And to be realistic, they were correct. We did have better things to do than to watch TV. If you ask me, the last time we were glued to a TV set, it was when we had 'Hum Paanch', 'Sarabhai vs Sarabhai', 'Dekh Bhai Dekh', 'Office Office', 'Disney Hour', 'Small Wonder' and 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' among many others. And then suddenly, the idiot box got corrupted with scripted soap operas that focused less on the script and more on Numerology and Vastu. Not long ago, the only reason I had the TV was to watch cricket and watch the news while I eat a mundane dinner. Rarely, movies too.
And then, if you turned out to be like me - a self-proclaimed TV connoisseur - Tony Soprano supposedly died to the tune of "Don't Stop Believing" and the world of TV watching changed forever. Albeit it had already changed in America, it took it's sweet time in India.After groundbreaking HBO productions like The Sopranos and The Wire, television reached a level of quality that has only been growing. HBO has come a long long way with Girls, True Detective, Game of Thrones, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver deserving special mention. We've even seen a surge of quality TV series once again as AMC (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead), Showtime (Homeland, Dexter), ABC (Nashville, Modern Family) more recently USA Network (Mr. Robot) are following on the path set by HBO. As Mark Lawson, in his article in The Guardian says, much like the American Indie movie scene in comparison with Hollywood, these subscription channels have carved a niche in an otherwise HBO dominated market. Television became more uncensored and real - allowing subject matter, language and action that traditional studios would have cut.Viewership, once passive, has become an increasingly active experience. With the advent of social media, TV watching has become entangled into a form of reciprocal interaction between the viewers and the show creators. Showrunners have started to give increasing credit to plotlines suggested by the fans, they have started awarding fan theories and their viewing investments by placing what we call the hidden Easter eggs. Televisions have become one with our culture. Few days back, one of my distant cousins who's still in high school, referred to one of his friends as John Snow over the phone. When asked, he said offhandedly, that John was not so good at answering questions in class when he's called upon!Mind blown? "You (really) know nothing, John Snow!"Something flexible, and albeit technical, is at work as we speak. In fact it had begun a few years ago in the West and is now resurgent at a much more global scale. The advent of ancillary devices for the idiot box has given the control back to us - DVR, Cable box, Dish TV, Set-top box, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation, XBox, Roku and Wii are proving to be successful in the developed countries with established network of LTE and faster Broadband internet.Not only have the intellectual properties of television gotten better, the whole experience of watching it has improved a lot as well! The non-linear viewing experience frees us to revisit our favorite TV shows at a time set by our own convenience. No more sitting on the couch for hours! The change began with the DVR and accelerated with streaming services such as the ones mentioned above.The coming of internet streaming services like Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu and Amazon have changed the whole scenery of television. Now we can watch one episode or an entire season of our favorite series in our downtime. We can watch episodes on a long haul international flight or while in the car, riding shotgun of course, on your way back home. Netflix productions are a rage now, on par with those of HBO! My personal favorites 'House of Cards', 'Narcos' and (this one only shows the various possibilities streaming services have opened up) 'Marvel's Daredevil'.Back in India, we now have shows like 'Pitchers' and 'Permanent Roommates' that are not only a good reflection of social life in the country, but is also influencing the way we think. Then, there's that new satire news show that the AIB is coming up, in alliance with Star Network. This only goes on to show how television is getting more and more interesting and from being an idiot box, it is now resurgent as the quick shortcut to socio-cultural know-how!Various cities in India now has LTE and high-speed internet has become a regular thing, which fuels the promises of home-grown streaming, recording and video On Demand services. And sure enough, TATA Sky+ have declared the launch of their new product the TATA Sky+ Transfer that should help you catch up with all the television you missed. Guilt free! It would also probably let you stay in sync with all the upcoming excitement of the Indian Super League! Right? Because while talking about television, I totally forgot to mention sports! How would you like to watch the late night editions of the English Premier League without blowing a hole into your circadian hours? (Or, if you're a true believer like me, you can watch it on your own personal device and let your grandmother sleep instead)!So, the bottom line is that the Golden Age of Television is here! Where are you?
................................................................................................................................This post was written for the Indiblogger contest under the topic #TATASkyTransferFor more information, go to: http://www.tatasky.com/transfer/