I believe, sincerely, that we are witnessing the end of television as it has been known. In its place, a new kind of ‘TV’ is arriving; one that is infinitely more interactive and allows for a much higher degree of participation from the audience. YouTube and Netflix in particular are really challenging the perception of what television even means nowadays. If it doesn’t adapt, it will be left behind entirely.

Television, by its very nature, is not an interactive experience. While it is still a cooler medium than film, audience participation when it comes to watching TV is still not that high. Most people that watch TV tune in and out, and a lot of people turn the TV on just for noise. In a time where Web 2.0 and even 3 is upon us, the television industry is seemingly left behind, trapped by limitations that it has imposed on itself.

Television today basically follows the same format that it did when it was first invented. This means that TV is old. Really old. It adheres to the concept of ‘Flow’ as Uricchio describes it, “a temporally sequenced stream of program units constantly issues forth from the programmer, and audiences may dip in and out as they choose.” In plain English, this just means that the TV plays shows in a certain order, and audiences can choose to pay attention or not.

TV is also trapped in a box, sometimes literally. Where YouTube can be enjoyed by millions of users anywhere, on basically any internet enabled device, TV is still limited by its physical unit for many people who can’t afford to pay for mobile services. Even the ones that do are met with a limited selection of what they are able to watch from mobile devices.

YouTube on the other hand, as William Uricchio argues, “is a creature of the moment…” that embraces a “mashup culture.” (Uricchio) It is the embodiment of Web 2.0, an interactive experience in which users can participate and take an active role in the conversation, rather than just looking at static web pages. YouTube allows its users to upload their own content and comment and interact with other users about other people’s content. It is not beholden to the same, somewhat antiquated notion of ‘flow’ and instead, allows its users to pick what they watch and when they watch it.

In addition, YouTube is able to be accessed on a mobile platform by a larger number of people because it doesn’t require any special subscription or added fees. Interestingly though, YouTube is now bringing the fight with TV back to the TV. In 2009, which is ages ago, YouTube announced YouTube for Television, which allowed for YouTube to be accessed on much larger television screens, which is one advantage that it had maintained over YouTube. No more though, as smart TVs begin flooding the market and Internet abilities growing.

If TV is to stay relevant and even alive, it must adapt and become a less structured, more participatory medium. If it doesn’t, things like YouTube and Netflix will fill in the gap and relegate television to nothing more than a history lesson.