As Sam Cooke sang many decades ago, “a change is gonna come”, and as far as applying that thought to the world of TVs, the landscape is constantly changing.
And the last ten years have provided plenty of upheaval for the TV industry. There’s more competition than before and prices are being driven down. Great for consumers, less so for TV brands.
New technology hasn’t been embraced by consumers, TV brands are partnering up as profit margins shrink. The market seems to be contracting rather than growing.
But there’s one area where there’s plenty of investment, and that is in streaming platforms.
With streaming platforms, you can watch what you want, any time, and possibly anywhere with the right device, a marked change from the traditional linear broadcasts you’d get from an aerial.
The streaming ‘revolution’ is building momentum, and in the UK there’s a new tiny streaming device looking to usher in this new age in the Manhattan Aero. But these new devices do come with a significant catch that many won’t like…
The streaming future is here
People’s tastes when it comes to entertainment have changed and are changing. People have switched to online to get their music, TV, news, film and other media.
All of this suggests that a move to streaming isn’t just a fad but fast becoming a fabric of people’s lives. With the rise interconnected devices your TV can talk to your fridge, and you can monitor what’s happening outside your front door by looking at an app on your smartphone.
Everything is becoming connected.
TV manufacturers and broadcasters have been slowly, but surely, adapting to this change. First came smart TVs, then came streaming devices and now we have TVs with built-in streaming platforms that can curate content and offer recommendations to keep you watching.
We’re in the era of content, content, and more content. While streaming devices are not much different than they were when the first Fire TV streamer hit the market, they’ve grown in importance, finally usurping traditional modes of receiving content into homes.
Which brings me to the Manhattan Aero.
The Aero is a 4K streamer – nothing new here, we’ve seen plenty of them before. It’s not even the first streamer with Freely on it, as the Netgem Pleio launched in 2025. The Aero follows the Pleio and Sky Stream before it, in its vision of the future that is streaming focused.
Unlike Sky Stream, there is no aerial input included with the Aero. There is no Freeview backup in case the internet goes down, a not an unfamiliar occurrence (my router went down as I writing this piece).
You can, of course, use the aerial on your TV to get broadcast content, but it’s inconvenient to swap between the TV interface and that of a streamer – especially as your smart TV likely has access to the same apps as a streaming device. So why bother with having something such as the Manhattan Aero?
Because there is a ticking clock you may not be aware of.
Much like the switch from analogue to digital, another switch is taking place. Freeview is due to be turned off within the next decade, with the BBC aiming to switch off access in 2034.
Aerial broadcasts, in much the same way as satellite broadcasts, are being ushered out the door, their limited functionality fast becoming a relic of the past. With streaming platforms, everyone has access to ‘everything’ (at least everything made available). Would you like to watch an episode of EastEnders or Coronation Street from twenty years ago? You can, and fairly easily too.
The promise of this streaming future is that you can tap into anything, as long as it’s available, a great big reservoir of content (almost too big).
I grew up having access to just four channels through an aerial; once a program was finished you could only again if you caught the repeat at what might be some ungodly time in the middle of the night. Now I could restart the programme just as it’s about to finish.
Not everyone is excited by this future. There’s concern that moving to streaming will leave a number of households behind, households that rely on aerial broadcasts and have little interest in paying for Internet services or creating multiple accounts for streaming apps. On that point, I can agree. Wouldn’t it be helpful if there was a universal account for the UK on-demand apps?
The way people watch TV is likely to become a generational divide, but time waits for no one. Devices like Sky Stream and the Manhattan Aero are the future presented now. Either you jump onboard or be left behind because a change is gonna come.
