In 2013, my friends and I gathered in my living room and anxiously waited for the end.
No, not the end of the world, the end of a presidency or any major cultural milestone. We glued our eyes to the television, holding back tears and laughter as the final episode of “The Office” graced our screens one last time.
Brandon Hill | Argonaut
Dramatic, I know. But “The Office,” along with many other television shows I watched growing up, helped form my sense of humor, personality and even shaped my belief system. Watching TV live felt like a shared experience with other like-minded people, and the simple act of waiting for the 7 p.m. Thursday broadcast brought me closer to those I loved.
This is why the news of Apple’s new streaming service, a proposed contender to behemoths like Netflix and Hulu, might finally spell death for live TV.
The California tech giant announced Apple TV Plus during its March keynote. Stars like Jennifer Anniston, Jason Mamoa, Oprah and even Big Bird will appear on the service, all at a price point which still remains a mystery.
To see competition in the media marketplace remains encouraging as platforms like Hulu and Netflix have started to feel stale. And with Disney’s streaming service planned for later this year, media consumers will have countless options to watch what they want, when they want.
There is no doubt convenience is a good thing. Streaming service customers can fill the awkward silence of a boring party by turning on the tube and having the latest episode of “The Bachelor” serve as amusing background noise.
But in that convenience, society is losing something special. The rarity and originality of good content is slowly disappearing before our eyes.
Gone are the late-night countdowns until the next episode of a favorite show hits the airwaves. In the place of the tortuous weekly waiting period, streaming services provide binge-worthy content, making for an exciting few weekends interspersed with nearly year-long waiting periods for the next installment of the story.
This format may be preferred by some, but as someone who grew up on the traditional weekly broadcast format, it saddens me to see the death of such a beloved entertainment medium.
Sports may be the final frontier for broadcasted television, but packages for NFL or NBA fans can run faithful watchers upward of $100 per season.
Even in the seemingly invincible world of live sports over the air, streaming has cropped up as a serious contender. ESPN’s Monday Night Football can be streamed via mobile devices for free, while Hulu and YouTube have introduced live streamed content complete with the essential sports channels for nearly a quarter the price of DirectTV.
As a millennial, it’s likely off-brand to lament the death of an age-old medium while new and exciting players enter the market. But the nostalgia still holds strong and broadcast television will always have a place in my heart.
In the meantime, I’ll continue preparing my tear ducts for the end of “Game of Thrones,” possibly the last great foray of broadcast television.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected]