Technology frees viewers from networks' schedules

Online programming has boosted ratings for shows that could have been killed.
By CRYSTAL LITTLE
LEXINGTON (KY.) HERALD-LEADER
Our regularly scheduled programming is becoming increasingly obsolete.
Thanks to TV on DVD, the iTunes Music Store, network Web sites, gadgets like eyeTV and ATi, digital video recorders and services like TiVo and ReplayTV, it's possible to watch TV without conventional cable.
Customizing a TV habit can be a heady prospect, much like ordering a triple grande extra vanilla 2 percent caramel macchiato at the coffee shop.
And as viewers begin to fit shows like ABC's "Lost" and The CW's "Veronica Mars" around their life's schedule instead of planning their night in sync with the network's lineup, they're finding out they love this not-so-remote control.
Take the most popular way to watch TV on your own schedule: DVRs. Digital video recorders can be programmed once to record episodes of a favorite TV show every week, and it's possible to pause, rewind and fast-forward through the recorded segment; in short, it's a more technologically advanced VCR without the tape. TiVo is the most easily recognized name in DVR technology, but some cable providers offer DVR service with their digital cable packages, and there are other DVR options available, as well.
Choosing the time
For instance, ReplayTV. Because of Replay, Melinda Belleville refuses to watch TV in real time.
Belleville, 51, of Lexington, Ky., has had the service for more than four years and couldn't be happier with it. Replay works just like TiVo and other DVRs and allows her to record and save anything from "Gilmore Girls" on The CW and "Law & amp; Order: SVU" on NBC to a Dave Chappelle comedy special and watch them on her own time.
And she can fast-forward through the commercials. So she unwinds with the latest episode of "Veronica Mars" on Thursday nights -- two days after its original Tuesday airdate, zooming through those pesky advertisements with the tap of a button.
Belleville said she's surprised that devices like ReplayTV and TiVo aren't more popular.
There's one side effect she's a little embarrassed to divulge.
"It's made me more of a TV junkie than I was before," she said.
Nathan Stevens isn't so surprised that the technology hasn't caught on more. Although DVRs and iTunes are convenient and user-friendly, Stevens, the college technology coordinator for the University of Kentucky's School of Journalism and Telecommunications, said they ask a lot more from viewers.
Stevens, 30, regularly downloads NBC's comedy "The Office" onto his computer and iPod from iTunes' online store, which carries music and, more recently, TV shows and movies. At 1.99 an episode, it's a convenience he can't pass up, Stevens said.
Other devices
And although he has cable at home, he prefers to use something called eyeTV at work. The device, available only for Macintosh computers, is a DVR, receiver and video converter that allows users to bring in a video signal from a coaxial cable to a computer via a USB port. (The equivalent for PCs, called ATi, works the same way.)
The latest eyeTV incarnation, called the eyeTV Hybrid, is about the size of a flash drive and delivers free over-the-air digital TV to a Mac via antenna, as well as analog TV via antenna and standard cable. Users can watch live television, record shows and even program a TV-recording schedule remotely. It's also compatible with a video-capable iPod.