#linear tv

[matseotools]

JioHotstar Dominates CTV and Google Leads Linear TV in IPL 2026

Discover how JioHotstar outshines in CTV and Google dominates in linear TV for IPL 2026! Stay ahead in the game with cutting-edge insights.

[nickgerlich]

Going Upstream

I remember what watching television was like when I was a kid. Times were rough, as it was the Stone Age of home entertainment. While I was fortunate to have about 10 stations from which to choose in Chicago, there was always this one imperative: If you wanted to watch a specific show, you had to be there in real time, glued to a sofa or chair.

Miss the show? Too bad. Maybe it will come back during rerun season.

This was linear television, except that we did not know it as such, because there was no alternative. It was just TV. Most homes had a TV Guide that listed all of the shows by hour and day, usually a week at a time. It was normal to read those TV Guides as if they were the newspaper of the future, and you planned your life around it. FOMO was also a thing long before it became a thing, because people became anxious when TV schedules conflicted with other life events.

Of course, back then our TV was all over-the-air, but cable, and later satellite, came to dominate the delivery modalities. It was still all in real time, though, until you bought one of those newfangled programmable VCRs in the late-70s and 80s. This quietly ushered in the era of time shifting, allowing viewers to record a show for later viewing. In 1999, Tivo was introduced, a digital hard drive for recording and storing content. At least all that FOMO could be kept in check. Today, subscription TV services like YouTube TV have built-in recording capabilities, which is what allows me to watch Jeopardy anytime, anywhere.

It was in 2007 when the next step in evolution came: Netflix streaming. This allowed viewers to choose from among a catalog of programming, to be watched on demand. While the choices were slim back then, and original content nil, it was the beginning of the streaming era.

And it took off, with other services coming along to create a competitive landscape the likes of which the Big 3 linear TV networks never could have imagined would start to rival their dominance. Binge viewing entered the chat.

Last year, streaming inched ahead of linear TV viewing, and some have interpreted this to be the end of TV as we knew it. Advertising on streaming currently lags that of linear TV, but the gap is narrowing quickly. Furthermore, streaming advertising allows for much more targeted delivery, thanks to personal data that is often available to the provider.

This explains why I might see a different ad during a Hulu program than you will, because Hulu knows some of my demos. Linear TV, though, is like a newspaper in that ads are mass communicated, which means a lot of money is spent on reaching people who probably are not interested in the product.

All of this is not to say that linear TV will ever go away completely, because live sports, news, and weather will always best be viewed in real time. Who wants to watch last night’s basketball game, especially when scores and highlight reels have already circulated on various media platforms? And why would anyone want to miss out on the excitement of a Super Bowl party? That would have absolutely zero social value the next day or later.

The same goes for the news and weather. I couldn’t care less what the weatherman said yesterday about today, unless he just missed it so completely that I might want to watch that bad forecast for comedic relief. And I don’t want to see yesterday’s bombing run on Tehran.

Oddly enough, there is also some longing for a modest return to linearity. We see it in original shows on the various streamers, who rely on an episodic release schedule, such as Mondays at 9pm. Of course, anyone can come along later and watch the show, because it is available on-demand. Basically, they are trying to build and maintain a little excitement for their programming, lest we all just binge view an entire season and then move on to something else. Variations on this theme were found in Stranger Things Season 5, with some episodes being released at Thanksgiving, then more at Christmas, and then the finale on New Years Eve.

Personally, I don’t like it when streamers use an episodic schedule. I don’t like having my chain yanked that way, and I will usually just defer watching until a later date, when I can then watch it on my terms. After all, isn’t that what Netflix taught us to do back in 2007? Well, with one exception. I laughed so hard at The Righteous Gemstones that I was always right there on Sunday nights when new episodes dropped. But I have also watched all of the seasons three times, and on my terms.

That’s another thing you can’t do on linear TV, unless you buy boxed sets of the DVDs. No thanks. I have moved on.

I don’t miss my early days of watching TV, which, mind you, were in black and white because my family could not afford a color TV until the early-70s. While I do miss the family moments, like when we would gather around the family room with all eyes fixed on that 19-inch screen, I rather like how we do it today. I want my TV, and I want it my way. No FOMO, no anxiety.

As long as I don’t misplace the remote.

Dr “What’s In Your Queue?” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[lucythebrazen]

It's insane that coming generations will have no reference of how important the time "20:15" used to be

[whywhywhymoney]

The greatly exaggerated death of Kids TV

"TV is dead! Long live streaming! The kids have phones these days and are too used to binging!"

