Just last week, a co-worker told me she and her two roommates had to cut off their cable television to meet the economic crisis head on.
But she said she's still watching her favorite shows, "American Idol" and "Big Love." Only now, she's watching them on the Internet. How does she do that? Full episodes of both of those shows are not available on the Internet through sites like Hulu.com. She told me about two sites on the Web that stream episodes to your computer -- illegally. (No, I'm not going to tell you what those sites are).
Another co-worker who lives in rural Utah told me she watches a lot of TV on the Internet too because she gets lousy reception where she lives. They illustrate a movement that is getting stronger as more people elect to cut off their cable or satellite service due to economic pressures.
Last December, Americans watched 14.3 billion videos online, a 13-percent jump from the previous month, according to Internet research company comScore. That number continues to grow monthly, because people are getting more comfortable watching television programs on their personal computers.
Sure, it takes a broadband connection to view these programs streaming on a computer, an average cost of about $50 per month through cable. But that's better than paying fees of $120 or so for the Internet connection and cable TV.
When this trend started surfacing a couple of years ago, I wrote that watching television shows on the Internet was going to have one big hurdle -- people won't get used to viewing series on a small computer screen.
But that's exactly what they're doing now. I still prefer to watch "24" or "Big Love" on my 61-inch big screen, because a high-quality production like those in high definition has no substitute.
Yet more people are finding it convenient to watch the smaller screen, whether that's on their work computer or their laptop while they're lying in bed.
There are some sites housed outside the United States that link to illegally downloaded episodes that were captured by professional video pirates. Since they're digitized from the actual television signal, the quality of the episodes is top-notch, with crystal-clear picture and sound.
Meanwhile, electronics manufacturers are building set-top boxes, including the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, that can stream Internet video from your computer to your TV, so you don't have to watch those shows on just your monitor.
As our economic outlook grows dimmer, it's going to be harder to justify paying increasing costs for TV. Savvy TV fans are finding better ways to bring the shows they love to their living rooms without paying a bundle. Good for them.
