Do you want to know what’s on TV tonight?
Do you remember asking “what’s on television tonight?” Many of us can remember when someone would ask and you could actually provide a wide-ranging answer. There were three broadcast networks and depending upon where you lived a public broadcasting channel. Television viewers could memorize the prime time schedule and if someone wanted to know what was on, the answer was readily available.
That has, of course, changed a great deal. Today, most of us have cable or satellite television and literally hundreds of stations might be available at any given time. The idea of memorizing the television schedule for the whole of our channel selection would most likely be impossible. There are so many things to watch at any given time that the mind almost confuses itself trying to answer that once simple question.
When cable began to grow, it looked like a solution to programming overload was developing right along with it. The videocassette recorder (VCR) promised us the ability to program a simple machine that would snag all of our favorite shows. This was great because it guaranteed that we didn’t miss anything important. We might not be able to memorize the cable schedule, but if we could isolate what we liked, we would never have to miss the program.
Of course, we soon found that ninety minute tapes, annoying device interfaces and other problems made the VCR a great way to watch movie rentals, but not much more than that. Through all this our television options continued to grow at a breakneck ace.
We now have a new solution and this one seems a bit more promising than the clunky VCRs from the last generation of television recording technology. DVRs, digital video recorders, allow us to select programs we would love to watch and record them using a very simple programming interface that even allows searching from all available scheduled programs. You have no doubt heard about TiVo. TiVo is a DVR system based on a subscription model and TiVo has become so successful that the proprietary name brand has morphed into a verb. “Have you seen that episode yet?” “No, but I TiVoed it, so I will check it out tomorrow night.”
There are other DVRs also available. What you will find is that many of the cable providers will make them available to customers. Think about the marketing you see being done by the satellite dish programming providers. These helpful devices really do allow us to get a grasp on television programming and the ability to capture the programs we want to watch for later viewing.
Additionally DVRs allow one to “freeze” (pause live broadcasts). You now don’t have to wait for that commercial break to grab a drink from the refrigerator or run to the restroom. Just hit pause, and you can take as long as you would like.
Speaking of commercials, DVRs are really turning the commercial industry on its head. When you record a program, you can watch it fast and easily without actually sitting through all the boring commercials. As a DVR user you will also develop this expert touch on the fast forward button and skipping over commercial messages while watching your favorite show will become second nature.
Any top of the line home theater system will find the DVR a necessary component. The subscription movie channels to which one subscribes have their value multiplied more than a few times over when one has access to a DVR. No matter when HBO for example decides to air a movie, you can TiVo it and watch it at a time that is right for you. Now doesn’t that sound pretty cool?
Let’s raise the question again
What is on television tonight? It used to be extremely limited. Today, however, let’s reply with “Whatever you would like”. DVRs allow us to control what we will watch and when we will watch it and they give us the ability to watch our favorite programs without the nuisance of any commercial interruption.
The systems are relatively inexpensive and in fact they offer a great way to maximize the value of satellite and cable offerings. Every home theater system should really be equipped with a great DVR otherwise you’re really missing out on the whole experience. The VCR may have disappointed in the long run, but the DVR shows great promise to improve our television experience.
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