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The Evolution Of TV Over The Years

  • Written by The Times


If you have been around for long enough, you might have seen the tech evolution affecting life. This has significantly influenced the way we get entertained and stay busy. Gone are the days when kids would spend hours playing games in the backyard and experiencing outdoor activities. Now, things have changed and kids like to spend hours playing video games instead. The tech world has also influenced the TV and content industry as a whole. Now, TV is no longer an idiot box that would pitch ideas in thin air. Instead, it is a two-way communication stream that is controlled by the masses rather than influencing the masses. 

With the help of tech now, the viewer gets to practice full control over what he wants to watch. From easily choosing from the huge content library on content streaming sites to accessing your favorite TV series and movies anytime you want, TV is surely changing the way we look at the world. Currently, Cable providing companies are helping people to pay for only what they want to see. This is helping viewers to cut down their entertainment budget while getting the freedom to watch whatever they want. If you are looking for a cable TV series that offers you all these perquisites, we suggest you consider RCN Broadband. With RCN, you will get to choose the RCN Channel Lineup, access the best content, enjoy on-demand content options, and a lot more.

Now that you know how you can enhance your entertainment experience, you need to look at the evolution of TV and see how it has come this far. With the help of this article, we will mainly look at the evolution of TV hardware as well as content and the interaction of the audience with the content. 

Evolution of TV from “Idiot” Box to a “Smart” TV

Just a few decades ago the TV we see today was known as the idiot box. The main term idiot box claims that TV is not responsive and communication done via TV is one way only. However, the TV we see today is no longer a box; it has not only changed its shape but has become much more sophisticated as well. Now you can connect your internet with TV and watch anything you want. From movies to your favorite TV series, now you can stay in full control. 

Apart from this, the picture quality has improved immensely. You can now get to watch everything in HD. From observing the details of every frame and every picture to enjoying everything on a big screen at home, now you can have a full cinema experience in your room. This transition in the picture quality has changed the way people would enjoy cinema as accessibility has changed. Apart from this, friends and family hangouts have changed all thanks to good picture quality and easy availability of content online. 

From Controlling Masses to Being Controlled By Masses 

The impact of TV was huge just a few decades ago. People would deliberately push personal vendettas and agendas via TV. From political situations to selling propaganda on TV, we have seen the masses being brainwashed via TV. Apart from this, subliminal messages and ways of conveying a message were so strong that there was no contradictory message at all. This only raised people with tunnel vision and narrow approaches without offering them the ability to analyze situations. 

However, as the technology evolved, the masses started changing the content and TV industry. Now, the audience chooses if they want to see anything or anyone on TV. From TRPs to rating the content, you will see content changing based on the liking of the audience. We have seen mega movie stars being pulled off just because the audience did not like them. Stars like Kevin Spacy who ruled Hollywood for the longest were canceled based on the opinion of the audience. Similarly, multimillion-dollar projects were pulled out from production and were shelved just because they failed to capture a good number of eyeballs. 

From Becoming Schedule to Setting Schedule 

For the longest, TV was designed to be a medium where the content would be streamed at a specific time and date. The audience would set their schedule to have enough time to enjoy the content on TV. However, with the rise of smart TV and content streaming sites audiences gained more control over the schedule. Now people like to have access to content libraries where they can access their favorite shows anytime anywhere. Content streaming sites like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Amazon have changed the content industry completely as they release the whole season within one day. 

This helps the viewer to watch movies and TV series anytime anywhere without adjusting their schedule. Another important feature is that cable TV companies are now trying to catch up with the trends by allowing viewers to request on-demand content access. Apart from this, content can be downloaded, recorded directly from TV, or bought online to be streamed later. All these things have changed the way we enjoy content and have helped in transforming our experience as a viewer apart from this; it has shifted the power dynamics within the content industry as well. 

Bottom Line 

It is safe to say that the evolution of TV is going to make things even easier for the audience in the coming years thanks to the introduction of AI in the content industry. In the next few years, people are expecting customized and personalized content based on the interest of the viewer.

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