Over the past couple of years, we’ve explored, commented on, and observed the sea change in the way information/entertainment is being distributed. We’ve seen plans to have store kiosks that burn DVD’s-to-order, for example, from a list of thousands of titles that are downloaded directly to the store. And last year we were able to watch the Fallen Firefighters Memorial services live via online streaming through WUSA-TV Channel 9 in D. C. (I believe that they will be doing it again this year. I’ll have details later.)
Yesterday I received an email from my internet service provider who is also my cable tv server. It begins:
Beginning September 30th, our valued High Speed Internet customers will have access to ESPN360.com through (internet) – 24/7 live, online sports coverage – at no additional cost! (nothing is free, folks. Especially anything that begins with “espn.”)
With ESPN360.com you will soon enjoy live coverage of college football and basketball, major professional leagues and international tennis and soccer over the Internet. See up to 3,500 games a year. You can even watch up to 5 live streams at a time – all streamed in stunning clarity over our fiber-optic network.
Soon it will all be yours – our blazing-fast Internet speeds with live sports and replays anytime. It’s just another way to thank you for being a valued customer.
Let’s disregard the issue of whether this will really be “free” or not. There has been plenty written already on how all cable tv services jack up everybody’s fee just to cover the outrageous per capita charges that ESPN demands. (Hint: It has to do with the trickle-down costs that really pay those multi-million-dollar salaries of mediocre baseball players.)
What’s fascinating to me about this announcement is that this is the first major rollout of this live-streaming technology in a mass-market application. 24-hrs. a day of non-stop “tv” programming being delivered through the internet. I’m sure that it’s no coincidence that it is coming in through an ISP that also provides cable tv services. They’re using fibre-optic lines, of course. In my region there is a vigorous competition between Verizon, our landline telephone company, and the major cable providers. You’ve seen the ads for “bundled” services that they are trying to get you to sign up for.
It is my belief that this is the first step in the elimination of cable television as we know it. Eventually everything will be “broadcast” over the internet because of the unlimited capacity of the world wide web. Cable providers have always been constrained by the physical limitations of their cables that can only carry a limited number of channels. Twenty years ago you couldn’t get more than about 20 to 40 channels over the cable. With the introduction of digital and fibre-optics, they’ve been able to expand to a couple of hundred channel offerings.
But with the literally unlimited numbers of websites, i.e. “channels” that can be carried on the WWW, you can deliver tens of thousands of television-style stations. Not only can narrowly-defined programming be accessed by anybody who wishes to watch it, but every type of local event, festival, parade, etc. will now be able to be enjoyed. As an example, how about last weekend’s annual firetruck parade in Wildwood, New Jersey? Or my favorite example to point to, famous events like the Betty Crocker Annual Cook-off that never gets any tv coverage.
The new era of entertainment and information delivery is roaring in. But the day still has to start with getting this equipment checked out. So, let’s get going while I go make some more coffee.
