Pushing the Boundaries

For many years television networks have been cautious about what they do and do not air on television. Broadcast networks make sure that shows being aired on television are not too risky when it comes to content that pertains sex and violence. Many have wondered how it is that these subscription television networks advertise. One example of a show that has been popular for many years, starting in 1998, on a subscription network known as HBO is the hit series Sex and the City. 

Sex and the City is a show that takes place in New York City and follows the lives of four women who are in their mid-thirties and forties. Throughout the series these four women are constantly confiding in each other and discuss their constantly changing sex lives. The story focuses on the main story lines about sexuality and promiscuity between friendships and relationships. This show is obviously on HBO for a reason. “Sex and the City told a story unlikely to be told be found on broadcast networks – or at least unlikely to be told elsewhere in the manner that it was on HBO” (pg. 216).  If a broadcast network were to air this content on their networks there would be some major issues. 

Now the question is how does a subscription television network such as HBO advertise? Broadcast and basic cable networks advertise throughout the entire day (hourly) based on the programming at that time. As Amanda mentions, “…networks must select programming likely to reach the broadest audience possible and allocate their programming budget accordingly…” (pg. 217). However, this is not the cast when it comes to subscription television networks. Since subscription television networks relly on their viewers to pay to watch their content they do not have to worry about advertisement. This is what makes subscription television networks different from broadcast and cable networks because since they are not rellying on advertisers to help finance their programming; they are able to produce whatever kind of content they want, of course with some boundaries, because people are paying to subscribe to their networks. 

1. Do you believe advertisement or subscription is more successful?

2. Do you think it is important for content that is more risky to be on a subscription network?

3. As mentioned in Chp. 7 by Lotz, HBO does not attain money through product placement. Do you believe HBO should change this? 

 

 

Free Media

Over the years I have heard about piracy and yet I never fully understood the in depth meaning. I knew it was something illegal, however, there were so many people who continued to do it. As I became more aware of what piracy meant, I was able to notice how we live in a world full of pirates! Piracy is all around us! 

According to Newman, “…attention has focused especially on the two forms of media that appear to be the most threatened economically by the disruptions posed by file-sharing: movies and music” (p. 464). When people hear the word piracy they often think about people downloading movies and illegally selling them on the street. Although this is true, there is also piracy that can be seen in the music world. Many people illegally download music which has become a huge problem today especially because of itunes. Those who have apple products such as ipods, iphones, or even ipads or anything that can store music usually download their music from itunes, however, there are some who choose to “download” their music elsewhere. Newmand states, “Record labels and movie studios can claim lost revenue when sales of CDs or DVDs are replaced by free P2P circulation” (p. 464). This has become an issue because record labels and movie studies are no longer receiving a certain amount of revenue due to those who are pirating media content.

One question to consider is who are the main piraters? According to Newman, “…the practice is typically linked to youth, technological sophistication, and masculinity” (p. 466). The reason males are the main target is because piracy sites usually advertise with porn in order to draw their attention to their site. Another reason for why piracy is mainly done by males is because you have to have the technological knowledge in order to know how to download content illegally and how to do it correctly. 

Questions:

1. Newman mentions how one of the reasons for piracy is to cut out commercial viewing. Do you think Netflix can be viewed as a form of piracy especially when people let others use their usernames and passwords without having to pay?

2. Do you believe piracy has increased or decreased over the years?

3. Are there other forms of piracy beside television, movies, and music?

User-Created Content Takeover

Internet has become a popular source of media for the past few years and continues to grow everyday. As more and more people have started to be adventurous on the internet they have come across ways to be a part of the internet world. One popular site that was created and has had an enormous amount of hype is YouTube. YouTube is a popular source for people to watch different videos as well as giving their feedback. One problem with the internet is that people start to worry about how people are going to use it. Since there has been a rise in content created by users people are starting to get worried that there will be a rise in amateurs and that the internet will just become flooded with content specifically created by users. 

