TV is dead

For the pedants I should probably qualify the title as broadcast TV is dead. But when I was young that was the only TV there was, so to me they are synonymous.

In the last year I have probably watched more video content than ever before... and yet hardly any of it has been broadcast TV. So much so that I am now seriously considering getting rid of my tuner. In the UK that means I wont have to pay the TV license any more, which is currently £145.50 per year.

How things change. A year or two ago I was a big fan of the BBC and wouldn't have dreamed of not having a TV. That's mostly down to a few BBC programmes that I really used to love like Dr Who and Sherlock. I can't remember the last thing I watched on a commercial channel... because I hate in-programme adverts with such a passion. It was probably Endeavour, recorded so that I could skip the ads.

Until recently a few great programmes a year were enough to keep me going, because of all the other bits and pieces I used to watch on TV too... like news, sport and documentaries.

But I don't watch TV news any more. There's a whole blog post there in itself. But in summary, I don't watch it because it is rubbish and gives you a distorted view of the world. Rolling news? Jeez.

Sport? There's hardly any on free-to-air TV now. And what there is is on at dumb times. I switched on my TV at 3pm for the FA Cup final last Saturday because I wasn't doing anything else. And found that the kick off is now at 5.30pm. When did that happen? It has always been at 3pm. Anyway, I was going out for dinner so there was no point in watching the beginning.

I like snooker, but when it is on the BBC they show a frame or two live and then switch to the red button or online... usually in the middle of a frame. So you might as well watch the whole thing online.

Documentaries? There are so many online that the few decent ones on TV really are no loss to miss.

So you get to a point where you think "I'm not watching much TV now, so why pay £150 a year for it?"

Which should be frightening for the traditional broadcasters, because if 45 year old male telly addicts like me are abandoning them then they are going to be in trouble sooner than they think. I know young people aren't getting into TV but I bet the current BBC and ITV execs think they are set for at least their lifetimes and might be in for a shock.

How has this happened? The internet.

I can watch lots of great TV shows (without ad breaks) on Netflix. When I want, not when some scheduler thinks I should watch it. If I want to watch 3 episodes in a night then I can... I don't have to watch one a week over a month or so!

I can watch films (without ad breaks) on many platforms. I can rent blu-ray disks on Cinema Paradiso to get great quality if I want it.

I can watch documentaries on YouTube on just about any subject. There are TED talks. There are recordings of lectures and seminars from universities all over the world.

Broadcast TV is now a tiny window on a much, much bigger world. It just isn't relevant to me any more. I don't need a TV. I have an internet.