How Streaming Video Has Changed the World7099341

Though many of us can't even remember it now, there was a time where one had to be in front of a TV to watch a sporting event, live concert, political event or even a full TV show. And, just a decade ago, if you moved out of a city you would never get to hear your favorite radio station ever again. This was only ten years ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago.

Streaming internet has changed the way we watch the world around us. Here are a few examples of how these advancements have changed how we live our life:

TV Shows While it still might not be replacing watching it on live, or as some people have come to prefer, on DVR, full length TV episodes have begun to catch on online. Social media websites have partnered with specific networks and TV shows to show new (and old) episodes in their entirety to viewers. Internet and network specific advertisements are included in these shows so networks are able to get their advertising revenue even online. Compared to radio and live news events, full TV shows are a relatively new technology to hit the internet so it will be interesting to see where this it goes in the next few years.

Radio Radio stations were one of the big winners of high speed internet as they are now able to broadcast anywhere in the world. Thousands of stations now transmit around the world so people looking to hear talk radio from Boise, ID can hear it in Paris, France, or those wanting to hear a rock station from Iceland can hear it in Vancouver, Canada. It used to be that one of the hardships of moving out of the city you grew up in was not getting to hear your favorite radio stations anymore. Now all you need is an internet connection and you can hear it anywhere in the world.

Sports About a decade ago someone came up with the brilliant idea of having pay-per-view packages where you could watch every pro football or college football game from your TV no matter where you live. Now, this popular endeavor has been expanded to the internet where, for a price, you can watch just about any sporting event live on your computer. It's the same idea as with the internet radio: no matter where you are, no matter what your team you root for, you can see them on your computer. Any sports fan will tell you this is a very welcome idea.

Politics One of the first realms to benefit from the live streaming video revolution is news. News networks first began putting video reports out for the viewers to watch online, and then gradually began to stream live events and news reports on their sites. This both benefited and bemused politicians as now their best, and worst, moments are available for the world to see at the push of a button. Sound bites have now given way to full speeches and round the clock coverage which is available to potential voters around the world. To put it in literary themes, for politicians it is the best of times and the worst of times with live streaming video.

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