Student shout- We are in the middle of a complete media and entertainment shift.
While growing up, I always loved rushing home from school, getting in and watching the latest episode of SpongeBob, or some other cool cartoon. But now, it seems with every new wave of children, less and less people are tuning in to their favourite TV show, and instead turning their attention to the ever-growing online world.
Now it seems like whenever my sister comes in from school, she turns her tablet straight on and loads up YouTube. She is only 6 years old. She already owns a tablet at the age of 6, which just seems crazy to me.
The evolution of the internet over the last 10 years has been enormous and its influence on the lives of young people cannot be underestimated. Sites such as YouTube are becoming the biggest contributor to childhood as we know it, and more and more people are continuing to log in daily to keep up with content from their favourite online 'influencers'.
This includes me.
The viewing numbers that some youtubers are gaining are astronomical. In the current TV climate, one million views would be considered a huge success, right? While that may be a considered a lot of people, for YouTube stars like KSI, PewDiePie and Zoella that would be considered an off-day.
These stars have cult like followings, who will watch every video, buy every piece of merchandise, and attend every single event. It is becoming a regular thing for online events, to be held in sold out venues, arenas and stadiums.
Just recently, a YouTube boxing match between two of the internets biggest celebrities, KSI and Logan Paul, took place at the Manchester Arena. Neither of them are professionals, they simply make videos on the internet to a very large, loyal fan base. The fight was the biggest white collar boxing event in history, with over 2.5 million concurrent viewers, and 18 million overall, all paying for the privilege.
This completely dwarfs the viewing figures of some of the biggest boxing fights ever, such as the recent, coveted, Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight, although this was a more expensive pay per view.
Children, as well as adults are in the process of a complete shift to online entertainment, with the rise of other media's like Netflix and podcasts also playing it's part. While there are still some very highly viewed, incredible television shows, they are becoming a needle in a haystack.
It makes me wonder, how much longer is it until TV is a thing of the past?