In the 60s/70s we had NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates, and independent stations, if we were lucky. A 25" screen was a large screen. We had aerials on our roofs, on towers or rabbit ears on top of our television sets. We attempted to improve the signal from the aerial, especially for the UHF stations, by moving the rabbit ears, putting a rotor on our aerials or buying bigger aerials/towers. Kids watched cartoons on Saturday mornings, and after school on independent stations. Movies aired on network television 3 years or so after having been in theaters. We mostly had to get out of our chair and turn the channel with a knob on the front of our television sets. Some people may have had advanced stuff like remote controls, VCRs and perhaps a videogame from Atari called "pong."

In the 80s/90s, some of those independents became affiliates of FOX and other new networks. CNN, USA, ESPN, MTV and an ever increasing array of cable channels became available as cable penetration exploded. Aerials were replaced by connected cable boxes which persisted, regardless of the availability of cable ready television sets. The remote control became standard equipment, as did the VCR. Cartoons could be found on cable at all times of the day – and kids grew up thinking of cable networks as regular television. Movies were rented from video stores, and became available sometimes just months after theatrical runs. Video games from Nintendo, Sony (Playstation), Sega and others took time away from television viewing – as did something called the "Internet" which opened up another screen to watch and interact with, sometimes while the television played in the background.

In the 00s television increased from standard definition to high definition. Cable companies offered Internet broadband and telephone products in addition to television programming. Satellite dishes now carried the local affiliates and became viable cable competitors, even in areas served by cable. Telecoms moved beyond their phone company past to additionally offer Internet broadband, and increasingly television products. VCRs were replaced by DVD players for movies, and DVRs for time shifting programming. Television providers now offer movies and other video content "on demand" decreasing the need for renting or time shifting. An increasing amount of on demand video content became available on Internet broadband. Video and Internet access became available on mobile phones – which got even better with "apps" to help bring more content, interactivity and gaming to the small screen. Kids grow up learning to expect nothing less than cartoons on demand. Video game consoles from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft (Xbox) increasingly offer various degrees of Internet connectivity in addition to innovative gaming experiences.

And now we have the 10s. New television screens are wide, flat and large – some now checking in at over 60". They borrowed the concept of "apps" from smart phones and are bringing more Internet content, including high-quality streaming video, to the larger screen. Companies like Netflix, Amazon and Apple are providing movies and other high-quality video content over the Internet, accessible via these television apps. Websites like Hulu play recent episodes of your favorite network television programming in case you didn't record it. Mobile apps allow much of this content to play on mobile devices such as phones, and their larger cousin the "tablet." Cable/dish/telecom companies talk about making "television everywhere" opportunities available. Meanwhile, a small but growing segment of "cord cutters" has used the influx of Internet television/video options as an excuse to discontinue "cable" service from a cable/dish/telecom.

Television has always been an ever evolving and fascinating business to watch – and will continue to be so. For marketers, many of these opportunities will begin to resemble digital marketing more than what many of us think of as television advertising – complete with deeper real-time analytics specific to the commercial, rather than the quarter hour. While it's popular to think of it as traditional media – there is nothing traditional at all about the direction television is heading and the opportunities this will open up there.