I agree with the quote by William Gibson that says, “Today’s audience isnt listening at all. Its participating. Indeed, ‘audience’ is as antique a term as ‘record,’ the one archaically passive, the other archaically physical. The record, not the remix, is the anomaly today. The remix is the very nature of the digital” (pg. 315). I agree with this because these days there aren’t a lot of people who just like to sit back and let the media pass by them, especially on the internet. Everyone has an opinion and some of them even think their opinion needs to be heard. Everyone is starting to get involved with online content whether its blogging, commenting on various websites, or even on facebook. A wide variety of the content created on the internet is viewed as social media happening around the world. 

I also agree with what is said about wikipedia, “whose users, at least in theory, are simultaneously the producers, users, editors, and consumers of the content” (p. 316). I believe this is true because its almost seen as a cycle. Those who use Wikipedia also share their own information on their and thus they are the users, they are the producers, and they are the editors. 

1. Do you think there will continue to be a rise in user-created content?

2. Have you ever been a part of user-created content?

3. Do you believe YouTube to be a popular user-created content? 

The Rise and Fall of Television

With the advancement of technology over the past few years the television industry has been competing with different technologies in order to keep the viewer’s attention towards the television. Viewers start to draw their attention away from television and to the new changes in technology, which creates a problem for television because the television ratings start to fall as the new technology ratings start to rise. One problem with the rise in technology vs. television as stated in the article by Michael Curtin, was the growing competition between television and video entertainment online. This created a problem because with the new release of a popular video game the ratings for males who watch television dropped and the ratings for online use rose because of the amount of males who were online playing the new video game. This became a problem for the television industry because they now had to figure out a way to draw back the focus of males and raise their ratings. 

In the article Michael Curtin uses the writers strike, which took place November 5, 2007, as a way to show the television industry realizing they could use electronic media to their benefit. The television industry came across this idea when the writers strike ended February 2008. When the writers strike ended, the television industry had a difficult time picking back up where they had left off before the strike because many of the viewers had turned their attention away from the television during this time and focused their attention elsewhere. The television industry had a difficult time getting their viewer’s attention back and realized they could use the internet to their advantage in showing that television was still a dominant leader. 

Since the strike in 2007-2008 the television industry has taken a more serious matter in maintaining their status to make sure television remains a leader. According to Michael Curtin, “…they needed to recalibrate daily practices, audience-measurement techniques and revenue sharing formulas, but at a deeper structure level they needed to rethink the spatial logic of electronic media” (pg. 12). With the rise of technology, especially these days, television has been able to remain a leading industry and manage to keep the attention of viewers towards television. 

Television Continues On

Binge viewing has become a popular way to watch television, specifically television series, over the past few years. With the rise of Netflix and Hulu binge viewing has become easier for those to watch television shows continuously. It has become popular for viewers to watch a show’s series all at once instead of watching each episode once a week during its airtime. Those who binge view commit to watching the series and pay attention where as those who watch the series once a week can easily get distracted and sometimes even forget what has happened in the previous episode. According to Michael Z. Newman, “No matter the format of a show, watching on a binge intensifies the continuity of character arcs.” I believe this to be true not only from what Newman has mentioned in his article but also through my own experiences with binge viewing.

 

For my project I binge viewed the hit television series Gossip Girl that recently ended their final season in January of 2013. I believe my experience with binge viewing was a success where as some people have the feeling as Newman states, “ we lose our connection to the larger viewing audience as a community and to the temporality of broadcasting that unites a program with the moment of its airing.” Newman does make a good point that binge viewing can be seen as unnatural and in some way it takes the viewer away from the serial form of the show and being able to have discussion about the show between episodes but I don’t believe that binge viewing takes away from the experience of watching television. However, through my experience with binge viewing I felt like I was able to be on a different level with the television series I watched. Binge viewing gives the viewer a more one on one connection with the characters and the story lines.

