Which is more popular? TV vs. Internet in Korea and America

The mid-20th century gave us television. The late 20th century gave us the Internet. Now in the 21st century, a battle rages between the two, as they try to conquer the market of countless viewers. Who will come out the victor? Well, that depends on the part of the world in which you happen to be residing. Let the fight begin!

 

Korea

TV
Before everything went online, Korea, along with the rest of the world, had simple broadcast television. What’s broadcast television, you ask? It simply means your TV picks up signals sent out by broadcasting stations like your local news station or big corporate stations like MBC (Munwha Broadcasting Corporation) or SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System).
When it comes to Korean TV, Korean dramas have teenage girls (and some men) swooning, jumping, screaming, and whatever other overemotional reaction, over their favorite K-stars.

[caption id="attachment_3247" align="aligncenter" width="382"] Fans look up as their saviors come down upon them from Heaven[/caption]

The Korean wave, or Hallyu, began in the mid 1990s, but it took most of Asia by storm at the beginning of the 21st century. As it spread around Asia, Korean dramas and boy/girl bands picked up popularity in Europe and America as well. These dramas are what make Korean TV essential to its audience.

Want to watch “Modern Farmer”? Tune in to SBS on the weekends. Have an itch for the latest “Music Bank”? Flip over to KBS Friday night. TV still plays a gargantuan role in being a platform for viewers to catch up on their favorite Korean shows. According to a survey by Quartz, a whopping 78 percent of Koreans watch television every day, compared to the 26 percent that watch online videos.

The news is also a big part of any home television set. Folks that have yet to catch onto this new "Internet fad" still rely on good old fashioned television for information. The biggest broadcasting stations in Korea like MBC , SBS, or KBS produce great drama series and other family-fun programs like "Running Man (러닝맨)" or "Infinite Challenge (무한도전)." However, they are also the biggest news media outlets in Korea as well. These stations hold the most viewership rating in Korea. Though it's true they may be biased towards their political views when it comes to reporting the news, the majority of Koreans watch their shows for the latest news. However, with Internet, a lot of Koreans can find other news sources online.

Exactly  how much Internet do the Korean people use in this IT era?

[caption id="attachment_3248" align="aligncenter" width="392"] Grow your own Hallyu star![/caption]

 

Internet
Everyone knows South Korea provides many of the fastest Internet networks in the world. But do they use the Internet to its full advantage? After all, there are more Internet users (33 million) than there are people with television sets (15 million). With such a fast connection, watching videos or simply surfing the Internet is quite convenient. Korean television provides original shows, but even TV programs can be found on the Internet. Sites like wwitv.com air major Korean and other countries’ broadcasts online.

[caption id="attachment_3249" align="aligncenter" width="389"] Pictured: Social gathering[/caption]

But the Internet is more than just watching shows. It’s a vast cyberworld where information and other forms of entertainment collide---not to mention the online games. There are thousands of Internet cafes and PC rooms scattered throughout Korea that bring in people of all ages. Also, let's not forget  the smartphones. Oh God, are they everywhere in Korea. According to Mashable, 73 percent of Koreans have a smartphone, and with free messaging apps like Kakaotalk, it’s quite difficult for people to get along in society without one. Hell, some people can’t go an entire day without their smartphones (my personal record is six hours).

 

Winner: Internet

Yes, Korean dramas are quite popular throughout all of Asia and in some Western countries, too. However, Gangnam Style spread like wildfire throughout the world, and that would not have been possible without the Internet. A lot of Koreans rely on the Internet to watch, read, and listen to news as well as talk to their friends and associates. And when many of the college students in Korea don’t own a television, it’s much easier for this age group to be content with having the Internet. Koreans are more dependent on the Internet than they are on TV. With mobile technology such as smartphones, almost everyone has a connection to the Internet. This connection to their phones and tablets seems like an addiction in Korean. Though TV is still popular when it comes to shows and other mainstream media, the people of Korea would still prefer their Internet connection.

 

USA

 

TV
Let’s start with the stats. According to Tubefilter, the average American watches 5.3 times more TV than YouTube. Roughly speaking, Americans watch about four hours of TV per day. It’s hard to imagine being able to sit on the couch everyday and watch TV for that long. Perhaps the shows are that much entertaining. After all, American TV shows like the never-ending NCIS have penetrated many countries, including Korea. It’s not only popular shows that keep Americans stuck to their televisions.

[caption id="attachment_3250" align="aligncenter" width="383"] 11 years in the running. Seriously, we get it. You guys are awesome. Now just stop. Please.[/caption]

Sports broadcasts are televised year-long. The biggest sporting event is the Super Bowl. Companies spend millions of dollars for 30 seconds of advertisements. The 2014 Super Bowl set the record for the highest viewed show in U.S. history with 111.5 million views. These sporting events along with other shows are great at bringing people together.
Many people flock to someone’s house to watch the latest NFL game or NBA match. And even those who like similar shows like Glee, have a party dedicated to eating unhealthy junk food and watching their favorite shows.
However, the amount of time spent watching television is beginning to fade due to the Internet.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d-dZlxqs7g]

 

Internet
With apps like Hulu and Netflix, Americans can watch their favorite TV shows anywhere and anytime. The Internet gives them the flexibility to catch up on their latest shows at the viewer’s convenience. It’s also a gateway for people to comment and express their thoughts and opinions about the TV shows they have come to adore. I don’t think there has been a single episode of Game of Thrones after which viewers would go online and praise or spout angry comments. Pretty soon, viewers won’t have to watch TV. They can just simply watch what they want online.

Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, which is the target for most major networks, are watching less television than the previous year, according to a Nielsen survey. After all, it makes more sense to pay 10 dollars a month rather than spend nearly 100 dollars on broadcast television. Let’s not forget that smartphones and tablet computers are also having a major impact on increased internet usage.

Viewers would need a TV set to watch shows and other programs, but with mobile phones and tablets providing the freedom to log onto the Internet, viewers have access almost anywhere.

[caption id="attachment_3251" align="aligncenter" width="364"] Words of wisdom from Ron Burgundy himself[/caption]

 

Winner: TV

Surprised? It’s true broadcast TV is dying down while Internet streaming is gaining more popularity. However, TV is still the biggest media outlet in America at the moment. True, you can watch almost anything online, but the television is still the biggest medium when it comes to shows and other TV programs. Ever since the invention of the television, TV has been one of the forefronts in bringing people together. Though that may soon change with the rise of the Internet, the modern television has yet to lose its popularity in America.

If I Were an Outsider, What Would I Say About Mass Media?

[caption id="attachment_3207" align="aligncenter" width="450"] What's so much better about the flat black dog than me?[/caption]

If I were an outsider to our "modern" and "connected" society---perhaps someone hailing from a community where mass media and the quick distribution of information never existed---what would I think about our increasing submersion in online virtual realities? I’m sure I wouldn't be worried about the world’s richest R&B couple, that enormous pet rabbit over in Scotland, or even the latest mid-term elections in North America. Without mass media in my life, I wouldn't be constantly surrounded by flashy images in digital or print which tend to provide false ideas of how a person should be living. I can only imagine that if I were indeed a person who lived in a community where the use of mass media and easy information dissemination never existed, I would think more often of the others around me; I would work more on myself and my faith; I imagine that I would feel a lot more at peace.

If I were to be alive one thousand years from now, what would I contemplate about mass media and its long term effects? I’m sure I wouldn't care about the countless millions of "Selfies" taken daily; I’d hardly be able to read through the billions of blogs and websites to find an exact answer to a question. Despite my hypothetically cynical and senile sour take on it, could the exploration and distribution of mass media someday become a custom and folk tradition during those years from 2014 to 3014? Or would I be stuck naively believing, “Hundreds of years ago, everyone and her Mom would, after suppertime, forgo conversation and community to go into separate bedrooms to hunch over computers and watch videos of others and even themselves.”? I fear that a thousand years from now, if I were to be alive, I’d be looking back on all of the isolation that humans endured while putting mass media first.

The reasons I might feel bitter: There are times I find the information age distracting, annoying, and even at times downright exhausting. It seems at times that everyone who advertises online, through print, and on billboard, is in constant competition, all attempting to become famous in one way or another. I also wonder why everyone has become self-involved to the point of missing out on real-life human connections. People spend significant time sharing their personal stories and opinions about their family, their pets, their friends, and their ideas by using their photos, their blogs, their voices. It seems tiresome and tremendously difficult to live up not only to the ideal physical, emotional, and mental but now even digital way of living in a modern pop-culture world. For one to become not just a great family man/woman, boss, and weekend gardener but now also e-mailer, media blogger, political idea-generator, and assiduous liker of friends' gym photos all at the same time seems much too exhausting. Wouldn't life be more simplistic and meaningful if we had only each other?

[caption id="attachment_3205" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Maybe Keanu has a point.[/caption]

That is all, of course, if I were an outsider or living a thousand years from now. But I’m not an outsider to mass media in the least, and I definitely don’t know what life looks like in 3014. Alongside everyone I personally know, we are all a living, breathing culprit of the world's mass media crime. I read articles and view videos online. I post articles and videos online. I distribute teachings and facts that I've learned. I distribute personal feelings and ideas. I distribute some things to the outside world, hoping that in some way it can reach another person in an academic way. I can’t waste time hating mass media; I choose to embrace it in a balanced manner.

So, I ask myself again: What if I was an outsider or future historian---but one who could find a beautiful thing or two about mass media and its effects on pop-culture? What if I found that while it distributes many forms of information to regions all over the world, it continues to create space and inspirations for new ideas, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, and even a few psychological needs? Mass media is provided electronically and digitally, through print and big, crafted signs. It may even be provided vocally with the art of public speaking. In the modern worlds that thrive on pop culture, all forms of information are accepted and discussed. The people working within mass media provide wonderful sources of information by either addressing problematic issues or brainstorming multiple solutions. There is an ever-growing platform for creative expression. Mass media may cause isolation for some, but it also brings people from all over the world together---a sense of "interconnectedness." Maybe mass media isn't so bad after all.

Some communities that choose to stray from mass media are happy in their own version of what life should look like. In fact, many individuals who have been surrounded by mass media all of their lives take to the mountains with rucksacks, creating a new version of what life should be. Mass media and the ever growing distribution of information are not for everyone. But I have to be grateful for all that it has done for me, and everyone I know. Perhaps I won’t win a YouTube nomination for Best Music Video, and perhaps in the end, we will all become egotistical, isolated, human beings---but what an interesting change in sociology we've made so far.