4 ms·

We're going on a half century of still-good television and films that have already been made! That's probably more TV than someone could watch in a whole lifeti

We're going on a half century of still-good television and films that have already been made! That's probably more TV than someone could watch in a whole lifetime! Even if all you do is borrow DVDs from the library (usually for free), you can still get an hour or two of quality video entertainment every night for a few decades (if not the rest of your life!) without ever seeing any new television/film content made after today. So the TV/film industry's "need" to produce (all too often low-quality) content 24/7 is no longer something anyone has to put up with!

untog 10y ago
Except for consistent audience draws like sports, and (to a lesser extent) news coverage. Those are the lifelines of the cable TV industry, and no-one has solved that problem yet.
- chaostheory 10y ago
  Not completely solved but getting there. https://www.sling.com/programming/sports https://www.sling.com/programming/sports
- penpapersw 10y ago
  It's only consistent because they've lowered people's standards over time, like boiling a frog. The sooner people realize there's better ways to spend their time, and that they can get better and more relevant news and sports coverage much quicker than traditional TV by using the internet properly (on their phones presumably), they'll be that much quicker to jump ship and move to things like Netflix or library DVDs.
radley 10y ago
Couldn't the same thing be said about books, apps, tech... or opinions? The critical difference is relevance to the present age.
- UnoriginalGuy 10y ago
  And technological improvements making some TV even possible. Game of Thrones being a perfect example, you could have made it in the 1990s, but what is possible today is completely different from what has been possible previously.
  - penpapersw 10y ago
    Yep. We really enjoy watching the new Marvel movies when they come out, and watching older superhero movies from anything before the 2000s is painful at this point. But things like Star Trek TNG or Stargate SG-1 really hold up to the test of time.
LeifCarrotson 10y ago
Yes, but this does not include things happening right now: Sports (yes, I love watching great games from the past, but for many people it's important to see it as it happens), and News (also yes, I prefer text-based news, but talking heads are the preferred method for many people). Streaming doesn't have a good answer for these services. Live soaps and reality TV shows, though, I agree are kind of pointless.

untog 10y ago

Except for consistent audience draws like sports, and (to a lesser extent) news coverage. Those are the lifelines of the cable TV industry, and no-one has solved that problem yet.

chaostheory 10y ago
Not completely solved but getting there. https://www.sling.com/programming/sports https://www.sling.com/programming/sports
penpapersw 10y ago
It's only consistent because they've lowered people's standards over time, like boiling a frog. The sooner people realize there's better ways to spend their time, and that they can get better and more relevant news and sports coverage much quicker than traditional TV by using the internet properly (on their phones presumably), they'll be that much quicker to jump ship and move to things like Netflix or library DVDs.

radley 10y ago

Couldn't the same thing be said about books, apps, tech... or opinions? The critical difference is relevance to the present age.

UnoriginalGuy 10y ago
And technological improvements making some TV even possible. Game of Thrones being a perfect example, you could have made it in the 1990s, but what is possible today is completely different from what has been possible previously.
- penpapersw 10y ago
  Yep. We really enjoy watching the new Marvel movies when they come out, and watching older superhero movies from anything before the 2000s is painful at this point. But things like Star Trek TNG or Stargate SG-1 really hold up to the test of time.

LeifCarrotson 10y ago

Yes, but this does not include things happening right now: Sports (yes, I love watching great games from the past, but for many people it's important to see it as it happens), and News (also yes, I prefer text-based news, but talking heads are the preferred method for many people). Streaming doesn't have a good answer for these services. Live soaps and reality TV shows, though, I agree are kind of pointless.