Internet TV Could Become the Only Option

Are you currently subscribed to an Internet TV service? Their popularity has been majorly on the rise in recent years and according to Abode, companies such as HBO and CBS are planning to offer online-only TV options in the near future.

Adobe apparently knows this fact due to them providing the software that these US cable companies will be and are currently utilizing to run their online streaming platforms. They used this power for the greater good, tracking 165 online video views and 1.53 billion logins over one year, finding out that online TV viewership had grown 388% from the middle of 2013 to 2014. On top of this, their total number of unique viewers more than doubled, showing a growth of 146% year-on-year.

It’s not only TV that has become quite popular online, watching your favorite movies has become more popular in the home now than your barracking for your favorite sporting team – on average Americans are watching 4.5 movies per month through their own online subscriptions Adobe says.

Remember also, all of this data does not include other big names such as Netflix, Prime, Amazon and more – only the current cable company offerings which Adobe service. It’s likely that we’ll see an even larger shift towards movie and TV series viewing if these were to be included, but for now we’re focusing on the massive changes to cable.

Tamara Gaffney is an analyst and has provided some factors she sees relevant to this overall growth in viewership: more availability for viewership (apps and websites etc.), increased content and the Football World Cup. You might be a little confused by the last point, but Gaffney has pointed out that the popular online viewership of the world cup helped draw users in to viewing more TV and movies online – they came for the sport but stayed for the continued entertainment.

All of this sounds pretty promising, with Google expanding their fibre networks, looking into high speed wireless options and the general quality of internet getting faster, better and bigger; it only makes sense that TV should move onto an online platform. It’s all fantastic if you’re in major parts of the US, it’s all terrible if you’re in an internet dark age country like Australia.

Unfortunately, there has been no word on an exact date when these online-only services will come into effect, here’s hoping we have plenty of notice – and suitable internet speeds.

Image courtesy of GEEK

Information thanks to WIRED