These days I have been more of watching online let's plays and streamer broadcasts more than actual TV shows. The people who make videos online seem more in touch with their audience and their ability to release content frequently makes me watch them even more.
This leads to my question. Have you guys started to drift towards online let's plays and streamers rather than actual television?
Of course this does not mean I neglect Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. I love those shows
On the whole I just don't watch that much tv anymore, even cable. If I do watch something I do it online and its only a couple of shows per week. I have to spend quite a bit of time on the internet for my job so at the end of the day I really don't want to do anymore than I have to.
Yea I don't have cable and do not miss it one bit. I, like you, watch some shows (Holy shit Game of Thrones is amazing...) but I can just do that online anyway. Another thing I can't stand about TV is the constant commercials. I do not like it one bit. I think I have moved more to YouTube and just watch content that is interesting to me. I watch a lot of Magic the Gathering on YouTube, as well as League of Legends. Streams and YouTube are much more interesting to me then cable TV.
If directly compared the of course TV comes out heads and above watching streams on their own. I understand your point of being more in touch with their viewers, as they are catering to a vastly lower number of people so they can take criticism directly on board and work on their project to suit their niche market. Major TV programmes, however, cannot do this as they have millions or multimillion viewers all with a large spectrum of opinions, as well as the corporate suits to keep happy.
TV wins on the pure basis that it has a far most vast array of shows, all of which, or at least the majority are of high quality through their releases. We have all watched Streams, with some being markedly better in quality (I am not talking about content as this obviously changes in TV shows as well) when compared to other streams from the same person.
One thing that streams of course are very attractive to us gamers is the simple fact that there aren't many gaming channels for us to watch. I like in the UK and hardly ever come across gaming programmes, hence the only resort is to go to YouTube and look for streams etc. when it comes to satiating my appetite for gaming
I don't play a whole lot of games but I have found I like a few of those lets play guys, mostly Jesse Cox. See they are playing games I'm not going to play so I get that story plus their commentary. I wouldn't say it eclipses my other viewing material but it is a chunk of it. I'm glad that these guys exist otherwise I wouldn't experience the story in the games. I do know that some take all of the cut scenes out of games and put those up as movies if you want just the storyline but that feels kind of heartless to me. I really prefer gamer commentary and gameplay in addition to the story so that I understand the transitions better.
I really don't watch TV these days. Maybe once in a while, but my TV watching period has decreased a lot. I'd prefer watching gameplay commentary videos and events like E3 on my computer or laptop than watching TV shows. Besides, TV shows these days are no longer interesting. If E3 or any gaming/tech stuff like a game, graphics card or a smartphone review is being aired on TV, I'd watch it, but I do not prefer watching general TV shows.
Nonetheless, the biggest advantage of TV is that I do not have to stream or watch in low quality. My internet is mostly slow and I'm supposed to stream gaming shows and YouTube videos using it which forces me to watch in low quality or wait. I'd actually be happy if shows like E3 were aired on TV in my country. This would save me a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, they don't, so I'm forced to use my slow internet to watch them.
Personally I enjoy watching streaming gameplay way more than watching TV. I guess that could have to do with the fact that my TV only gets a dozen channels and I'm a huge gamer. People don't seem to understand why I love to watch gaming competitions so much. I tell them that it's the same way that people obsess over sports like baseball or soccer. Watching the finals of a Dota 2 competition is like my FIFA World Cup.
TV wins on the pure basis that it has a far most vast array of shows, all of which, or at least the majority are of high quality through their releases.
I would seriously argue this point. More content doesn't necessarily equal something better and I would claim the opposite. A majority of television shows are not high quality. To be clear though I would also claim that a vast majority of YouTube releases are abysmal as well (and likely much worse then television releases). The point is though that TV does cost money, and it isn't directly applicable to interests like YouTube is. It definitely comes down to preference in the end though.
