Nowadays, TV viewers have two major options, in terms of how they can access TV content. The first option is that of accessing the TV content in the traditional way: through the TV sets that are typically mounted in living rooms. The second option is that of accessing the TV content online: by streaming it from the TV stations’ websites, viewing past episodes on platforms like YouTube…and so on. Given those two options, we are seeing more and more people choosing the latter – to access TV content online, rather than accessing it in the traditional way, through TV sets. There surely must be something that is motivating people to switch from accessing TV content through TV sets to accessing it online. And that is what we will be trying to figure out in this article, as we explore the benefits of accessing TV content online.
As it turns out, there are four key benefits that one stands to get, if they choose to access TV content online (rather than accessing it in the traditional way, via TV sets):
There is more TV content to be accessed online
People who opt to access TV content in the traditional way (through TV sets) find that they are limited to viewing a finite number of channels. In other words, there is only so much TV content that can be accessed in the traditional way, through a TV set. In some places, you find that there are just a handful of TV channels that can be accessed this way. On the other hand, those who opt to access TV content online find themselves truly spoilt for choice, in terms of the content accessible to them. That is, of course, unless one happens to be living in one of those nations that have installed certain firewalls that make it impossible for their citizens to access certain types of content. But as long as you are in a place where you can access the ‘whole’ Internet, you can be assured that you would be able to access an overwhelming amount of TV content.
One can’t even start to compare the amount of TV content that is accessible online to what is accessible through the traditional model that was based on TV sets and remotes. The reality is that you can access pretty much whatever type of content you desire online. But someone relying on the traditional way of accessing TV content (through a TV box) has to make do with whatever the broadcasters feel like transmitting – even if it is not exactly what he wants.
Admittedly, in the earlier days, online TV content had its limitations: like when Internet connections were so slow (and when online data storage was so limited) that one wouldn’t have been able to view whole ‘episodes’ online. But we are now in an era when such limitations have been overcome. We are now in an era when one can view numerous ‘whole’ episodes, and full-length movie content, online. And it is this realization that is pushing more people to ditch their traditional TV sets, in favor of accessing TV content online.
There is more convenience in accessing TV content online
Having opted to access TV content online, you find that you can savor the content at anytime, from pretty much anywhere. So with online TV content access, you can watch anything, anytime, anywhere. Not so with the traditional TV. For one, the traditional TV set was a bulky device. The only way to access content through it was to sit behind it, and switch it on (typically after connecting it to a long rooftop antenna). It was definitely not the sort of device to move around with! Therefore people would often find themselves having to interrupt other things, just to ensure that they were home in time for their favorite programs/newscasts. But with online TV content access, you can watch that favorite TV program/newscast wherever it finds you. You even find that you can actually access TV content through your mobile phone, by way of streaming, as you commute home from work. In other words, thanks to online TV content access, you find the TV content coming where you are (instead of you having to rush home to watch it behind the TV set).
The moment one understands the convenience associated with online TV content access, it becomes very hard for them to go back to the traditional way of accessing TV content (via a TV box).
It can be more cost-effective to access TV content online
This is where, for instance, you find that you are able to access, free of charge, content that you’d otherwise have had to pay for if you were relying on the traditional TV model. Furthermore, one has to understand that the traditional TV set is an expensive device, one that consumes a great deal of energy and one for which you would often have to pay cable TV fees, to access the best/premium content. Online TV content access, on the other hand, can be done with cheap Internet-enabled phones, which consume very little power, and which one doesn’t have to pay cable subscription fees for.
By opting to access TV content online, one is bombarded with fewer ads
One of the most off-putting things about the traditional free-to-air TV was in that one had to accept to be bombarded with all manner of ads, while viewing it. It is the ad revenue that financed it, and one could often end up having to put up with 5 or even 10 minute ad segments. With online TV, things are slightly different. Where one has to put up with ads, the ads will tend to be less obtrusive. Even where the ads are infused with the content (like where the ads appear at the beginning of episodes that are accessed online), they will tend to be brief. And one typically has the option of ‘skipping’ the ads, after several seconds. Thus, when all is said and done, by opting to access TV content online, one ends up being bombarded with fewer ads. Those are fewer ads than they would have been bombarded with if they opted to access the content in the traditional way, via a TV set.