Remember the days before catch up TV?
Do you remember the days before Netflix and Amazon Prime and you were just left with whatever was on at that current time to watch? A few channels to choose from, not the multitude of choice we have today. If you wanted to watch a certain show, you had to be sitting in front of your TV at the right time otherwise you’d miss it. Sounds a lot worse than today right? To be honest, I’m not so sure.
How we watch TV has changed dramatically in my lifetime, and when I stop to think about it I am amazed at how quickly the change has been. Twenty years ago when I was growing up, the majority of families had the five terrestrial channels, and their choice for what to watch was between the programmes that were on each of these channels at the current time. As I entered my early teens, the Sky box became more popular giving you a larger number of channels, but aside from the sport channels, we would still be watching the same BBC, ITV and Channel 4 combo from before. Whilst Sky plus started becoming more popular throughout secondary school, until this we still only had the choice of whatever was on at the current time.
The fact that you could only watch that TV show at a specific time led to a different kind of lifestyle that people lead today. You would rush back home in order to catch an episode of what you wanted to see, knowing that otherwise you’d never be able to see it. I remember watching The Apprentice every Wednesday night at 9pm with the rest of my family, and then going into school the next day to chat about it with my friends. Now this does still happen to a certain degree with shows like Bake Off, but not to the same extent because people aren’t as worried about missing it. Obviously this sounds great, but I worry that this leads to a lack of anticipation beforehand, which means less appreciation for the programme after.
Catch up TV has also led to binge watching, which is a relatively new phenomena that I feel doesn’t really get talked about. Unless you were a big fan of British game shows and property programmes, this wasn’t an issue before streaming services. These days, it is not uncommon to spend a whole weekend afternoon on your own watching an entire Netflix series. Sometimes this is great; when you’re tired and it’s cold outside, it can be a lovely feeling to cuddle up on the sofa with a hot drink and your favourite programme. But often I wonder if this is really the case, or would you prefer to be with your friends but this just represents the loneliness of the current generation and streaming services are an easy way to fill the void?
One genre that catch up TV cannot (and surely will not?) capture is sport. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full sports match that isn’t live. This is because of the uncertainty of the unknown, it isn’t the same when you know what is going to happen. Also sport is a great place to share joyful moments with others, and there’s a wonderful sense of unity in these times — everyone is happy for the same reasons, regardless of anything about yourself.
Catch up TV is symbolic of all modern technology I feel — the majority see it as only a good thing with no negatives, but there are a few who like to reminisce about the “good ol’ days”. Personally, I think there are advantages and disadvantages to catch up TV; the choice and the ability to find and watch shows suited to you at anytime is remarkable, but this then has a downside of us feeling a need to be constantly entertained and no longer as grateful towards what we experience in life.
