8.4 Developing Technologies

DIGITAL

Digital TV is when audio and video content are sent digitally to peoples homes so that they can watch films and television programs, the images that appear on your screen are in high quality, along side with high quality sound.. There is a range of examples of companies that do this, such as Sky and Virgin, because they produce a wide range of films and TV programs, that are digitally sent to peoples devices. The audience members that use this have a variety of shows to watch, but because of this their could be a lot of repeats, which can get annoying to some people, as they might not have anything to watch, yet there are so many channels, which makes them think that they waste their money for paying for channels that they do not even like. By getting digital TV the audience can get better quality sound and images when they watch TV. The institution can get more money when people pay extra to receive HD on their TVs, which can lead to them being a bigger company.

SATELLITE  

This is when a company gives a household a satellite, which is a type of system of television which uses signals to receive content, the satellites can send signals which go to space, that then go directly back to the satellite, then straight to your home. An example of this is the company Sky, who make satellites for their users, so that they can receive hundreds of channels on their TVs, and they also don't even have to pay a subscription to use it, but one thing that could be difficult is that it has to be set up properly, or it wont work, but they usually have someone to do it for you, which is convenient for the audience. By doing all this, the institutions audience expands even more, which leads to more money going to the institution. Even though they get a lot of money from their audience, the institution still has to pay a lot of money for the equipment for the technology that they use.

CABLE

Cable is when a household orders a wire, and gets someone to install it for them, and when it installed the wire runs underground and signals to multiple devices, so that they can access TV and internet. Companies such as TalkTalk offer a variety of programs, such as Freeview, sky arts and more, and they all provide their TV services through cable wires. Just like digital TV, they have a variety of shows to watch, but they charge more for the audience. Having so many shows on. means that not every show will be interesting, and you will waste your money for having to pay for shows that you wont even watch. When a cable wire stops working, the whole area has their cable stop working, which could be a problem for both the audience, and the institution, since it will take a while to fix all the cables, and these wires cost a lot of money to put up, which again makes the audience feel like they are wasting money.

INTERACTIVE

 

This is when you have a red button on your remote which you can press, by doing this it allows you to receive extra content on your TV, by using the red button, it lets you be able to get extra content, such as being able cut through events, being able to play games and more. Examples of companies that do this are Sky news and BBC news, because they all allow you to use the red button. By being able to use the red button, the audience can access all the good free extra content through their TVs and they have more choice of what to do with their TVs, all through the red button.  With all the amazing things that you can do with the red button, it sometimes can be slow and unresponsive, and possibly could freeze, which can be annoying for the audience. Even though the red button offers all the amazing extra content, hardly anyone uses it, which is annoying for the institution since they wasted a lot of money adding that extra feature. Even if they are losing money, only big companies go to them so that they can be branded more, which lets the institution get more money.

INTERNET

This is when companies make their own original content, and their content is only exclusive to a channel that they make, You can be able to watch it, whenever you have internet access, but if not you will not be able to access the channel. Companies such as Netflix and WWE              make their own original content, such as how WWE has the WWE network, and has their own content put just on there such as "Table For Three", "Breaking Ground", etc, and how Netflix have their own original content such as "Orange Is The New Black", "The Seven Deadly Sins" and more. They release their original content on their programs before releasing it anywhere else. Through the internet, the audience can use these programs anywhere where their is internet access, on multiple devices, and can watch a variety of content in high quality. Even though they have a variety of content you can watch, they don't always have the ones you want, such as how Netflix doesn't have every show and movie for their audience to watch, which can be disappointing for the audience. The institution has their audience members very limited, as elderly people tend not to get their programs. Some people tend to stream programs for free on illegal websites, mainly because they don't want to pay the fee for the program, which again limits the audience for the institution.

