Death of Broadcast TV

Blockbuster recently announced a deal with Samsung to distribute their movies digitally via various methods. It's an effort to complete with Netflix's "Watch Now" feature, which in conjunction with the mailed DVDs, has consistently chipped away larger and larger chunks of the rental market. Netflix offers a similar feature through several partners and while the offerings are not extensive, people do use it.

The reason this news really matters it because it serves as additional evidence that eventually, all of our media delivery will be via streaming/on-demand using the Internet. Not everyone rents movies and an even fewer number are watching movies from the Internet, but that's changing faster than most people realize. As the technology becomes easier to use and distribution methods become more comprehensive, we spend less and less time watching broadcast television.

Ask anyone under 25 how much TV they watch. Then ask those same people how often they catch up on TV shows on Hulu, network websites or even YouTube. In my early 30s, I routinely use Netflix's Watch Now streamed through my XBox 360. Even though I tend to be an early adopter, more and more people are embracing technology like I do. Granted, my parents probably aren't watching everything on their laptops, but I do know my dad downloaded episodes of 24 because he missed them on live broadcast. He'll be 60 this October.