Future TV Prediction

British TV viewers are increasingly abandoning the traditional 'tube', or in many cases their flat screens, in order to watch their favourite shows where and when they want. As technology keeps up with the pace of the people, what else is in store for TV entertainment in 2008?

According to a recent survey conducted by independent research specialist, Tickbox, more British TV viewers are not tuning in to watch TV during their regularly scheduled time and are increasingly choosing to watch their favourite shows "on demand". On demand is a service which allows users to watch TV shows and films at the click of the remote control. This new service is allowing people to abandon previous TV watching schedules and watch programmes at a time more suited to them.

According to the research more than a third of British TV watchers are now regularly using their on demand services which is nearly twice as many as just last year.

When asked why users are choosing to use their on demand services almost two thirds reported feeling that traditional TV watching by rigid schedules restricted their viewing. Those surveyed also used on demand to watch programmes they missed, to overcome schedule clashes and to make their TV viewing more flexible.

Another big player on the TV scene, and predicted to make further advancements, are the web TV services that were launched this past year. These services allow users to watch on-demand TV on their computer; but although users still prefer TV Entertainment via their TV screen than on their smaller PC screens, the use of these on demand players online can not be denied and future growth is predicted.

The growing popularity of social networking websites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace are furthering the growth of TV viewing over the internet. Users can use these sites to send their friends clips of the choicest moments of TV and videos from sites like YouTube. The rise of social media sites which allow for sharing videos only serves to further increase the amount of time people essentially "watch" their computer.

An area that has been so far uncharted territory in British programming is mobile and wireless TV. TV on mobiles has long been discussed and some say is still a long way from becoming main-stream, although mobile network '3' has already begun limited TV broadcasting across their coverage. This could be a technical area that becomes a reality in the coming year. Although studies have shown that people currently have little or no interest in tuning in on their phones, as handsets become more advanced this may soon be history.

As people take more advantage of TV flexibility many question the life expectancy of traditionally scheduled TV. Although the end of regularly scheduled programs will not be seen in 2008, it is a possibility in the future when all TV will be on demand; either through the TV set, on the PC, on mobiles and other devices.