 

Before starting this project I was already aware with binge viewing without thinking about it in a media context sort of way. In my experience I have come across binge viewing by accident. There have been many times when I have sat down saying I would only watch one or two episodes and then find myself watching half of an entire season. I used to like watching the shows when they originally aired and liked the anticipation of waiting a whole week for the next episode to come on. I enjoyed this way of viewing shows because I was able to talk to other people who watched the same show and reflect on that week’s episode. I found that as I became busier I would start to store shows on my Tivo and then when I had time to sit down and watch my favorite show I had four or five stored at one time.

 

I now enjoy binge viewing because I am able to watch shows on my own time. With binge viewing I don’t have to wait for the next week’s episode to air because I can watch however many episodes I want at a time. A positive about binge viewing is that you can watch each episode one after the other and don’t have to wait in anticipation wondering what’s going to happen next. You can continue following the characters story lines without having to pause between each episode and wait to learn what’s going to happen next to the characters. It was interesting being able to watch an episode of Gossip Girl and know that there were more episodes to watch. You don’t have to worry about what’s going to happen next because the next episode is right after. The only negative I could think about binge viewing is that you have to wait until the season is over on television and on DVD, Hulu, or Netflix and you can’t binge view when it airs because obviously there aren’t multiple episodes to watch. 

 

 

I think technology plays an important part in binge viewing. I binge viewed on my computer and found it easier because I was able to take my laptop anywhere. I used netflix to binge view and found this use of technology to be addictive because the episodes immediately started one after the other without having to click for the next episode. The fact that you didn’t have to click to watch the next episode to binge watch the show helped because you automatically knew the next episode was about to come on. 

 

Overall binge viewing is becoming more popular because you can watch multiple episodes at one time whenever you want. More people find binge viewing to be convenient because you can plan binge viewing around your own time when you aren’t busy. The rise in popularity of Netflix and Hulu has helped make binge viewing popular because people can use these technologies to watch any show they are interested in. Binge viewing has now made a new term for technology and will continue to grow and become popular. 

Television as a teacher!

Who would have thought television could be viewed as a teacher? Television doesn’t simply provide entertainment in your home or on the go, but it provides life lessons all the time. Television provides different lessons such as, “… how others look, live, speak, behave, relate, dispute, dance, sing, vote, decide, tolerate, complain; television is a major source of ‘people-watching’ for comparison and possible emulation” (pg. 525). Those who view television can see different situations play out and the way those characters in the situations react. This provides the viewer with an image of what producers see in the world and can sometimes give viewers a different opinion on life. 

Television generally adresses the viewers; however, the way the audience interprets the teachings from television can vary. The way producers can tell when audiences are being “taught” is by the audience tuning in to watch more of the entertainment being provided. This can also be seen, as mentioned by John Hartley, as voluntary because the audience isn’t being forced to watch television. Instead audiences are deciding when they want to what television and on what network. As the audience continues to tune in to the particular show(s) they are watching, they soon develope a form of knowledge for that particular show(s). This is an important and a form of the base for teaching because without knowledge of the show how is the audience supposed to tune in and continue to learn through the plots and characters? Of course there are some people who do not focus on the knowledge portion or as television as a teacher. There are some people who do not stay tuned for every show they watch, they simply watch television just for the source of entertainment. 

How to watch television is an improtant question that needs to be addressed when dealing with teaching through television. There needs to be a background from the viewer of common knowledge in order for the viewer to understand the show as well as being able to develope new forms of knowledge through what they are watching. “Television promotes reconsumption of its own forms by teaching lessons in cultural literacy, and within this context it promotes among its ‘subjects’ – the audience – both ‘identity’ and ‘choice'” (pg. 526). This gives the audience the ability to form new ideas while still maintaining common knowledge. 

1. Do you believe television can be viewed as a teacher?

2. When the audience starts to develop certain knowledge about a show do you think its possible for the new knowledge developed to change a viewers common knowledge?

