I don't watch much TV. I don't have time for it. I do not feel deprived because of that. I don't watch "Desperate Housewives" or any of the "CSI" shows which sounds like they must run pretty much all the time. Occasionally I might catch the news or a piece of some show, but that's about it. Obviously I do get on the Internet. And spend probably more time on it than I should. I guess it was inevitable that TV and the Internet would merge. Of course, my intro to the Internet was through WEBTV, so I knew of the capability. Then came video streaming and if one has all the right "downloaded" software and some good hardware, their computer can be just like a TV. This week CBS begins streaming two of it's shows "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother." This will be the first time CBS has streamed a whole TV show. And it will have no commercials. Next year AOL plans to stream classics like "Welcome Back Kotter" and "Chico and the Man." Why are they doing this? Because they are stalking you--the consumer. They have realized the upward trend of people watching videos and movies online and instead of making their own environment (i.e, their studios and stations) more appealing....they are going to track you down. Oh, you are not only going to watch their shows.....but you are going to enjoy them. And then....happily....email them on. The "no-commercial" shows are just the intro.....they will very soon have commercials wherever they can squeeze one in. Already if you go to the major TV news websites in the Kansas City area, the news clips are proceeded by a commercial. So, that video about that drive-by murder may be important to you....but you have to know where to get that good deal on a new car first.
None of this can be done for free and the goal of all commercial television is to get money out of your wallet. You give some to their advertisers, so they can pay them for getting the ad on the network who puts the ad on to make you want to get money out of your wallet and give some to their advertisers, so.....it is the circle of life in the world of TV. Now throw the Internet in the mix somewhere and it continues.....
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