How Do You Watch Television Shows & Movies? [You Told Us]

The way in which we consume content of all types – music, movies, television shows, games, news, etc. – has changed beyond recognition over the past few years. This is mainly thanks to the Internet, which allows us all to tap into ways of obtaining this content in a much more free, uninhibited way than was previously possible.

In terms of television and movies the means – both legal and not-so-legal – of obtaining this content has given us a multitude of options. We’re no longer governed by set times, release dates, or territorial licensing (most of which can be circumvented with a little effort). So with all of these options at our collective disposal, which do you choose?

How Do You Watch Television Shows & Movies?

This was the subject of last week’s We Ask You column. We asked you, How Do You Watch Television Shows & Movies? The response was good, with dozens of you responding with your personal preferences for consuming television and film content.

The biggest takeaway from the comments thread is that each household has a different way of doing things. Which is pretty much what we expected to find. But despite the lack of surprises it’s still interesting to read how this set of MakeUseOf readers consumes visual content.

It appears that most people do at least some of their television and movie viewing online. Both Netflix and Hulu were both mentioned several times, as were Amazon and Roku. And then there were the specific websites that may or may not be legal depending on your (and your government’s) stance on copyright laws.

There is a definite trend towards cutting the cord (canceling cable or satellite subscriptions in favor of a more fluid approach using online services), with many people having already taken baby steps in going the online route exclusively.

Comment Of The Week

Comment of the week goes to Carolyn, who, as well as the respect of myself and hopefully everybody reading this, receives 150 MakeUseOf points to use for Rewards or Giveaways (or at least she will if she sets up a MakeUseOf user account within the next week).

Our household is split about 50/50 between viewing shows on the computer (free) and viewing shows on the TV ($30/month). The caveat being that almost all of the shows that we watch on the TV are DVRed and watched later in the week, or at the end of a season when we can watch a whole series at once, two episodes a night until the whole thing is done. Online we use Hulu, Netflix ($8/month – no DVDs anymore), or Xfinity.

We really don’t go out to the movies anymore unless it is something with special effects that just cry out on the big screen, which works out to about four movies a year ($100, including snacks). If there is a movie we want to see, we wait until it is available online or on TV. We only buy movies if they are foreign or indie and therefore unlikely to be available any other way.

We don’t watch programs on mobile devices at all. If I’m out someplace and have time to kill I’d rather read a book – paper or digital. TV watching is not something I’m comfortable doing in public. I don’t want to think about people watching over my shoulder, and earbuds cut me off from my surroundings too much.

For your statistical purposes, our household consists of my husband and myself and a brand new baby.

This comment gets to the heart of the topic, with a detailed breakdown of how one family consumes visual content in this day and age. While Carolyn and her husband haven’t cut the cord completely, they split their viewing between online and offline services. But even their offline viewing has changed over the years thanks to the wonders of DVR. And the movie theater? That’s just too expensive for many people now.

We will be asking a new question tomorrow, so please join us then. ‘We Ask You’ is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. We ask you a question and you tell us what you think. The question is open-ended and is usually open to debate. Some questions will be purely opinion-based, while others will see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps for your fellow MakeUseOf readers. This column is nothing without your input, all of which is valued.

Image Credit: The Great 8

Originally published on MakeUseOf.com. Great site, check it out.