You can almost chant it! It's catchy, kinda. A slogan probably should be.

A pity then, that like most slogans, it's also just... not true.

Kids do have phones these days, it's very true. Even in third world countries, many middle class families can afford a smartphone between them all. The kiddos are globally connected through the power of cringe-tok! And why on earth would anyone subject themselves to the horror of watching linear TV that has *ad breaks* and you can't pick your programming!?!?

Well, Youtube autoplay seems to be doing just fine, and that's how most toddlers and young kids are consuming their youtube content.

Notice how I specifically said "Youtube content"? In general, worldwide, the trend for children under 12 is still overwhelmingly to watch linear TV.

Even in Europe! Even in the UK! The one part of Europe that's moving towards streaming at a much faster rate.

Could it be that... Kids TV is... actually....alive??

Now that we've come to this shocking realisation, let's unpick a little why it's still surviving (if not thriving).

Most kids across the world have used a smartphone, but also, most kids across the world also don't *own* their own smartphone. Stark contrast to America, where over 80% of teens have their own smartphone. Naturally, screen time is limited if you're using a resource that doesn't belong to you, but the TV is still there!

Even if many families across the world can afford a smartphone, paid streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ are still rather out of reach for the average daily worker. More often in the third world, rather than data plans, you'll see daily workers on cost efficient "Whatsapp, Youtube and Facebook" plans, which are a lot cheaper and give a limited amount of GB that's generous enough to use on the apps that really matter the most to people when out and about, or even at home, as these plans are a lot cheaper than buying broadband.

Active parents trust established brands (TV channels) more than Youtube etc. You're not a bad parent if you let your kid veg out in front of a screen every so often. You both probably need that time away from each other. Parents that actively control screen time tend to trust linear tv channels a lot more precisely because there is still a semblance of expected quality control from them which doesn't exist on streaming services. Especially if it's toddlers that are watching. So, to summarise, kids TV has still maintained a healthy number of viewers, and moreover, parents are now going back to trusted linear TV sources for their children's entertainment. The latter trend hasn't been making huge waves but it's definitely become a thing since covid especially, and is growing larger over time. And honestly, I feel like younger millenials and older Gen Z would probably go down this route too, especially at that 0-7 age of a kids life.

So yeah. The kids (TV) are alright.

[katy-griffin-saye]

Is it wrong to be fearing of linear 📺?

BBC is getting affected thanks to the license fee drama & I'm scared it will happen to others. It sworn that anything of linear 📺 will 🔚 in the 2030s.

So far, I feel nerved over Nickelodeon in the 🇬🇧 & Cartoon Network Europe would not exist in the future. I don't want Freeview gone either!

I even believe streaming could be a ⚠️ & 🦥 habit & a 🗑 of 💸, overrated. I would just be going for 👍👵💿📀 anytime. I want to do anything to protect. I love to use NOW for Fireman Sam, iCarly, Victorius & more. And SAVE CITV

P.S: TV networks just advertise their streaming surfaces way too much, they should just🤚

This is just my opinion. But what do you 🤔? And please don't put negative cautions which will upset me

[adguy]

Streaming Surpasses Linear Viewing For The First Time

Streaming viewing in July surpassed cable and broadcast in share of total day viewing for the first time since the launch of Nielsen's "The Gauge," with 34.8%, followed by cable at 34.4% and broadcast with 21.6%. Compared to a year ago, streaming is 22.6% higher vs. July 2021 when it had a 28.3% share, while cable is down 8.9% for the same period and broadcast lost 9.8%.

Streaming Surpasses Linear Viewing For The First Time

[adguy]

Streaming Ads Twice As Likely To Be Deemed Relevant As Linear TV Ads

Half of U.S. consumers say they prefer using AVOD services to reduce or eliminate video subscription fees, a new survey finds.

Streaming Ads Twice As Likely To Be Deemed Relevant As Linear TV Ads: 

[swiftthebillionaire]

What is ODTv?

Organically Developed Tv (ODTv)is an American internet television service owned and founded by Sean “Swift” Walker in 2019 and based in Pensacola, FL. ODTv is a free, advertiser-supported video on demand (AVOD) service that primarily offers a selection of programming content through digital linear channels designed to emulate the experience of traditional broadcast programming. The service’s…

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