In the US this week all of the “new Fall shows” are starting their next season and new series are premiering. In past decades this was a major event. Summer series didn’t exist so you spent the summer watching re-runs of the major shows waiting for this week. Tension built off of last seasons cliffhangers would be resolved this week or at least partially answered. We would finally get to find out who shot JR, or if McSteamy is actually McMarried, or if Picard will stay a Borg. These were exciting times but the paradigm that is television has undergone a massive shift in the past four years.

No one event is responsible for the change. Rather several events in succession have changed what viewing television means. With the creation of the FOX network and their summer series we started to enjoy new shows all year long. Then Tivo played a major role in removing our need to watch a certain show at a certain time. The Internet in essence flattened the world and allows us to seek out series in other countries we may never have seen before. DVDs allow us to “catch up” on previous series or rediscover ones long since aired. Apple has opened their music store to movie and television downloads so for a per show cost we can eliminate commercials from our viewing. This season the major networks put their shows and pilots online for people to see long before the actual broadcast date.

I ask what effect this will have on television as a whole. I have seen the decline of phenomenons like ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons’ and ‘Must See Thursday’ into a mashup of ‘my TV, my way’. BBC shows have established themselves in a US market through deals with NBC and on their own BBC America channel. Long Tail markets have established online television networks to reach their audiences. One good example is CurlTV.com which offers online streaming video of all of the major Curling events. Time shifting technology like Tivo is allowing me to tape shows at times like 3am and watch them when I want which allows me to discover a host of programming I wouldn’t have bothered with before.

Television networks seem to be adapting to new technology better than other media outlets. I believe they recognize the serious growth in Video Gaming (both online and off) as a major time threat to their medium and are willing to adopt new ways to deliver content and advertising to their audience in order to maintain their exposure and profits. By allowing for choice and convenience, they lose nothing and gain an increased viewer ship at the convenience of the consumer.

However, technology is a double edged sword. Tivo has seen a massive drop off on their subscribers due directly to HDTV sales increasing. Until recently Tivo did not have an HD set-top box and viewers with an HDTV notice the distinct difference. They have jumped ship to other time-shifting solutions or direct purchase of shows on devices that support their high quality demands. Broadcast signals of local channels are also making a comeback because of HDTV. Most cities and towns now have broadcast HD signals for their major networks and this connection far surpasses anything that a cable company can provide. All you need is a UHF antenna which runs about $50 at your local hardware store and you can enjoy all your local channels in the highest quality HD including major sporting events, specials, and your new fall season. This has consumers questioning why they buy cable in the first place.

It may be a case of everything old is new again. Buying a HDTV means going back to antennas for the highest quality your set demands. Pay-per-view of shows in order to remove commercials will have you off the TV grid for good but still in the media loop. Direct download of shows from a network’s website will give you your content on your schedule while the network gets a direct connection to your demographics and target advertising. There will still be cliffhangers to keep you tuned in. But tuning in has a whole new meaning.