Tuning out
It seems more and more college students are putting down their remote controls and picking up their laptops to watch their favorite television programs. A nationwide trend is showing a shift in interest from flat-screen TVs to flat-screen computer monitors – especially on college campuses.
‘When my daughter started college six years ago, every single dorm room had a television,’ said Glenda Manzi, a professor at Tufts University’s Experimental College, in an interview with The Tufts Daily.
‘Two years later, my son started college, and barely anybody had TVs in their room – there were maybe three people on his floor who had them,’ she said. ‘Now, I can’t even imagine what the case would be.’
Manzi extended this notion of a trend to those in her class – 21st Century Television: Media in the Age of YouTube, Facebook and MP3s.
‘I first taught (the class) in the spring semester of last year, and even in one year, the amount of video consumed by students on laptops has doubled,’ Manzi said. ‘When I first taught the class, maybe half the class would say they watch (TV online). Now, virtually everyone raises their hand.’
According to Nielsen Media Research, a provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services, while 9.7 million people watched the fourth season premier of NBC’s hit show, ‘The Office,’ 2.7 million people streamed that same episode online that same week – meaning more than one quarter of the broadcast viewing audience watched the episode online.
‘I don’t have a TV in my room, so if I’m going to watch TV it’s going to be on my computer,’ said Eliot Bugda, a freshman engineering major at Syracuse University. ‘It’s so much easier because I can pause and rewind whenever I want, and there are very little to no commercials.’
Media conglomerates are quickly recognizing there is money to be made in online streaming media. Corporations such as ABC, NBC and CBS have started streaming classic shows such as ‘Star Trek,’ ‘MacGyver,’ ‘The A-Team’ and ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ on their Web sites as a way to sell more advertising space.
Nielsen Media Research also reported online consumption is at an all-time high, with 35 million viewers streaming online content within the last three months.
While the topic of streaming media brings up a wide array of issues regarding ratings and compensation for online viewing (a topic that recently incited the Hollywood writers strike), college students seem to be silently reaping the rewards of free streaming media at their hands.
Syracuse University students are adapting well to this nationwide trend in media consumption. Convenience is the reason SU students gave when it comes to how and when they watch television.
‘I think that in the next few years, increased bandwidth and improved Web and computer technology will quickly replace standard TV practice,’ said Dan Bagnall, a freshman in the Bandier Program for music and entertainment industries.
‘I think that YouTube.com was really a pioneer and has given birth to an ‘on-demand’ media culture,’ he said. ‘(Our generation) wants searchable content at our fingertips. Personally I really like Joost.com, as it’s helping to render cable obsolete for me.’
Andrew DiOrio, a sophomore engineering major, said when he comes back to his room from classes, he doesn’t have time to watch his favorite shows so having the shows available online makes it easier to tune in.
‘It’s just easier for me to watch at my computer when I have the time,’ he said.
Manzi summed up these sentiments in a statement in The Tufts Daily. ‘The biggest benefit about online television is that you watch it when you want it, where you want it and in which format you want to watch it,’ she said. ‘Choice is the difference between online television and actual television.’
Published on April 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm
