Will Internet kill the TV star?

In a generation where technology rules, a rising number of Americans are using online video streaming and mobile applications to watch shows.

The number of Americans using online video sites like YouTube has spiked in recent years, jumping from 66 percent to 71 percent in one year alone, according to the Pew Research Center.

Another study conducted by Nielsen Company, a company that monitors TV show ratings for various networks, found that during December of 2011 alone, more than 22 billion videos were streamed to more than 164 million unique viewers.

What's more, laptop and tablet computers, smartphones and other mobile devices have been quickly encroaching on territory that was once dominated by the traditional television.

For students like freshman Erin Egan, junior Nicole Yang and senior Stacy Santarromana, iPad apps are the way to go when watching "The Bachelor" and other shows.

In the dorm rooms of freshmen Dylan York and Mark Talsma, LCD monitors have replaced television screens.

"I don't have a TV," said York. "So I watch a lot of ‘X-Files' on Netflix. That's pretty much it."

"I don't follow a lot of television, I guess," Talsma added. "I mostly watch stuff online, like YouTube videos and stuff like that."

Now, thanks to DVR technology and 3G Internet, shows and movies can be viewed anywhere and at any time.

"We are a culture that wants what we want, and we want it now," said Kristyn Benedyk, an assistant professor in the School of Cinema and Interactive Media.

Benedyk believes that the appeal of mobile television is in part the appeal of the Internet, with its wide diversity of content and ability to select the clips and episodes we want.

"I think it is appealing because it is immediate," Benedyk added. "The clips are short … they require less focus and commitment than a serialized television show."

Movie and television titan Netflix is a prime example of the increased use of mobile television and movie-watching devices. On its company profile, Netflix boasts that it is "the world's leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows" with more than 20 million subscribers in Canada, the U.S and Latin America.

Netflix also lists an impressive number of devices that stream its services—from traditional televisions to Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, a host of Apple products and e-readers like Barnes and Noble's Nook and Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The Internet has another advantage that traditional TV lacks: timelessness. Unlike television channels, which start and kill shows as their ratings dictate, the Internet can hold an endless number of treasured shows that are no longer on the networks.

Many DePaul students said they watch television when they can find time, but balancing part-time jobs, homework, exams and a social life makes it hard for many of them to pay attention to newer shows. Instead, they prefer to watch older, familiar shows.

Freshman Takia Johnson admitted it has been a few years since she regularly watched television.

"I view shows, like ‘[Law and Order] SVU', in the passing," Johnson said. "I used to be a Cartoon Network fan. But ever since the new person came in charge, it broke my heart. I avoid WB, or whatever it's called now."

Dan Kelly, a digital cinema student, said he watches television exclusively on Hulu, a video-streaming service similar to Netflix, primarily because various accounts have "pretty much every series backed up."

"Right now, I don't even have cable," Kelly said. He subscribes to Hulu's NBC and HBO channels.

"I haven't seen a lot [of shows], and there's a lot out there," he said.

So has the Internet killed off the traditional television? Not necessarily.

While he does prefer the Internet to network television, Kelly draws the line at taking shows with him on the road.

"I don't really like the three-inch screen," he said. "I care too much about [the image] quality."

At the moment, cable technology still means that the clearest picture can be found on a traditional television screen.

Another advantage of the traditional television is more psychological than technological: It has a communal aspect that mobile devices cannot match. It is much harder to gather around an iPhone to watch an episode of "House", for example, than it is to gather around a roommate's TV.

"Watching things on a computer is an inherently solitary act," Benedyk said. "Watching things on a television is communal … it can be a group activity, a ritual event."

Junior Julie Fouts and sophomore Katy Shehy watch their shared obsession—reality television shows like "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and "Dance Moms"— together. In the fall and winter, they watch HGTV together.