NBC set to launch live streaming online and on mobile

Users will have to prove that they are paying customers of a cable company to access it

2014: the year we took one giant step toward throwing out our televisions once and for all!

That's an exaggeration, of course, but there is still a bit of truth to it. In recent months two of the biggest channels on television announced they would be cutting the cord. First HBO announced it would be launching its own stand-alone streaming service in 2015. That was immediately followed by an announcement from CBS that it would be doing the same thing. 

Now NBC is taking a step in that direction, though it is not going quite as far: the channel is set to announce that it will be live streaming its broadcast, according to a report out from the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

To have the ability to stream the channel online, though, users will have to be able to prove that they are signed up for a cable subscription service. So, essentially, it will act similarly to HBO Go, rather than HBO's stand-alone service, or the one launched by CBS. (Is anyone going to point out to NBC that they are actually a channel that anyone can pick up by using a converter box and antenna? So it's kind of ridiculous to make people prove they are paying for something they can actually get for free.)

The new service is set to debut on Tuesday, and will be reportedly be available on mobile sometime in early 2015.

For a channel to make a move like this is far from unprecedented; in fact, ABC launched a live stream in 2013. But it is still not as common as an on-demand service, which numerous channels have already set up. Part of the reason for that has to do with disputes over rights and fees, which are exactly the issues that did Aereo in earlier this year.

Another reason: people don't watch television live anymore. They want to watch what they want, when they want to, and they do not want to sit through commercials. For that reason alone, an on-demand service seems more suited to the way most people consume television now.

What this move does, though, is reinforce how both movies and television are currently undergoing a renaissance similar to the one undergone by the music industry in the early 2000s. As more and more people are giving up physical media in favor of digital content, the networks have to work overtime to keep up with a rapidly shifting industry. 

Look at  how much what has happened in just the past five years and how much streaming services have grown in that time. In 2009, Netflix had only 12.3 million subscribers; now it has 37.2 million. Amazon Prime, meanwhile, had only 2 million subscribers in 2009, and now it has at least 20 million. 

It feels like revolution is happening, and that it is happening very quickly. Many have predicted the end of television as we know it for years, but it really might be coming quicker than most people thought it would.

(Image source: famouslogos.net)