#8: Predictions

Between being flashed by social media and practically suffocated by advertisements, there is absolutely no room for pre-web patience. The most obvious path of television's downfall will start with the infamous practice of "cutting the cord". Now obviously you are not physically clipping any wires or permanently destroying ties with cable/satellite companies. The term "cutting the cord" is specifically described as the process of "cutting expensive cable connections in order to change to a low-cost TV channel subscription through over-the-air (OT) free broadcasts, through antenna, or over-the-top (OTT) broadcast over the Internet" by Techopedia. This act began around 2010, and is now an ongoing trend more encouraged today by popular video streaming hosts like Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV.

There are major advantages to ditching your satellite dish. The most noticeable would be the fixed, low prices that are available; depending on the price of your cable bill, you can purchase more than one streaming service subscription and still save money in comparison. But, is this enough to completely eradicate regularly scheduled programming?

Honestly, we don't give network innovators enough credit for their adaptation concepts. I don't think television will completely die. I think that it will simply merge into a more relevant format that tailors itself to the internet audiences. I can imagine cable television going completely digital. The context would bare resemblance to Hulu or Netflix, but each network will start off independent, and they will eventually merge and one will buy them all out. There will be more commercials unless given the option to pay and remove/lessen them which is a huge commission in itself. Also the extended options will be a plus considering that a common complaint (especially for Netflix) is that there is nothing good to watch or choose from.

Another question could be: "How will the cable providers integrate the convenience of live on-going television with the liberties of streaming video?" Well if you think about it, the format has already been created. Products like Tivo and dish add-ins allow you to pause, rewind, fast-forward, etc. on live television, but for a fee of course. Either way the fear of several contracts and upgrades could still easily send anyone straight to Internet services. If cable/satellite television wants to keep up with the Jones', they are going to have to make some huge financial compromises with costs and commercials. Either that or throw in some very flattering deals to widen their market.