Video on demand

Another sign of the way that things are going.

The Future of Broadcasting?

The BBC will soon be making a lot of their output available online.
What effect will this have on people's viewing habits? Will it encourage

• time-shifting (watching programmes but not at the scheduled time)
• convergence (Do you need a TV if your computer can show the programmes)
• globalisation (BBC TV will be viewable all over the world - and presumably we'll be able to see other countries' TV soon)

Will computer downloads affect

• Series sales (Will people wait for the new series of Lost to be shown on UK networks if they can download it from an American TV site?)
• DVD sales (Will online TV downloads do to the DVD industry what music downloads have done to the CD industry? Will piracy find a new outlet?)

This could be the next stage in a really big shift in the TV industry.