It is a well-known fact that the younger generation rarely watches television. They spend more time in front of computers. Middle-aged people still enjoy watching television, however. Senior citizens, who often have plenty of leisure time, are important customers. And television programs are changing to cater to the tastes of the older generation.

This trend shows the transformation of Korea’s TV landscape.. A report titled “The end of TV as we know it” released recently in the U.S. predicted that “record and view” TV watching will become more common. Television sets equipped with hard disks are already popular. If a viewer has to leave the television for a minute, he can return and watch the program from the exact moment he left because the hard disk inside of the television recorded the program. Some devices even record TV programs minus commercials.


Some viewers log on to broadcasting companies’ Internet websites and watch the programs they want. Those who have portable multimedia players can watch last night’s program on their way to work on the subway. This record-and-view type of TV watching gives the audience the upper hand. In the past, TV viewers had to sit in front of their televisions according to a timetable set by broadcasting companies. But now, people can watch TV whenever it suits their schedule. This is truly revolutionary.


Current viewership surveys are done on real-time viewers, excluding record-and-view statistics. In other words, the viewership of the younger generation, which tends to use digital gadgets, appears lower than their actual viewing rate. From this, we could say that the “TV crisis”: the declaration by broadcasting companies that youngsters are ditching television, is a bit too much. But nobody knows what will happen in the future.


What’s obvious is that quality TV programs are recognized among audiences even with the increasing record-and-view trend and increasing popularity of the internet. The only way for broadcasting companies to survive is to produce content that the viewers can enjoy, breaking away from their lax management and their lack of a neutral point of view.

If I were to believe this theory, how can someone explain about the newspapers. Young ppl today read less newspaper than they watch TV. That doesnt mean newspapers will cease to exist. Same goes for the radio. PPL thought radio will go extinct after the arrival of TV in 50s.