Is the end of traditional television here?

(CLO) On March 2, the Oscar Awards - Hollywood's biggest film event - will be broadcast online for the first time. This event could become an important milestone, signaling the decline of traditional television.

Streaming dominates media

For the first time in history, the Oscars will be broadcast live not only on traditional television network ABC but also on Disney's streaming platform Hulu. This means viewers will not need to subscribe to pay TV services to watch the event.

2025 is shaping up to be the year of the end for traditional television. The familiar pay TV packages are slowly disintegrating, giving way to the future of online television. This is not just a rumor, it is a reality.

Traditional television is entering a period of decline. (Illustration photo, source: CJ Burton)

Many major events, from the Oscars to major sports like Monday Night Football and the NBA Finals, require viewers to pay to watch online. College football games, NFL Sundays, and the MLB Playoffs are no longer available for free on the internet. All of this shows that streaming TV is taking over the market, and viewers will have to adapt to paying to enjoy their favorite content.

Nielsen data shows that in 2024, 14 of the top 50 TV broadcasts will still be exclusive to pay-TV services, mostly soccer matches on Fox and ESPN.

However, 2025 is predicted to be a major turning point, when that number drops to zero. This means that all the shows on Nielsen's most-watched list will be available on standalone streaming services, without the need for a pay TV package.

The shift from linear television to streaming has been slow and steady. Entertainment programming began moving to the on-demand streaming model years ago, with Netflix leading the way. Entertainment giants like Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount quickly followed suit.

As Hollywood pours billions of dollars into streaming services, cable channels are losing ground. Brands like TNT and USA, once known for their rich scripted programming, have cut back significantly on those shows. Meanwhile, other brands like FX and Bravo have transformed into “hybrid” channels, which broadcast traditional TV while also providing exclusive content to streaming platforms like Hulu and Peacock. In other words, cable channels are becoming a shadow of their former selves as streaming takes over the market.

The 'two-faced' strategy of the big guys

"We're at a point now where our linear networks are no longer a liability, they're actually an asset ," Disney CEO Bob Iger told Wall Street analysts on February 5. He stressed that Disney is investing in programming and funding these networks strategically to strengthen its overall TV business, including streaming — which he believes is the future of the industry.

In other words, Disney is spending significantly less on linear TV content, while still getting the monthly fees they can.

For the first time in history, the Oscars will be broadcast live not only on traditional television channel ABC but also on Disney's streaming platform Hulu. (Photo: 2024 Oscars, source: GI)

Sports and news are the last remaining pieces of the TV package, although NBC, CBS and WBD have all become more aggressive in streaming their sports and events like the Grammys on their respective streaming services, and Disney has begun streaming some sports on Disney+ and Hulu ahead of its flagship ESPN launch.

Even smaller cable channels have embraced the change, with AMC, Hallmark, Reelz and The Weather Channel either launching standalone services or partnering with a larger platform for streaming.

Meanwhile, executives are moving toward a new strategy: trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, they’re even including ESPN and Fox—now officially in the streaming game. On the other, there’s a desire to try to salvage the pay-TV bundle in some form.

What opportunities for traditional television?

The rapid collapse of Venu, a sports partnership between Disney, Warners and Fox, has marked a turning point for the pay-TV market. Providers like DirecTV and Comcast realized that as entertainment content moved online, they needed to change their strategies. They began offering slimmer packages focused on sports and news, which still attracted large audiences.

With pay TV losing its exclusive content, providers are opening up the door to more creative channel bundles. They hope that by offering smaller, niche-focused channel bundles, they can attract consumers and deliver real value that traditional basic packages have failed to deliver.

Disney CEO Bob Iger explained that Venu became redundant in their strategy. Instead, Disney is focused on “making ESPN accessible in any way the consumer wants, in any place the consumer wants.”

Fox is also adapting to the failure of Venu, realizing that millions of people have cut the cord and may never return. If Fox content isn’t available to them through other platforms, it risks being left behind.

" We're building a service specifically for people who have cut cable and never used it again," Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said of the company's new streaming service.

However, he also emphasized: "We still believe that the traditional cable package is the best value option for consumers and for our company. So we are strong supporters of the traditional cable package and always will be."

The media world has changed dramatically since 25-30 years ago. Back then, all live events were concentrated on pay TV, because most American households paid for a variety of channels. Now, pay TV subscribers are in rapid decline, and valuable content is looking for new distribution platforms.

The question is whether the remaining cable channels will be caught up in the general collapse of the entire cable industry, or can they figure out their own exit strategies?

Phan Anh (according to Hollywoodreporter, Disney)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/su-ket-thuc-cua-truyen-hinh-truyen-thong-da-den-post334686.html