The application will replace the TV channel to occupy the screen

My nightmare wrestling war with a TV remote when I was a child, my brother made me see what is called a half-Nelson (wrestling action term). For us at that time, the TV remote control was the equivalent of a scepter. I think that the old CRT TV in our house was Westeros in Li’s “game of power”.

Remote control wars are derived from the way people watch TV. The battle for remote control is like competing for a fairway, as long as you control the channel, you gain control. However, televisions are slowly evolving. Now everything is about apps, browseable, downloadable and interactive TV applications.

The number of software applications that television sets bring to the living room is not only more and more, but also more and more excellent in quality. With the advent of these applications, the charm of one-way broadcast models that have caused battles in the past has begun to fade away as they provide viewers with a two-way interactive television experience where users can share their viewing content with multiple users across multiple devices.

Switch channels

We should have changed long ago. But in essence, the TV hasn’t changed for more than half a century. Although there are different specific frequencies and frequency bands in different regions, television channels have been the main route of transmission on the radio. Afterwards, virtual signals were converted into digital signals. Cable television and satellite television also appeared one after another. The television channel was still the original television channel.

Back in the 90s of the last century, WebTV did not succeed in letting people buy Internet TV accounts. At that time, the concept of Internet TV was too advanced. However, WebTV successfully brought out a concept that eventually evolved into an application-style living room today.

According to data from NPD Group, a market research organization, smart TV business has begun to flourish. At the beginning of 2013, a total of 140 million U.S. households had Internet access TV sets. By 2015, this figure will increase by 44% to 202 million. . At present, 56% of U.S. households have televisions that can connect to the Internet. By 2015, two-thirds of U.S. households will have their televisions connected to the Internet.

The way to connect to the Internet is very important. As far as TVs are concerned, "applications" are still "television channels," but programming languages ​​have changed. But in fact, the mind has changed. In the past, watching TV was by sitting on the sofa and watching what we saw on TV. This is a passive experience. It is this experience that allows us to constantly change channels without a destination and stay in front of the TV.

Now, thanks to the advent of smart TVs, streaming media set-top boxes and cheap TV sticks, users no longer have to wait for the cable TV packages they are waiting to purchase before they can launch new channels. Now, what we need to do is to find and download apps, browse, search or click on our playlists to get streaming media data. We no longer continue to change channels, we switch back and forth between applications, and walk around in various online videos, online music, games, pictures, and home movies.

However, this is not to say that in this bold new world, television sets that provide a passive viewing experience have no place. Personally speaking, as a veteran TV fan, I think video has its advantages. Binge watching is a kind of application. However, everyone has different feelings. For example, the streaming media “QPlay” set-top box launched by the founder of American video digital video company TiVo, such start-up companies are seeking ways to combine passive viewing experience with streaming media. Of course, the premise is to create a “playlist” of online entertainment content that is always online.

The rise of equipment
So far, it is still the mainstream streaming media set-top box or TV stick developer that owns the content product is called "the channel", perhaps only has the streaming media player developer Roku. However, it is worth noting that Roku's "channels" are indeed applications. Users can download and sync and control or play the content on their mobile phones. Users can also play videos of YouTube, Netflix, and PlayOn in their phones on TV, and even use Roku set-top boxes to play Angry Birds.

For streaming media TV devices, applications are a major selling point. Last summer, Google launched the Chromecast TV Stick. Although there are only 4 applications, the $35 ultra-low price is enough to make up for this. Last month, Amazon launched the streaming media set-top box Fire TV. Although its application options are relatively abundant, its accompanying voice search function has been criticized for its failure to provide support for non-Amazon applications.

As for smart TV, it is even more completely different. However, because there is almost no difference between TV channels, smart TV manufacturers can only differentiate their products from their hardware and applications. Some smart TV manufacturers, such as Roku, which will soon launch Roku TV, will use their own proprietary platforms, while other manufacturers such as Panasonic will choose more open platforms such as Firefox OS.

But even counting the best-selling streaming devices, such as Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, and Apple’s Apple TV set-top boxes, these products and platforms only involved a few. You know, last year, Apple TV set-top boxes sold 20 million units, sales reached 1 billion US dollars, which is no longer a "hobby" for Apple, will soon be righting. In addition to the above products, there are many other TV software and products in the market, including Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio and other vendors that have matured smart TV services.

Obviously, there are many ways to stream content to our living room, and they are all handled through applications.

However, it seems that this is not enough and soon we may see the market adding new competitors. According to rumors, Google is developing a new Android TV streaming device. At present, although no one knows the details of the product, one thing is very certain that the application will occupy a central position. I hope Google can disclose relevant information at the Google I/O Developer Conference next month.

Streaming media applications and television networks: "I want to be you!"

As for application developers, they are stepping up their position in the television industry step by step.

The original content is now like a dark horse, suddenly caught the attention of the public, such as the number of Emmy award-winning Netflix homemade drama "Board House" and the hit TV series "Women Prison" (Orange is the New Black) and so on. In addition, Amazon is also in full swing to create its own original content, and the video site Hulu also use their own advertising exhibitions (Upfronts) to launch their own original shows.

Because streaming media companies are mimicking television and cable television networks, the latter two have been developing their own streaming media content. Even cable and satellite TV operators are eager to join the streaming media market to complement their on-demand pay-TV services.

Vision: Combine the two?

As long as you talk about TV channels and streaming media, you must mention Aereo, a provider of radio and television recording services. If Aereo can prove that it is legal for itself to capture wireless signals via a separate antenna and use the Internet to stream signals to users, the start-up may be able to provide a final solution to integrate the two content distribution methods. together. Last year, a number of major broadcast service companies in the United States filed a lawsuit in the court alleging that Aereo infringed on copyright and relayed major television programs without paying royalties. The Supreme Court of the United States is currently arraigning the case. If Aereo can win the US Supreme Court decision, television broadcast service providers will suffer a greater blow.

In fact, TV channels may also have a savior, that is Netflix. The streaming media giant has reached agreements with several cable service providers to allow their online video content to appear in the set-top boxes of these carriers. In this way, users only need to perform a channel search to view Netflix content without having to launch the application. If other companies also follow suit, they can reset the position of the software in the streaming media application brand and effectively mix the two together.

This may be the best solution, because this method can not only retain part of the passive viewing experience, but also make the streaming media application easier to use. From another perspective, adding more channels to many standard formats may be the worst idea in the world. What's crazy about it is that, on average, of the 189 channels available, people only watch 17 of them. Moreover, there are many uncertainties about how to implement this idea. After decades of silence, with the advancement of hardware and software, TV suddenly entered the fast-growing field. But along the way, one thing seems to be certain, that is, the television channel is destined to change.