Thanks to new technologies—home video, the Internet, smartphones, mobile video, and DBS—Americans can now watch the visual content they want (whether it’s movies, broadcast TV shows, or cable programming) when they want and where they want (on a TV set, on their laptop, on a handheld mobile device).

Home Video and Recording

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Home video technologies have evolved over the past few decades. In 1975–76, the introduction of videocassettes and videocassette recorders (VCRs) enabled viewers to tape-record TV programs and play them back later. The VHS (Video Home System) introduced by JVC quickly became the consumer standard, whereas Sony’s Beta system became the industry and news standard. By the end of the twentieth century, DVDs were rapidly replacing the VHS format, and now Blu-ray discs are becoming the high-definition replacement for DVDs.

By 2012, more than 90 percent of American homes were equipped with DVD players. At the same time, more than 50 percent of U.S. homes also had DVRs (digital video recorders), which let users download onto the DVR’s computer memory specific shows or even types of shows appearing on any channel. The newest versions of DVRs are also recordable—like VCRs—and allow users to make DVD collections of their favorite shows. While offering greater flexibility for viewers, DVRs also provide a means to “watch” the watchers, giving advertisers information about what each household views. This kind of technology has raised concerns among some lawmakers and consumer groups about having our personal viewing and buying habits tracked by marketers.

The impact of home video has been enormous, especially in two key ways: video rentals and time shifting. Video rental, formerly the province of walk-in video stores like Blockbuster, has given way to mail services like Netflix (which started as a mail service and later added online streaming), movie rental vending machines like Redbox, or online services like iTunes, Hulu, and Amazon. Time shifting, which began during the VCR era, occurs when viewers record shows and watch them at a later, more convenient time. Video rentals and time shifting, however, have threatened the TV industry’s advertising-driven business model; when viewers watch DVDs and DVRs, they often aren’t watching the ads that normally accompany network or cable shows.

The Internet, Smartphones, and Mobile Video

The way traditional television has converged across so many digital platforms is perhaps one of the most striking examples in this book of how fast these changes can take place—and how dramatic they can be. The first part of this picture is the Internet, which has fueled convergence with other technologies as high-speed connections and Wi-Fi have become more common.

Many new TV sets are Internet ready out of the box. For those that aren’t or for older-model televisions, there are a wide variety of options for consumers who want to connect their TV to the Internet, from laptops and high-end video game consoles to dedicated devices such as the Roku box. The advantage is the ability to watch streaming content on what often has the biggest screen and best sound in a home (see also the Chapter 7 discussion of home entertainment).

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On the other end of the screen-size spectrum, consumers can take their TV viewing with them using smartphones and tablets capable of accessing the Internet via Wi-Fi systems or with faster cellular technology commonly called 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution, which beat out WiMax technology as the common standard for telephone and mobile broadband).

Once consumers have the hardware in place, the next piece of the picture is the service they will use to find whatever show they want to watch. Some programs will stream episodes directly from their Web sites (like Comedy Central’s The Daily Show) or make segments available via YouTube (like HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver). Other programs and networks keep tighter control of their programs, and try to earn money by selling them via services like Apple’s iTunes Store or on Amazon.com, or through fee-based streaming services such as Hulu Plus or Netflix. Some sites, like Hulu.com, allow viewers to watch some programs for free but with commercials.

The final piece of the convergence puzzle is understanding that the streaming services can also link all of an audience member’s devices together. So, for example, using a combination of apps for smartphones and tablets as well as devices like a Roku box at home, a person might use the same Netflix account on any of these devices anywhere there is Internet service (see also “Converging Media Case Study: Shifting, Bingeing, and Saturday Mornings” on pages 278–279).

DBS

Of all the emerging technologies, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) has had the biggest impact on cable in particular. In its early days, DBS transmission was especially efficient in regions with rugged terrain or isolated farm regions, where it’s difficult or cost prohibitive to install cable wiring. DBS differs from cable in that it allows individual consumers to downlink satellite-transmitted signals into their homes without having them relayed through cable companies, which process these same signals and then send them out to homes via wires.

Japanese companies launched the first DBS system in Florida in 1978, but the early receiving dishes, which used to dot the rural landscape in the 1980s, were ten to twelve feet in diameter and expensive ($3,000). By 1994, however, full-scale DBS service was available, and consumers could soon buy satellite dishes the size of a large pizza. Today, there are two U.S.-based DBS companies: DirecTV, with close to twenty million U.S. customers, and the DISH Network (formerly known as EchoStar Communications), which has around fourteen million subscribers. These companies offer consumers most of the same channels and tiers of service that cable companies carry, often at a slightly lower monthly cost.

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DBS systems can carry between 350 and 500 basic, premium, and pay-per-view channels, which customers can purchase in various packages. In addition, DBS gives subscribers nationwide access (in packages that cost between $10 and $40 per month) to more professional sports leagues—including hockey, football, baseball, soccer, and men’s and women’s basketball—than do most premium cable services, providing games that aren’t carried locally on broadcast networks or basic cable channels. Finally, DBS systems have the same ability as cable to bundle high-speed Internet and telephone service with their video programming, so that consumers pay one bill for phone, TV, and Internet needs.