Entertainment used to run on schedules and shelves. You showed up when the program did.
Before networks, people watched programs according to printed television schedules, rented movies from video stores, and owned physical media — VHS tapes, records, DVDs. Missing the broadcast meant waiting for the rerun.
Now streaming services, online games, podcasts, and social media provide entertainment on demand, almost anywhere. The Friday night trip to the video store has been replaced by the infinite menu.
The scarcity was never natural. Channels, time slots, and shelf space were technical constraints, and when networks dissolved them, the gatekeepers went too. Anyone can publish a show now. The hard part — and the new business — is getting anyone to watch it.
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