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The internet has revolutionized our traditional forms of media, such as television, newspapers and radio. However, the format of the internet is based on those very examples. Websites are set up like newspapers with columns and pictures with captions. Then there are certain sites, like Pandora.org, that allow users to customize their own radio stations. However, television is something that is just starting to make a large presence online. Yet it has caught on quick and tv networks are seeing the big picture, as are advertisers.

Television advertising and programming as we know it will totally change in the next 5-10 years. Due to the nature of the internet, there will be a wider variety of subject matter and content. Things that are taboo on-air will and can be found online. There will not be as much controversy surrounding certain material. Advertisers that would not be invited on television at certain times of the day, would be accepted on a website 24/7.

It has been said that tv shows are what they show in between the commercials. With the internet, companies will not have to make commercials. Instead they can produce their own shows. The survivors of the show "Lost" could be stranded on an abandoned Sandal's Resort. The workers on "The Office" could work at Staples.

While this could be a positive way to explore subject matters that where not shown on television, it will have its drawbacks. Web-based shows will have to up their antes in order to attract viewers (consumers). Still, the internet allows individuals to compete with networks. This has not be a possibility, (unless you count public access tv.) Plus, if a show is nothing but product placement, it could jeopardize the integrity of any art or meaning that is alive in classic television shows.

There are numerous ways the internet will basically transform television. The internet is the most significant reason why our televisions will also be (one of) our house-hold computers. Our televisions will have built in hard drives in the same of Tivo and DVR. There is no telling how they will package television. It could be as a subscription, or pay-per-view, or both. This is all due to websites like ITunes and Netflix.

While the internet will continue to revolutionize all forms of media, the television is the one piece of technology that will be consumed by it. The Writer's Guild strike proved that the entertainment business is going to change. In the same today's world thinks of the switch from radio to television, in 5-10 years, we won't be able to remember how we got along without the internet. I think we already feel like that.

Learn more about this author, Trixze Smith.
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