Infographic: YouTube Killed TV

written by: Richard Kastelein

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Published on Thursday, 02 February 2012 16:41

Is the golden age of TV already long gone? Today all major TV services stream their content online and viewers have more power to choose from than ever. Acorrding to the creators of this infographic from Freemake.com, the death warrant of TV was signed with the emergence of the Internet, in particular with the flourishing of one company that was the embodiment of its destruction: YouTube.

At appmarket.tv we have talked for years about the future disruption of the broadcast industry and new gatekeepers in the living room. For half a century, not much has changed - scarcity is the control lever, the value chain has been static, and the industry has been top heavy. Print media was slammed by the Internet. Music was too. Publisher and record labels have been trying to reinvent themselves with a fervor that the broadcast and pay TV industries will be shaking with in the next five years. And fighting against the intersection of the web and TV is like putting a bandaid on an ax wound. 

After years of experimenting, the top video destinations on the Web are suddenly flush with original programming: documentaries, reality shows and scripted series.

Over the next few months, YouTube, Netflix and Hulu will roll out their most ambitious original programming yet – a digital push into a traditional television business that has money, a bevy of stars and a bold attitude of reinvention.

The long-predicted collision between Internet video and broadcast television is finally under way. No one is suggesting that the quality on the Internet is close to that of broadcast TV, but it's becoming easy to imagine a day when it will be.

And even though critics question whether new media can rival a business that's been around for about 70 years, the video sites have sought partnerships with seasoned professionals. And they benefit from the different economics of global Web-based entertainment.

Either way, what's happening now is just the first wave.

Full image available for download here.