What will tv be like in 20 years

Netflix has already proven that it's possible to build a big business in television without advertisers. Subscription fees, it turns out, do the trick. That means that the proliferation of internet TV may be the final nail in the traditional commercial's coffin.

That would change the entire economics of the advertising industry over the next decade, Hunt explained. But there's another possibility. According to Hunt, the same technology that delivers personalized content to viewers could also help internet TV service providers select more targeted ads to show their users.

That means viewers would see fewer ads, and advertisers would get to reach a more relevant audience. Ok, so this might not have been one of Hunt's predictions, per se, but when asked by an audience member whether we might see live television and sports broadcasting on the site in the future, Hunt said we should "stay tuned. He noted that bringing live sports to Netflix would change the economics of the company. Such a development would be an even deeper blow to the traditional television industry, as live sports are one big reason people opt not to cut the cord.

Despite the skewed numbers of new streaming customers in , the cord-cutting numbers will likely increase in the future. Streaming-service providers are proving that it's possible to create and grow successful enterprises around a business model that includes little or no revenue from commercials. The trend is now changing to one based on a subscription model rather than on ad revenue. In 10 years, even traditional cable providers are likely to completely become subscription services, allowing unbundling and a tiered-fee structure based on the type and number of channels a consumer chooses.

Further, a hybrid model may be available 10 years from now, in which a subscription service is combined with smart advertising. In this scenario, rather than having three-minute commercial spots during a minute television program, TV programming may change to one where a consumer will be required to have a monthly subscription, so that they hen view targeted banner ads. This type of advertising already occurs on the internet, and the amount of data television companies collect allows them to do much the same.

Advertisers are also likely to look to boost engagement from their ads. For example, TV advertisers have turned to second-screen advertising , which drives viewers to their mobile devices—or second screens—to engage with the company's website during the live program. For example, an ad might run during a live-TV event, encouraging viewers to sign up for a promotion or sale via the company's website, using their mobile device. Companies such as Meta formerly Facebook , Google, and Microsoft have all developed virtual reality technologies.

Within the next 10 years, traditional television screens are likely to make way, at least in part, for variations that pair with virtual reality VR eye-wear and headsets. Evidence of this is already available in Google's development of Google Glass as well as Samsung's foray into wearable accessories that help turn phones into virtual reality machines.

What's more, all televisions are likely to become smart TVs within the next 10 years. Expect these devices—which allow users to stream videos and music, browse the Internet, and view photos—to be ubiquitous in homes across the world, adding to the power and potential of virtual reality and future programming. There is a race among technology giants to be the leader in smart TV development, including companies inside and outside the industry.

Businesses such as Google, Apple, Netflix, and Amazon are all developing more powerful smart TVs, and the trend is likely to make the technology much more affordable for consumers. National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Company Profiles. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. The fact that the whole viewing public will be skipping adverts as a normal course of events means we will need to become used to seeing programmes where people openly talk about products.

Perhaps camcorder manufacturers will fund new technology shows that discuss their own latest model. Instead of a character in Coronation Street saying "I have to collect my car from the garage", he will announce: "I'm just off to pick up my new Toyota Yaris from its service.

Part of the creativity of the programme-making process will become the inventive ways people discover of embedding commercial content into the programmes themselves. Will viewers watch programmes with advertising content? Of course, if the programmes are good enough.

Programme-makers know that better than anyone else. What gets people to watch is word of mouth. The Office, when a brilliant new programme hits the screen, it gets talked about and people tell their friends to watch. The Apprentice built its audience by word of mouth. It doesn't matter how much promotion a programme gets or how much product placement it contains, viewers will come if the content is good.

Advertisers and broadcasters must learn to be cleverer, and to persuade the regulators that sponsorship and product placement are in the long run essential for the survival of television as we know it. Whatever the solution, my personal opinion is that the days of adverts on TV are numbered.

If television cannot supply advertisers with the means to promote their products, they will spend their money elsewhere. By , the world we live and work in will have been shaped by new patterns of consumer behaviour enabled by new technology.

Ubiquitous PVR usage, broadband VoD, iPods and other storage devices will lead to near simultaneous distribution windows for content across multiple territories and media, giving consumers flexible access to their favourite programmes. As the music and film industries have found, we must confront a world where consumers demand and pay for immediate and total access to our product.

People today use technology to take what they want if their desires are not serviced by what to them are antiquated distribution practices. I don't believe we have a generation of entertainment consumers who can't grasp the morality of IP theft, but I don't blame them for thinking it's industry's problem, not theirs.

A positive solution like iTunes which caused the explosion in legal downloads is proof that we can take economic advantage of the opportunity new technology provides for us. What does all this mean for independent producers? Quite a lot, I think. We must carve out our place in the future media entertainment value chain. Our relationships with broadcasters, distributors, advertisers, platform operators and viewers must adapt to new funding models and new industry economic drivers. Although change provides us with unprecedented opportunity, we must decide how best to protect and exploit our premium value as content creators and participate fully in the creation of new revenue streams.

The reports of advertising's untimely death I simply don't believe. It is currently still the biggest source of revenue for the broadcast TV business, although it is growing more slowly than subscription. What is more interesting is to forecast the forms advertising might take. Recently a Chemical Brothers album spot allowed viewers to sample new tracks by pushing the red button on their remote.

More than , people responded to this innovative but obvious advertising form. In 10 years' time the way audiences consume media content will have changed dramatically. I, for one, am looking forward to the day that I can shop on my EPG through the back catalogue of all programmes.

It is not that far away: a company called Promise. It archives an entire month of broadcast spectrum output and allows you to browse and sort using a very iTunes-like methodology. The BBC is already planning to beta-test a service that allows you to access anything broadcast over the previous seven days. In this world, advertisers will need to embed themselves further into the media - either through product placement, or non-interruptive sponsorship that remains attached to a programme brand.

Obviously, none of us will be able to take advantage of consumers' appetite for our product unless technology can provide secure encrypted delivery of our programmes to any of these new devices.

And none of these new means of delivery will take hold until we and the US studios establish the ground rules of profit participation. Producers, broadcasters, platform operators and advertisers will need to work in close collaboration. The Sydney Morning Herald. By Adam Turner January 4, — 8.

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