In the first global recession of the Internet Age, budget-conscious consumers are showing they no longer have an endless appetite for every new gadget or media service.
Many users are looking to eliminate overlapping services that offer more of the same old formula entertainment in a different package or on another device.
With iPods, digital TVs, video recorders, multimedia PCs and broadband connections in many households, consumers considering their options now find a range of cost-effective online substitutes for broadcast, cable or satellite TV.
TV programming, not just short-form entertainment, is served up on video sites in markets around the globe at Google Inc’s YouTube, Daily Motion, Joost or at Hulu in the United States.
Could 2009 then be the year we seriously ask “What’s on the internet?” rather than “What’s on television?”
A study released last week by the consulting group Deloitte on media consumption habits suggests that this digital switchover may be occurring before our eyes.
The survey, completed in October, of U.S. consumers aged 14 to 75 found that a majority of consumers already see their PCs as more of an entertainment device than they do TVs.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/01/12/do-tough-times-draw-tv-viewers-to-web/