Photograph by Ian Chase

Television has changed drastically over the last twenty years.

When I was growing up in the 1980s, there were just four channels to choose from; BBC1, BBC2, ITV and (as of November 1982) Channel 4. The majority of children’s television was to be found on BBC1 and ITV - and that was at set times too, usually after school between 3.30pm and 5.30pm. That’s just two hours a night.

In the 1990s, the UK was introduced to several new options for television.

Sky dishes allowed easy, commercial access to satellite television.

There was also the introduction of fibre optic cables in certain regions which offered a similar service. Northampton - where I lived in the 90s - was going through a regeneration stage at the time who were involved in the early stages of cable television.

With this influx of new television channels came a huge collection of children’s channels inspired by the USA, such as Nickleodeon and The Childrens Channel (later to be rebranded Trouble). These channels offered kids a huge variety of new programmes, mostly imported from the USA, but none-the-less more programmes than any child could actually watch.

Over the last ten years, digital TV has become standard practise across the UK. At first, it was just an upgrade option from Sky and regional cable companies like Telewest but it wasn’t long before an additional digital service was broadcast using traditional radio waves across the country, available to anyone with a Freeview compatible television or a set-top Freeview box.

Digital television has revolutionised the way people watch television. Rather than being restricted to typical broadcast schedules, viewers are now able to create their own schedule using on demand and catch up services such as BBC iPlayer and 4OD. Viewers can pick and choose the programmes they want to watch when they want to watch it.

While this can be seen as a huge development and improvement for creating the perfect viewing experience, it has also made our society a lot more fussy and demanding. Viewing habits are moving away from traditional television channels, patiently waiting for our favourite programmes, and changing towards this bespoke pattern that can only be defined as fussy.

Recently, I’ve noticed my two year old son adopting this fussy nature (although it may also be seen as the infamous “terrible twos” stage).

This child, who can barely string a sentence of more than two words together, knows that there are hundreds of programmes that he enjoys readily available on demand. Not only can we switch between 30 odd channels dedicated to children - some simply created from those traditional formats in the 80s and 90s such as CBBC, Cbeebies and CITV - but there are also an endless supply of series from established brands like Bob the Builder, Postman Pat and Thomas the Tank Engine on demand.

While there are obvious advantages to this on-demand lifestyle (how else do you entertain an awake child at 5am on a Sunday morning?), does the impulsive, impatient nature digital TV is creating open all sorts of issues for the future of our children?

Our generation is used to waiting - dial up internet with “break neck” speeds of 4kb/sec downloads, rewinding video cassettes to play our favourite programmes, waiting for the UK to catch up with the latest Hollywood blockbuster - we have learned to adapt to a slower lifestyle.

The next generation are used to an “on demand” lifestyle - buying and listening to the latest music in meer seconds, playing the latest computer game on their Wii without leaving the room, watching the latest series of Lost before it’s even aired on television - it can’t be healthy to have such high demands.

What are your thoughts on this? The topic is mainly aimed at the parents out there but you may have noticed the change in personality with your siblings or cousins. It will be interesting to get feedback from other parents on the issue and whether you think it will have an impact on society in the future.