish become irrelevant, as there wish be really little another than news and live sporting events on broadcast TV. The major networks wish shift most of their amusement programs to IPTV to avoid all the broadcast content restrictions presently being implemented by the FCC. Eventually, broadcast TV wish cease to exist. Cable and satellite services as we cognize them wish besides become extinct. Yes, there wish still be cable and satellite platforms, but they, on with DSL and wireless computer network services, wish exist simply as conduits for delivery broadband computer network into homes and offices. There won't be any more cable and satellite TV, per se. The now 60-year-old paradigm of television schedules in which programs air at specific times on specific days of the week wish pretty more be a thing of the past. Everything, except what's left of broadcast TV, wish be entirely accessible on demand via an IPTV platform.

These developments in no way mean that all TV programming wish become more risqué. Piece there wish be plenty of risqué programming accessible to those who want it, there wish an about unlimited supply of family and religious programs available. With a veritable smorgasbord of amusement options at your fingertips, there wish be thing accessible for all tastes. IPTV may not turn out to be a TV utopia, but it's at least going to move close that ideal.

About The Author

Terry Mitchell is a software system engineer, freelance writer, and triviality buff from Hopewell, VA. He besides serves as a political editorialist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in thought media.

terrymitchell@verizon.net