Unit 8 Understanding Film and TV industries Task 4

In this blog I will be researching all the different types of developing technologies like satellite, cable, analogue, digital, film-based, interactive, Internet, high definition, consumer products, streaming content, on-demand viewing, digital recorders and pay per view. These technologies fuel the media industry is so many ways one of which is amount of content being made because all of these platforms work tirelessly to produce content. These technologies bring the content to the customer too which means that people don’t need to go to the cinema when they can just stay at home and watch the same film, But this new technology has its down sides with piracy websites and websites like YouTube breaking all kinds of copyright laws.

I will start by talking about satellite TV. Satellite television allows subscribers to get channels and shows streamed to their homes via a satellite dish. Satellite gives the access to hundreds of channels worldwide. Satellite TV providers obtain channels like Sky, Comedy central and UK TV, with satellite you also have a wider geographical coverage. Because of the wider reach of satellite technology, Because satellite TV is sent out via satellites orbiting the earth and this helps broadcast shows all over the world and broadcast them live to every country. However satellite TV can malfunction in bad weather. Since the satellite dish is usually outside, it becomes susceptible to malfunction because of weather conditions like snow, very strong winds and lightning. 

Cable TV is one of many ways for viewers to watch the television. How the viewers watch is that cables go underground through to the houses of the customers. Customers that use cable TV have to pay for it and subscribe for it. Cable television has fewer channels than satellite TV but its cheaper for people to subscribe too. Cable television has more than just television to offer it customers and with things like high speed Internet and voice calls to entice customers. Cable TV is far more reliable than satellite which only works when the weather is good. An prime example of a cable television provider is HBO an American broadcaster who have given out shows such as The Sopranos and True Blood which have been a hit in the UK too.

In this age films are being remade over and over again and Film Based content has grew so much in recent times. New technologies have given old films and new lease of life when being remade and have shown life long loved of certain films that technologies like CGI can have a great impact on the look of a film. An example of a film that i have chosen is Planet of the Apes which has had a life of being remade starting in 1968 and continuing to the latest one in 2014. Using these new technologies the film has evolved into one of the best film franchises ever. 

Technologies are constantly chancing and with television becoming more and more Interactive for example on free view television the introduction of the red button service which allows viewers to access even more content that normally available. Interacting with an audience is good for a program because the viewer will stay interested for longer for example channels like BBC 1, ITV and Sky have a red button service to provide extra content for viewers. Also sports channels and programs such as Formula 1 on the BBC offers a service to be on board with a car and on Sky Sports you can press the red button to get all sorts of statistics and data. This service is for the more experienced fans of the sport.

The Internet has become one of the most popular forms of media distribution with sites like YouTube or Vimeo anyone can become a filmmaker but with these sites programs are also put onto these sites although its again a countless number of copyright laws. The Internet has gave birth to so many different platforms with things like BBC iplayer, ITV player and 4oD becoming such big sites because of the Internet and people wanting to watch TV when they want via Streaming from the Internet. Also there are sources like Netflix and Apple TV which provides an incredible range of television and films to people whenever they want it and this provides people with all the content they desire. There is also a huge downside to the Internet and its a curse that costs the industry hundreds of millions of pounds a year it is of course pirating and it is a bad problem for the industry. Although many say its on the way down  its still a problem.

High Definition television is something that many people have now in this digital age of television in the UK. On TV there are a lot of channels that are in HD, for example BBC, ITV, most Sky channels are some of just a few broadcasters offering this service.  For viewers to view things in HD they need to have certain amount of pixels on their TV screen so that they can watch their programs and films in either 720p or 1080p. High Definition has developed so much that viewer do not only have the choice to have a HD TV they can have other HD things such as HD DVD player or a Blu-Ray. High Definition television is soon to become a thing of the past with the invention of the new 4K service which is brand new and still has some flaws like any new technology but the Brazil World Cup final was the first ever program to be broadcast in 4K by Sony. 

On Demand services are a huge way of getting more viewers for your program and this links back to the way of getting viewers to watch television when they want rather than watching scheduled programming. On demand is an interactive TV technology. On demand allows the user to view programming in real-time, this means that the user can watch these programs while they are being shown on TV. Services and software like Tivo by Virgin and the Sky On Demand service which allows views to control their viewing habits with tools like pause, rewind and fast forwarding television this is also a Digital Recorder. Which is recorded by the viewer to watch at a time that suits them and they tell the device to record the show and then it will and it'll be saved for later.

Pay Per View is a service were a viewer pay purchase a short term subscription for just a program viewing. This service is offered by Sky Sports for football weekends. There is also Pay Per View for Sky in the Sky  Box Office for films which works out how much they have gained form each view of their TV Show. This is better for some viewers who don't have the funds or just don't want to pay for a full subscription to a channel or set of channels and this means that they can view the shows they want.

Analogue signal was the first ever transmission technology for television. Analogue is no longer in use in most of the UK with only Milton Keynes the only place still transmitted to in analogue, the rest of the UK receives Digital television. Digital signals can be either 0 or 1. When a digital signal is 0 it means that it is off and when it is 1 it means that it is on. This is because the waves are very close together and this is how TV Box-Sets get so many channels. The analogue signals really only broadcast 5 channels to British homes and this is why digital television over took analogue so quickly with viewers wanting more from their media providers.