Television vs. the Internet

In recent years, with the sudden uprising and rapid advancement of the Internet, many people are beginning to question whether television will be able to hold it's ground, and it's viewers. I believe that with the further development of the two mediums, they will become integrated into one technology that will offer the best of both. I have come across a couple of online articles regarding the topic. One blog by Brian Stelter is titled "In TV Versus Internet, TV Still Wins." Another article by Phil Coger is titled "TV vs. the Internet: Internet wins." The two provide contrasting evidence that one medium will prevail overall.

Stelter enforces his opinion that television is winning the battle by presenting a statistic from the annual analysis of TV viewing levels by Neilson Media Research. The company's research shows that the average amount of time per day that a television is tuned is 8 hours and 14 minutes. This number had not wavered far from the previous year's average. I find that this research can be misleading because I'm sure that a very large portion of those viewers were using the Internet simultaneously. I myself am guilty of this, my television is on now as i am typing this blog and i am paying no attention to it whatsoever. Stelter opens his article with this statement:

Amid the buzz about DVR playback, iTunes downloads, YouTube video streaming, and Slingbox place-shifting, it’s easy for prognosticators to dismiss television as an antiquated medium.

Stelter fails to realize that Americans are doing these things while the television is running in the background, an old habit providing a familiar background noise in the home.

Cogar presents research from a survey conducted by IBM. The results of the survey showed that

19 percent of all respondents stated that they spent six hours or more per day on the Internet versus nine percent of respondents spending the same amount of time in front of the television.

This supports my hypothesis that the majority of people who are still tuning into the television are devoting most of their attention towards the Internet during their viewing time. This is a time where people want their information as quickly and easily as possible, and the Internet can offer such information in a couple of clicks.

Channel surfing has become far too tedious for most people, and the DVR has partially solved this problem. A device that enables the viewer to record programs and watch them on his or her own time. To me television is becoming more and more like the Internet, and i believe that one day it will no longer be a competition between the two. I see the two mediums merging into one, where people will be able to communicate, find information, and tune into their favorite shows when and where they want to, all on a single screen.