Have online videos lowered the standards of television production?

With advancements in home media technology improving, the question could be just how long is it before the public start entertaining one another greater then any television network? In recent years websites like YouTube have been a hosting site for public videos of any description. Every now and then a video is uploaded which is viewed by millions worldwide, sometimes even higher ratings than popular television shows.

If we were to compare amateur with professional productions, we would see the following. Budgets for prime time television can reach up to £2 million which obviously leaves a hole in the production company’s pocket with a risk of not making the money back. On the other hand, domestic productions are virtually free to make (excluding the prices of the camera and software). With high budget productions also comes a time consuming process with location finding as well as setting up every scene to the directors choice. However, with amateur productions this process can be done in simply five minutes wherever the camera operator chooses to be. Of course the quality of footage on YouTube may not be as high as a professional production, it all comes down to which ever the public find most entertaining.

Equipment and software have now reached a professional and industry standard which makes it possible to create good looking low budget videos. The current home movie camera trend is the HD technology. These cameras allow for a much higher resolution then old cameras and with the right light settings, it can make for a professional looking production. In the professional industry, there are many types of camera which are recommended for different uses. An example of this would be the ‘Red One’ system that can record up to 4k footage onto data files or flash storage devices. A popular editing software for the Mac system is ‘Final Cut Pro’ which is also used for the post production of many films and television shows viewed every day. This software can also be bought and used by anyone with the right money so it can allow for an amateur production to look at the least, semi professional.

In conclusion, I do not feel that online content has lowered the standards of television production. While clips from YouTube can be found amusing and entertaining, it just doesn’t match up to watching a professional production with a professional crew and talent. Television is still at a creative level with keeping fresh to the audiences. For now, the internet is a second and lower option.