There are two sayings that often contradict each other:
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
And
Keep on walking.
People warn that messing with something that is already perfect will only make it less perfect. While others warn that sitting still is stagnation. And stagnation is death. It’s clear that the television industry has tried its best to enforce both pieces of sage advice at the same time.
On the one hand, traditional TV models are not broken. You can still buy a box and hook it up to an antenna to get free OTA broadcasts. It’s the same as before, except the image quality is greatly improved. You can subscribe to traditional content packages and get more channels and services than ever before.
Order DIRECTV or one of the other major providers and you’ll have a very convenient and familiar package of local and cable channels, music channels, and movie channels. The only difference between what you get today and what your grandparents got in the past is how much you get and the much better quality for a relatively lower price. No one can honestly look at that and call it broken.
On the other hand, established companies have new competitors offering slightly different TVs. They offer fewer replacements for traditional TVs and more upgrades. Even traditional providers are using these new features and ideas. They know they have to keep moving forward.
Here are some new things you can add to help increase your TV audience:
Make Smarter
It started with smartphones, then smartwatches. Now we have smart TVs. You can buy a TV with software such as Android TV installed. Or you can buy a set-top box from Apple or Amazon to add intelligence to your TV in the form of a speech-enabled digital assistant, media search, and apps that deliver content and games.
Prices for these smart add-ons range from $30 to around $200. Some offer more than just access to Netflix and other popular services. While others offer a wide range of content in 4K HDR, advanced accessibility features and content storage. It will not replace your TV service. But it definitely takes it to the next level.
As requested
All major TV content providers offer some form of on-demand TV and movie availability. But let’s face it: Those offerings are never going to completely get the job done for the serious TV watcher.
Services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime offer subscriptions to content libraries that tend to be broader than what traditional providers offer. Apple doesn’t offer subscriptions yet but has a huge library of shows, seasons, and episodes you can buy. And their library of movie rentals and purchases is huge.
While third-party on-demand providers tend to have more content, they don’t have the most up-to-date content. Nothing beats the programs you record on your DVR. Exactly what you want to see. And you can watch it the same day it airs. In most cases, you can skip the ads. It’s not a matter of choosing one on-demand method over another. You need both to get true on-demand TV.
Take It With You
One of the greatest advances in TV is the ability to take it with you both at home and out. If you have iPads, you already have one of the best portable TV ever. The picture may be better than the one on your big screen.
You can watch it on the go or just set it up in another room. And there’s a good chance your traditional company has some kind of app that lets you watch most channels away from home on a mobile device.
Traditional TV is not broken. But it has also grown. Keep moving forward by making it smarter, watching it on your demanding schedule, and bringing it to enjoy whenever and wherever you are in a TV frame of mind.
