Internet television capabilities are not new. CNN began broadcasting 15-minute hourly updates on its website in the mid-1990s. Since then, Internet speeds have increased. The quality of Internet TV has significantly increased and the buffering interruptions aren't as frequent, if at all. More television networks are making their shows available online, and television programs are being created solely for the Internet. Laptop and personal computer screens are larger, which makes watching Internet TV more enjoyable.
Many television shows and most movies are transferred to DVD for home viewing. In the book "Exploring Electronic Media," Peter B. Orlik writes, "Netflix, offering overnight distribution of movies via the postal service, eliminated the drive to the video store and gave consumers still more alternatives to broadcast or cable network programming." Such video delivery services also allow viewers to stream their favorite television shows and movies online. And what you seen online, you can streamed through your television screen. Wi-Fi-enabled Blu-ray and DVD players and televisions make it easy to stream to your TV.
The entertainment options on smart phones are nearly infinite. Smart phone owners can download applications for games, movies and television programs and watch them on their phones. The drawback is the small size of the screens.
Broadcast television from the major networks, PBS and local affiliates is still free to the public. However, because the federal government mandated that the delivery of free television be provided digitally, a digital converter box is necessary for older televisions. The converter boxes averaged $45 in 2010.
Only AT&T and Verizon offer fiber-optic television. In the late 1990s they ran commercials claiming that fiber optics were going to make all technology before it obsolete. Although fiber optics, branded as FiOS by Verizon and U-verse by AT&T, never lived up to its promise of taking over the world, so much money was invested in creating the infrastructure to provide these service, these services will probably be offered for years to come. The services are similar to cable by providing more than 300 channels, included a high-definition line-up, but it differs in the delivery system.
Radio has been around since the 1920s. In those days, soap opera dramas were performed for the listening public. In the 21st century, satellite radio and even Internet radio offers a plethora of entertainment options. Choices include talk radio, genre-specific channels and even dramas to listen to. In the book, "Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals," August E. Grant and Jennifer Harman Meadows write, "Radio has come to mean personal audio media -- to encompass the multiple selections and generic term for audio entertainment supplied by terrestrial broadcast frequency, satellite, Internet streaming, cell phones and portable digital audio players."