Oh, you poor time-deprived Californians, only just starting to watch the last hour of 24.
When I was at school, John Brooks Fuqua thoughtfully donated a Media Center to the Library. This included perks like a satellite dish. We caught the Star Trek: The Next Generation feed, without commercials, the night before it was broadcast. This was in 1991.
Q: What's the state flower of West Virginia?
A: The satellite dish.
What's the enemy of television? Time. The incumbent distribution networks depend on the unavailability of a thing in one part of the world at a specific time. This is for our convenience, since folks on Pacific time are still working while we Easterners are digesting our dinners. But a side-effect is that there's no surprise, as, for example, with election returns. When they distribute the thing to be broadcast, it can be caught. There goes the surprise.
A secondary function of this distribution chain is the ability to insert geographically targeted advertisements. I don't see those anymore since I've DirecTV. Since advertising space is the purpose behind broadcast television, this needs to be overcome, otherwise I think the things could be just thrown out into space — then let us catch them when we desire.
Is the last vote count on Survivor really LIVE! on the Pacific Coast?
12:33:23 AM 
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