Articles
The Rise of Home Theatre
by APSense News Release AdminEver since the invention of the television, the home theatre has become increasingly popular and important in our everyday lives. As technology improves, people opt to watch movies and TV shows at home more and more. Recently, with the COVID-19 pandemic, home theatre is surging once again, perhaps to the point where movie theatres could become obsolete. We are rapidly changing the way we consume visual media, and this has large implications for the home theatre, film production, and media distribution industries.
Home Theatre Quality
More and more people are choosing to invest in a high-quality home theatre setup, as it becomes a more important part of life. Hi-fi audio equipment providers like Selby are seeing dramatic increases in sales since the start of the pandemic. As people choose to stay at home more often, they save money and make home improvement a higher priority. This means investing in surround sound speakers, wall or ceiling integrated speakers, or even projectors and projector screens. With the increased popularity of streaming, the value of a home theatre will only go up.
Streaming and the Death of Cable
Not only are we watching movies and TV from home more often, but we are changing the way we access this media. Streaming services have become the most prominent and preferred way to watch from home. In addition to the mainstreaming sites we all know and love (Netflix!), hundreds of new sites are popping up to try to catch the bandwagon, such as VRV and Vudu.
This rise of streaming ultimately will lead to the death of cable as it becomes an unnecessary service. Cable networks have to act quickly to ensure their content remains accessible and in demand. Many networks are creating their own streaming services, like HBO Max, CBS All Access, and Peacock by NBC. Other networks are partnering with existing streaming services, and some are doing both. For example, you can now watch NBC in real-time with Hulu live TV. With the release of Disney+, we are seeing major motion pictures and top-rated new releases expected to be viewed entirely from home.
We started to see the same thing happening with sports content, as live streaming becomes a popular way to watch games. Streaming services like NFL Game Pass are on the rise, however, live sports have dropped in popularity, and may never be the same, with COVID-19.
Film Production
This change in media consumption is likely to have an impact on film production itself. Film producers most likely will start to see their greatest income coming from contracts with streaming sites rather than physical ticket sales when a movie is released. Will this impact how movies are made? It’s hard to tell. We can certainly see how it impacts the production of TV series. Rather than releasing one episode every week, more and more shows are released onto a streaming site all at once and can be binge-watched in one or a few sittings. This alters how the show is viewed and meant to be viewed. Some argue that for this reason, TV shows are taking over the film industry altogether.
Many streaming sites are also producing their own content, as we are all familiar with Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon originals. This could result in a reduction of independent filmmaking; it all depends on how streaming services decide to handle it. This puts great power into the hands of a few large streaming companies to control the content that we have access to.
So, are these changes for the better? Only time will tell.
Sponsor Ads
Created on Nov 19th 2020 13:39. Viewed 339 times.
