Will Broadband Kill the TV Star?

The day will eventually come - if it hasn't already - when television in its current form will become obsolete, killed off by more custom-made and value-for-money options like streaming live video on ultra-fast broadband.

Just as television effectively knocked off radio as the number one media once people realised it is cooler to actually be able to see what you're listening to, people will soon prefer being able to choose to pay for what they watch in HD quality instead of wasting their money paying for the other programmes 3 out of 4 times they don't bother with.

In fact, sport broadcasting is very much leading the death of television with so-called direct-to-fans sport already available in the USA. Major League Baseball enables fans to watch whatever games they want to watch on their ultra-fast broadband for a fee of US$25 per month - games are delayed 90 minutes for home games to encourage fans to actually go to the ground to watch.

The key of course is ultra-fast broadband - New Zealand's current broadband structure doesn't have the data capacity or speed to cater for direct-to-viewer streaming TV. Therefore, this option is still years away - and of course, there's the matter of habit to contend, i.e. it'll take a while to get Kiwis to ditch their remotes although most are quite technology savvy and keen to try new things.





Direct-to-fan sports viewing does not mean the end of Sky - after all we still need a broadcaster to actually show the thing in the first place. Therefore, expect Sky to be around for a long time yet - just as well as they are a quality broadcaster - and expect them to lead the way in bringing out these direct-to-fan packages when the time comes. After all, they are really the only player in sports broadcasting in New Zealand for now.

In fact, Sky's iSky system is already the first baby step towards a future without the conventional TV that we know.

But wouldn't it be great to just use your computer with its HD flat screen and watch just the sports that you care about. Wouldn't it be great to just pay for the sport that you want to watch rather than waste your money on darts or some silly fishing show? Plus with hard disks now up to 1 TB, there shouldn't be a problem recording those games and watching them delayed.

If it was me, I'd be shopping for all the NFL, NBA, MLB, English Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, A-League, Super Rugby, Rugby Championship, Heineken Cup, Aviva Premiership, Top 14 rugby, 6 Nations, F1 direct-to-fan options I can find all over the world!