A short history of how we watch TV

Do you remember the good old days when we had to be at home at a certain time to catch our favorite shows on TV? Actually, those were definitely not good days. Even if you could program a VCR, it was always a gamble whether it would actually record on time. And if you missed a show, good luck seeing it anytime soon. On-demand programming might as well have been sci-fi at that point.

But the reality is that we now live in the streaming era of television. Almost anything we want to watch is available 24/7, provided that you’re subscribed to the appropriate streaming service. It’s been a big game changer for how we consume TV shows, and it’s given rise to the Binge model. Now we can blow through an entire season of television in just a few days (or less)!

As we head into the fall, SYFY WIRE’s Jackie Jennings and Angélique Roché are sharing their picks for their most anticipated shows. After that, they dive into a brief history of how we watch television, from the earliest days of the boob tube to the present. It may even call for one of our patented SYFY WIRE flashback sequences!

There is something to be said about anticipating the next episode of our favorite episodes. It allows for communal viewing, and it’s something that Hulu has embraced with its old-school weekly episodes. That way, a season isn’t over in the wink of an eye. But it won’t stop some viewers, like Jackie, from waiting until the end to catch up.

For more details, and to see what returning shows our hosts are most excited about, check out the full video!