At this point, I think it’s a fairly safe bet that television will increasingly become a service provided over the internet rather than transmitted over cable or satellite. Of course, there are quite a few questions that need to be resolved first: technical and financial ones mostly. But this hasn’t stopped Chris Hardwick of Nerdist Industries or Felicia Day of Geek and Sundry from giving it a go by creating channels on YouTube. But these aren’t YouTube accounts like the one your brother-in-law uses to post videos of your new nephew. No, these are more like full-fledged television channels, offering a variety of programming, albeit nerdy programming.
Chris Hardwick’s burgeoning media empire, Nerdist Industries, has been providing fans with a blog, podcasts, and comedy shows for a while now. But now his YouTube channel has shows like All Star Celebrity Bowling (Hardwick is the son of a professional bowler), Face to Face with Weird Al Yankovic, Ain’t it Cool with Harry Knowles, Weird Sh*t from Japan, and Kids in the Hall sketches with commentary by members of Kids in the Hall. Go to YouTube, and subscribe to the Nerdist station now.
Similarly wonderful and nerdy is Felicia Day’s YouTube effort, Geek and Sundry. You may recognize Felicia Day from her roles in Eureka, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you are particularly nerdy, you will know her from The Guild, an online series for which she is the flux capacitor (she makes it possible). The programming on Geek and Sundry includes Felicia’s personal program, The Flog; the aforementioned Guild; Sword & Laser, a rundown of fantasy and sci-fi topics and people, hosted by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt; and TableTop, a show wherein Wil Wheaton introduces great tabletop games to celebrities. Similarly, go to YouTube, and subscribe to Geek and Sundry now.
The programs are fun and short, and they obviously cater to a nerdy crowd. Must cutting-edge tech things do. But since you watch so much programming on your laptop or mobile device already, why not add a few more programs? Watch the Nerdist team bowl while you’re on the elliptical machine. Learn about a new board game while you wait in line. It’s super easy, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.