Is realtime tv watching on the way out?

BrianJD

I am finding my wife and i are more and more either watching something saved on Sky Plus or something from the internet. It means we skip ads and possibly keep missing out on good stuff on regular tv so i don't know if it is all good being able to tailor your viewing so much.

Wheety

I'd say so.

I'd imagine that in the future digi boxes will be connected to the internet and you can pick any tv show to watch when you want it, kind of like 4OD, RTE Player etc but directly through your digi box. I would say that a program will be released at a certain time (ie Coronation Steet at 7:30) and after that time you can pick it to watch.

Sky Anytime already have this feature on it's HD+ box but it's limited to 140GB. I reckon in the near future it won't be saved to your box but will stream it.

I'd say there will be adverts that can't be skipped past though as the tv companies will still need to make money.

Dman001

I rarely watch live TV now. I record everything. You gotta love DVRs.

Online services, like Hulu are theu future, with unskipable ads. But at the end of the day I still prefer to watch TV on a big screen rather than a tiny laptop screen. And with limited Broadband access, TV wont be going anytime soon.

Liam Byrne

I haven't bothered with Sky Plus, because I refuse to pay an extra subscription to watch the odd decent programme that's likely to be repeated anyway - probably even the same night!

90% of the few programmes worth watching (Qi, CSI, Frasier, will be repeated ad-nauseum) so there's no chance of missing it.

So if "realtime" means the original screening, probably - there's no urgency to "make sure" you catch it because (a) ten minutes in you'll realise it's a repeat and it's caused you to miss the start of something else, and (b) it'll be on an hour / few hours / day / the following weekend later on the +1 channel or the same channel or another channel anyways.

But you'll get to see it eventually in a realtime broadcast.

Richard Dower

I pretty much watch all my TV pre recorded, without ads. Only time i watch live Tv is for live events or one-off stuff or news etc.

It's just easier and quicker to grab avi or mkv files and watch whenever you want.

Zardoz

I watch most of my tv live ,I am too lazy to setup the pvr.I dont plan ahead.
That said the vast majority of tv I watch is Live sport, movies and some news and just basic channel browsing.
Most tv series I watch are downloaded and to be honest the standard of tv is deteriorating rapidly.

Richard Dower

This is actually a very interesting thread topic/

Mr E

Just thinking back over the last week, I think the only realtime TV I've watched is the news and the Apprentice/You're Fired.

95% what I watch is Sky+ed or downloaded.

J-blk

I choose to watch everything by downloading it (though a major problem is that to most people, the most well known legal source, iTunes, does not provide this option to Irish users directly) because a) I just can't watch "live" as I can't fit my life around the schedule, b) I don't care for ads at all - even years ago, I would pretty much never make a decision to buy something based on a useless TV ad and c) almost all the content is now available in HD (even if you fork out for Sky HD at the moment, you get a very limited amount of actual HD content...).

keefg

I can't remember the last time I watched anything live, I Sky+ everything and forward the ads.

Even if something I want to watch has just started then I'll pause it for 10-15 mins while I grab a drink and make a sandwich or something so I can skip the ads.

BrianJD

keefg wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I watched anything live, I Sky+ everything and forward the ads.

Even if something I want to watch has just started then I'll pause it for 10-15 mins while I grab a drink and make a sandwich or something so I can skip the ads.

That's exactly what we tend to do. We probably watch something short we've plussed while recording something else to watch after.. We can cut xfactor down to way under an hour and cut out so much crap along the way

To follow up on an earlier poster, Sky Plus is not an extra subscription, you just pay for the box and yes, what they say in the ads is true, I don't know what we did before...

Skud

was in america recently and they include a vod service with their cable. Think it will go that way (if sky+ is not good enough) - where there are a few shows on demand for free, some you pay for and then the usual primetime slots with the most up to date shows. It's cool because you can watch tv series all together and it eliminates the whole need for downloading.

Integrated boxes with iptv and the likes of sky player / bbc iplayer is another spin on that. Sky will more than likely go down this route instead of the on-demand channels cause they have a broadband service in the uk.

