The internet...
The internet is a giant cloud of knowledge, media, information, and opinions. Many innovations have formed through the internet; online chat, webcam video, news delivery, message boards, streaming videos, and many other innovations. As the base of users has grown so has the technology and the features. Now you can write a opinion piece on your own blog without any job and have hundreds read it within days. You can stream a trailer for a new film within minutes of it's release. The world wide web has truly changed the way people obtain information and entertainment.
Today we will be talking about how much the internet has changed the way we consume Professional Wrestling. To do that properly, we shall go back in time... First we start from the beginning. In the late 19th century, where wrestling was a side show at events such as carnivals. For decades the only way to watch professional wrestling was in person. In the United States, television brought professional wrestling to your home during the 1950s. Wrestling was presented regionally by different promotions (Mid-South, Florida Championship Wrestling, WWF, etc.) and you saw different products depending on where you live. The only way to watch many promotions was to go to the tape traders at your local shows and purchase them.
The advent of cable television changed the game along with Vincent Kennedy McMahon who decided to go national with his northeastern promotion in the mid 1980's. The next step would come in the latter half of the 1990's with internet streaming. ECW was the first to stream in 1996 with online streaming video and audio, albeit terrible quality, while WCW started doing "pay per listen" audio streams of events showing pictures from the event to the audience. The idea of streaming content to fans that didn't need to rely on television time was intriguing, but the technology was not where it needed to be.
Internet quality would improve throughout the 2000's. WWE would stream their Velocity program on their website. You could also purchase DVDs from various promotions around the United States. By the late 2000's you could stream many promotions' shows over the internet that were either on demand or even live on "iPPV." That brings us to this decade.
Today, I can stream live iPPVs from a lot of different promotions around the world. I don't have to limit it to the US. I can stream live PPVs from Japan on services like NJPW World. I can have subscription services to UK promotions like Progress Wrestling or RevPro. The US has streaming services of various types like WWNLive or Chikaratopia, and of course the WWE Network.
The internet has made such an impact on the sport of professional wrestling. I no longer have to rely on retail stores or television to deliver the content I want, it is now at my fingertips and can be streamed on my PC or even my TV through various devices. I think that this industry can only become more accessible. As technology improves and streaming devices take that next step we will have more and more content to watch. What a time to be alive, my friends... Now let's go watch some wrestling!
The advent of cable television changed the game along with Vincent Kennedy McMahon who decided to go national with his northeastern promotion in the mid 1980's. The next step would come in the latter half of the 1990's with internet streaming. ECW was the first to stream in 1996 with online streaming video and audio, albeit terrible quality, while WCW started doing "pay per listen" audio streams of events showing pictures from the event to the audience. The idea of streaming content to fans that didn't need to rely on television time was intriguing, but the technology was not where it needed to be.
Internet quality would improve throughout the 2000's. WWE would stream their Velocity program on their website. You could also purchase DVDs from various promotions around the United States. By the late 2000's you could stream many promotions' shows over the internet that were either on demand or even live on "iPPV." That brings us to this decade.
Today, I can stream live iPPVs from a lot of different promotions around the world. I don't have to limit it to the US. I can stream live PPVs from Japan on services like NJPW World. I can have subscription services to UK promotions like Progress Wrestling or RevPro. The US has streaming services of various types like WWNLive or Chikaratopia, and of course the WWE Network.
The internet has made such an impact on the sport of professional wrestling. I no longer have to rely on retail stores or television to deliver the content I want, it is now at my fingertips and can be streamed on my PC or even my TV through various devices. I think that this industry can only become more accessible. As technology improves and streaming devices take that next step we will have more and more content to watch. What a time to be alive, my friends... Now let's go watch some wrestling!
Comments
Post a Comment