Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Would On-Demand Work?

I am sick and tired of seeing all of the good shows clustered on Mondays and Thursdays, while only crap runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. I am also sick and tired of trying to keep track of network and cable shows that move all over the place.

But I have a solution to both of these problems: on demand programming. The studios offer our programs on demand for our viewing pleasure. As a concession to getting something that is more convenient for me, I would be willing to put up with ads that can’t be fast forwarded through, just like when I watch shows live now. We don’t have to worry that all of our shows are scheduled at the same time. Ratings can be easily measured–how many times are the shows accessed? And content can be free to viewers because advertisers will get our eyes.

How does this differ from the current on demand programming offered by the cable companies and DirecTV?

It includes all prime time shows and possibly all programming.
Commercials are included, and they cannot be fast forwarded through.
All TV owners have access to the system, not just subscribers to digital cable or DirecTV subscribers with an HD DVR and an Ethernet network.

This seems so simple. What are the downsides I haven’t thought about? Will the current delivery system handle it? How will local media deliver news programming and advertising? Will anyone watch any educational programming when given on demand options? How will we deliver the programs? How can pay networks get into this game?

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Tags: television

Uncategorized | Jennifer C. Rodland | April 30, 2009 2:00 pm

5 Comments

By December, April 30, 2009 @ 4:05 pm

I would LOVE this. I don’t really watch much tv, but all the shows I love (house, HIMYM, Big bang) on monday nights are at the same time.
So House gets left in the dust, since I’ll take a good laugh over anal bleeding anyday.

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By Jennifer Roland, May 1, 2009 @ 8:32 am

I know. I need this to be the way I watch TV. I really can’t think of a drawback on the viewer side of things.

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By James, May 1, 2009 @ 2:19 pm

Comcast cable actually has on Demand. I’d watch FX shows when I’d forget to record them with O/D, along with a few CBS shows that are on there. Unfortunately, HIMYM and BBTheory aren’t available. NBC offers shows on there too, but laughably make you pay $.99 for each episode. Instead of spending money, I just go to hulu if I want to watch something. I’m excited about ABC putting its shows on hulu since their ABC player isn’t allowed to load at work.

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By Jennifer Roland, May 1, 2009 @ 2:35 pm

DirecTV has On Demand, too, but it’s not comprehensive, and it requires and HD DVR, which we don’t have on every TV. It doesn’t include all of my shows, HIMYM being one of them. I want everything offered on an On Demand basis. And I want it on my tv, not my computer. My tv is big and hi-def–I bought it so that I could experience the benefits of a big, hi-def screen on all of my shows. I feel as if this is coming; I just want it now.

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