Moving Image Education

Television has changed so much. We used to only have a couple of channels that were only on for a few hours a day. Now we have hundreds of channels available via satellite or cable, and if that wasn't enough we can record shows on our Freesat and Freeview digital tv recorder or catch up with films using "on demand" facilities from cable TV suppliers or iPlayer.

tv when you want it

TV producers, like the BBC and Channel 4, realised that they couldn't stop the illegal downloading of their shows. They developed their own systems for showing TV programmes within a period of time after the broadcast (usually seven days). They can restrict access to just viewers in the UK. Viewers can also download a copy using special software, but it will only be watchable for a certain period of time.

This has the same effect as when video recorders and then hard disk recorders first became popular. People can time-shift. We don't all need to gather round the telly at 7pm for Doctor Who. We can go out for the evening and watch it over breakfast instead. We can move the time we would normally watch a show to a different time. We can pause the action while we make a cup of tea.

We are in control - not an executive of a TV station trying to get best ratings and compete with other channels. Viewers get a good quality, official version of a programme. The TV station gets more viewers to contribute to their audience figures (which affects future funding or advertising).