HIGH DEFINITION (HD) 

High Definition, also known as "HD" makes images come through on your TV a lot more clearer
than it would usually do, and you are able to see more on your screen on a HD TV than a normal TV, since HD TVs have more pixels than normal ones. Companies such as Sky ,Fox and ITV do this because they use this for higher quality pictures, for their audience. The audience has a variety of advantages, using High Definition for their TVs, such as, when watching TV, there is better quality sound, and there is better quality video as well, HD also adapts to wide screen TVs as well, which makes the experience of using HD even better. To be able to use HD you have to buy all the right equipment to use it, and that costs a lot of money to do. By letting users have HD, the institution can brand better, such as how Sky says "glorious HD" on their adverts. Having HD can be very good for the institution, but unfortunately, they can not be able to make, every show to be HD, such as how on Sky1 some episodes of "The Simpsons" is in HD, yet others are not. which can seem unfortunate for the audience, as they pay for HD yet not every show is in HD.

STREAMING CONTENT (LIVE)

Streaming content is when there is a live broadcast over the internet, that multiple people around the world can watch while it is happening at the same time and usually they start watching when the content begins, and stop watching when the content ends. The wrestling company named UFC has something they call "UFC fast pass" which allows people to stream UFC's content whenever they want. Companies that do this, do it mainly for entertainment reasons, which helps expand their audience. When watching something live, it helps engage the audience more, as they enjoy the feeling of watching a event live, and it is also free to use, which is always an advantage for the audience. You can be able to watch streams on multiple devices, around your home, which means multiple people are allowed to do it, but the problem about this is that it takes up a lot of data. By streaming content, the institution  can get more viewers, as people like to watch something live, but the thing is, the institution need a audience to do the live stream, since there is no point streaming content, when nobody is watching.

ON DEMAND VIEWERS 

This is when you are able to watch any TV program whenever you want, it does not just show content at certain times, but allows you to chose to watch whatever you want, at any time, they also make their own original content for people to watch, which they can also watch whenever they want. Examples of services that do this are, Netflix and BBCiPlayer, because they offer a variety of original content that you watch whenever you want. The audience can be able to watch television programs on many devices around their home, and can watch it whenever and wherever they want. To be able to access this, there is a payment that the audience need to make, also they need a certain technology to use it, which means they have to pay for both the technology and the service, which makes them lose money. The institution can be able to see what their audience is watching, which might make them improve, and try to work more on what exactly that their audience is watching, and they can offer more on the internet than they can on TV.

DIGITAL RECORDERS 

Digital recorders are devices that allow people to be able to record video on to a digital disk, which allows them to save that video and be able to watch it whenever they want. An example of a service that does this is Sky+, mainly because that they record videos and save it on their device so that you can be able to watch it. You can shows watch whenever you want, but your TV can switch off while you are watching and recording something, which could lead to your show being half recorded, which could get annoying to some audience members, as while they are watching a show, they find out that it didn't record all the way through. When watching something recorded, you can skip through annoying adverts, that you don't want to watch, and can easily just get to your show. It is very easy to use, and anyone can do it, you can also be able to record multiple programs at the same time, which can be convenient. Because of this the institution can get more money, but sometimes they can receive some complaints from their audience, as sometimes their service does not work.

PAYPERVIEW 

This is when you pay to watch a specific type of content that appears at a certain time, and it allows you to watch it live while it is actually happening. UFC and WWE do PayPerViews frequently every month, where they make their audience pay an amount to be able to watch certain content live, PayPerViews are very good for the audience, since there are no adverts and you can watch it live, but when watching it your TV could possibly turn off, and you might be missing something that you might want to watch, which can get frustrating. PayPerViews only play for a limited amount of time, and sometimes it could seem as a waste of money, as you don't always expect if the PayPerView would be worth the money you are paying, such as how most UFC matches cost a lot of money to watch, yet their matches usually last less than 4 minutes, sometimes less than 10 seconds, which makes the audience feel like they wasted a lot of money, but with all the money that they pay, the institution can get extra money, and they have lots of advertising options, and many companies would be willing to be sponsored by their PayPerViews, such as how WWE always sponsor the drink "Mountain Dew" on their PayPerView's.