Either way is interesting and would be welcomed though

Jip

It's been out of our house for a long time, very rarely watch 'live' t.v. and the odd time we do we usually let it run 10/15 minutes ahead while we make dinner, tea etc so by the time we get around to viewing it we won't have to watch ads. The problem with this is is that t.v. companies realise this so you'll see a surge in in-show product placement.

pickarooney

I haven't had a TV in years but watch an awful lot of 'TV'. For me the tube is dead.

Zardoz

Jip wrote: »

we won't have to watch ads. The problem with this is is that t.v. companies realise this so you'll see a surge in in-show product placement.

Well personally I think its an absolute disgrace that one is expected to have to endure ads when you are paying for a tv service of over 60 euro a month.
There should be no ads on pay tv .
Ad revenue accounted for 4.7% of BSkyB's total revenue this year ,which is a paltry figure ~25 euro per subscriber per annum or 2 euro per month.
They should abolish all ads .

Jip

Abolish ads and watch your Sky and NTL subscriptions shoot through the roof.

Dman001

Skud wrote: »

was in america recently and they include a vod service with their cable. Think it will go that way (if sky+ is not good enough) - where there are a few shows on demand for free, some you pay for and then the usual primetime slots with the most up to date shows. It's cool because you can watch tv series all together and it eliminates the whole need for downloading.

Integrated boxes with iptv and the likes of sky player / bbc iplayer is another spin on that. Sky will more than likely go down this route instead of the on-demand channels cause they have a broadband service in the uk.

Either way is interesting and would be welcomed though

Sky are gonna release some sort of On Demand service next year alright. But I find their Anytime service decent enough. There can be some good shows on it (Modern Family, South Park, 30 Rock) and there are no ads in between them and you can save it to your planner so they dont expire.

Zardoz

Jip wrote: »

Abolish ads and watch your Sky and NTL subscriptions shoot through the roof.

I dont see why.
In the year to June 30, Sky had revenue of £5.3 billion while profits rose 4 per cent to £780 million.
In the Quarter to Oct 09,pre tax profit was £279m.
Total ad revenue for the year was £308m while Sky itself spent a whopping £907m on marketing costs.
An extra £2 per month per subscriber would offset removing the advert stream .
I watch alot of European pay tv and I can tell you that most of them have no adverts .

KerranJast

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I haven't bothered with Sky Plus, because I refuse to pay an extra subscription to watch the odd decent programme that's likely to be repeated anyway - probably even the same night!

Sky + is free. All you pay is the €50 for the Sky+ box. It was an extra subscription alright when it launched but its been free for a good while. Well worth getting IMO if you already have Sky if only for the box itself.

Liam Byrne

KerranJast wrote: »

Sky + is free. All you pay is the €50 for the Sky+ box. It was an extra subscription alright when it launched but its been free for a good while. Well worth getting IMO if you already have Sky if only for the box itself.

I stand corrected.

That said, there's barely enough on worth watching, and you can't record the so-called "Other Channels".

Plus, given the amount of rubbish that is on and all the pointless channels that are on Sky I'll probably ditch Sky soon, which will mean that the Sky+ recording facilities won't work.

Dman001

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I stand corrected.

That said, there's barely enough on worth watching, and you can't record the so-called "Other Channels".

Plus, given the amount of rubbish that is on and all the pointless channels that are on Sky I'll probably ditch Sky soon, which will mean that the Sky+ recording facilities won't work.

FX is worth the price of Sky/NTL alone. There are brilliant shows on FX.

kumate_champ07

Dman001 wrote: »

I rarely watch live TV now. I record everything. You gotta love DVRs.

Online services, like Hulu are theu future, with unskipable ads. But at the end of the day I still prefer to watch TV on a big screen rather than a tiny laptop screen. And with limited Broadband access, TV wont be going anytime soon.

its very easy to connect your laptop to a big screen. most modern big screen tv's have vga inputs

Richard Dower

^aye....and Netbooks.

BaZmO*

Media Centre is the future. I've been using it since it was released and it's the business.

masterK

The TV companies are well aware that a lot of people are skipping the ads. Targeted advertising is the way Ads will go, especially with the emergence of OnDemand services, you'll have a pre-roll ad before that you can't skip, you'll also have ads appearing on screen during a show (banners at top or bottom with a Press Yellow option for more info). There is a lot of work being done on targeting adverts (i.e. building a profile of you from your viewing habits and tailoring ads to that)