Sunday, December 7, 2014
The History of the Present (last blog post due anytime before final exam)
It's always difficult to write the history of the present. However, if you were attempt to look at television today through the lenses used in this course, how would you describe it? Take one example of a current trend in television and analyze it.
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One major trend that has risen in television viewing has been the culture of binge watching, sessions of extended viewing of a particular shows. As the internet's role in distributing television rises more content is made available. This bevy of content, available all at once leads to an increase in binge viewing of series.
ReplyDeleteNot that, binge watching is exactly new, people could previously buy whole seasons on DVD or video. However, with the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime that make multiple or all seasons available at once viewers are at times encouraged to watch as much as possible. Shows advertise streaming services so viewers can catch up or revisit favorite moments.
This has influenced how content is produced as well. Shows that are viewed episode-to-episode back-to-back look to rely on engaging story lines or cliffhangers that will keep viewers watching during sessions, almost getting them addicted to a show. Binge watching has been taken advantage of with online streaming services as they create and distribute content that encourages this kind of viewing. For example, Netflix hits such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black" release all episodes at once while utilizing cliffhanger endings that prompt viewers to watch continuously in one sitting. This form of distribution has allowed streaming services to also become content creators and further the influence of the internet in streaming television.
Binge watching culture has been embraced as people take pride in watching a season in a day or a show in a week. Many content providers have noticed this and actively advertise the ability for viewers to see a show all at once. The convergence of television and the internet has brought forth many new ways of delivering content and binge viewing is one of the many ways people have received the content delivered to them.
A trend that I think has become increasingly prevalent in modern tv history, is the rise of online programming, including both original content and online uploads of currently airing shows. The advent of sites such as netflix, hulu (and hulu+), amazon, and any number of illegal sites has made it easy for people to watch everything that airs on television online, including somethings (like Netflix original series, which never air on television at all). The idea of just having to wait a day or two to watch something that has already aired is attractive to people (especially people with busy lives who find it difficult to watch shows in real time), and an idea that began with VCRs and DVRs. We have become a culture that consumes much of our media online, and it’s only logical that TV would make that jump. What’s different about watching last night’s episode of American Horror Story the next day online as opposed to DVRing it, is one’s inability to speed through ads (if watching on xfinity or hulu). Advertisers have been able to work around what made VCRs and DVRs so threatening, and now people waiting to watch until later still have to sit through ads.
ReplyDeleteSites like netflix, that air older shows without any ads, have made way for “binge-watching”. What previously could only be accomplished by renting a DVD box set at your local Blockbuster is now just a click away. People sometimes don’t even bother watching a show as it airs, waiting instead until it is all placed on Netflix. I have absolutely held off on watching a show or a season of a show as it aired, because I knew eventually I’d be able to watch it all at once, ad free. Because Netflix doesn’t have episodes of the currently airing season of any show, binge watching often consists of people catching up on all season in order to watch the one currently airing, or watching an entire series.
In addition to previously aired shows, more and more original programming is also coming from sites like Netflix and Amazon, and even Hulu. With this culture of online television that is being created, there is a greater variety of options for everyone (including an easier access to international shows), however it also can harm shows on television. Ratings still dictate how networks deal with shows, and programs that are very popular and watched by many people online may suffer because it seems like its not achieving high ratings (think Community). The next step in television is to begin tracking how often a currently airing show is viewed on legitimate sites to factor it into ratings, as online viewing is becoming the main way many people view television.
The current world of television media is, and has been, expanding quickly in the last few years through the widespread use of computers and smartphones/iPads as televisions. This "tripling of screens" allows viewers to watch their shows anywhere, at any time (which was exactly Comcast's pitch a couple years ago, when they introduced their "on the go" membership service, extending service to the cell phone). In theory, you could never miss one second of a television show, even if you needed to leave your house to ride the subway to work. Companies such as Comcast and Dish are constantly coming up with the new "experience," such as an app that allows you to press one button to transfer your show from your iPad to your plasma TV screen in front of you.
ReplyDeleteWith this new(ish) way to watch television that is straying from physically sitting in front of a television set, comes class separations and disparities in demographics based on who is able to access a computer, an iPad, or internet. Most cable companies are now offering bundle packages that include cable and internet (and cutting out phone lines, as most people are using cell phones rather than landlines)-- disallowing people to purchase just one or the other, or hiking up prices if they wish to do so. In short, internet is a necessity, especially for the active TV viewer (versus the "casual TV catcher" who just catches a show as they walk through the hypothetical TV room). If you are not able to afford the services, you can purchase a cheap TV (which are plentiful now) and get the basic cable channels, available through the box. But it is the internet that is desirable, now; the internet holds all the content, free from time slots.
Another aspect of the computer-as-TV, is the the effectual rise of solo TV-viewing. Personally, most people I know watch TV shows alone, on their computer, rather than when they air, in a room full of family or friends. This is in contrast to the effect of the TV shortly after its advent, where the TV signified coming together, when there was a specific room for a TV. Perhaps I am speaking largely from personal experience, but I find that increasingly, in homes that I visit, TVs are either hidden somewhere in the house in a wardrobe, only to be opened for special occasions, or TVs are sleek 50 inch screens, adorning a wall as an art piece / a status piece, but only turned on at night to surf channels to catch a show like "House Hunters" or "The Last Frontier" (shows that need no context but offer visual and audio comfort).
As aforementioned, the computer is the portal, offering websites like Netflix (also available on the TV, but requiring internet), Hulu and Amazon to watch unlimited TV shows, at your convenience. There is a Pause button, but no Stop button, allowing you to return to it after class. Essentially, the viewer is given the illusion of total control, in effect, making TV more personal, with higher stakes, and with deeper relationships between the viewer and the characters/narrative.
A popular trend in today’s television is the idea of “cross-overs”. Although the idea is not new it is prevalent in two major networks discussed in class. With CW’s (CBS) popular Flash-Arrow crossover episodes and references as well as Fox’s Simpsons-Family Guy’s and Simpsons-Futurama’s crossover episodes. The sudden usage of cross-over episodes can be credited to the idea of binge-watching television series through online streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. Audiences are able to keep up with dozens of series concurrently and this allows viewers to be able to keep up with a variety different shows that air at the same time. The idea of appointment television is very foreign in today’s society as it is inconvenient to spend a Tuesday evening watching TV. As is the case with the Arrow-Flash crossover, CBS is subtly trying to get Flash viewers to watch Arrow and vice-versa. This apparently worked very well as it increased the flash’s viewer count by about 900,000 and the arrow’s viewer count by 1.3 million compared to the episodes aired before the cross-over episodes. This idea of a cross-over episode was a genius move on the CW’s part due to the fact that the episode after the cross-over episode was the mid-season finale for both shows.
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