3. Are the shows on television for kids a good source of teaching?

Same time, Same station

A major part of the media industry is format and formula on television. “Until recently at least, the TV schedule has been dominated by standard lengths and cadences, standardized packages of TV entertainment appearing, as the announcers used to say, “same time, same station” (p. 520). This would be more directed towards soap operas and some television stations a few years ago. At the time there were no TV guide to tell you when the next episode would air so in order to make sure the audience would tune in for the next episode they would have to remind people when the show would be airing and at what time. As the years have progressed there have been different formats of television. Soap operas usually require the viewers to tune in regularly in order to follow the story line. Other shows that are episodic require you to tune in regularly; however, there are some shows where you can easily watch any episode and understand what is happening in that particular episode. 

“… it is far easier for production companies to hire writers to write for standarized, static characters than for characters who develop” (p. 520). I believe this is true because when you write for characters who develop you have to think in advance and be prepared for the season to take off and be able to have the story line for the character to play out. When you write for a static character you usually dont have to think that far in advance because and can usually write the characters story line by ear and as the show progresses. 

Another format to consider is the amount of time for an episode to air. You have to think about how long the story line will last and if it will be resolved within the time it is airing. There are some shows that continue the story line throughout a season and there are also shows that end a story line within that airing time. If a show continues its story line throughout a season then usually it is a show, such as Vampire Diaries, that people follow along regularly. If it is a show that ends its story line within the shows airing time, such as CSI, then people will tune in to watch the show whenever they are able to.  

Format and formula are very important in the media industry because you have to think about the characters, the amount of time for an episode to air, as well as whether to end a story line or keep it continuing throughout other episodes.

1. Which do you think is more popular, shows that end the story line within an episode or shows that continue to play out the story line?

2. Do you prefer to watch a show that you can tune into easily or a show that you have to watch every episode of in order to understand the story line?

3. Commercials are a big part of television. Do you agree with Gitlin that commercials get us accustomed to thinking of ourselves and behaving as a market rather than a public? 

Repetition of Television

“Libraries close, theaters go dark, and webmasters must sleep, but most television channels just keep going” (pg. 16) this quote instantly caught my attention and I started to say to myself this is definitely true. The television continues to air shows nonstop, even while people are sleeping there are no breaks of airing content on television. This means that there has to be a wide variety of shows to air on television without showing the exact same show on television over and over again. This puts pressure on the producers because they have to come up with the new content that will attract the audience’s attention. “As such member suggest, television is risky” (pg. 22) this is because nobody is aware how the audience will react to the new content aired on the show, in other words the content will either be successful or it will be a bust. 

What I thought was interesting from this article was the topic about risk adversity and repetition. I thought this was interesting because it seems as though when producers think something isn’t going to be successful they tend to fall back on their “safety net” and create content that is similar to something popular that is already on television by changing its story line. From my own experiences I have noticed that although there is a wide variety of genre in the television industry there also happens to be shows with similar story lines. I have seen this in crime shows such as CSI and Law and Order as well as teen shows such as Gossip Girl and 90210. “If art aims to be bold and daring, finances frequently order television to stay cozily familiar” (pg. 24) I found this quote to be interesting because it is rare that television shows go out of their comfort zones and broaden their horizons. One example of a show that I thought of that is original is Breaking Bad, I have not heard of or seen another show that is about a high school chemistry teacher who makes extra money on the side by making meth. 

1. Will there be a time when television decides to take the risk of making something different?

2. Are there any examples of shows on television that are original?

3. Who is to blame for the constant repetition of shows that appear on television? 

What should be considered television?

After reading the introduction of The Television Will Be Revolutionized, I developed a clearer understanding of the different stages in which the television has evolved over the past 60+ years. Amanda Lotz briefly went into detail about how the television has changed from the time  television started to develop in the 1950s to the television in the present. While reading about the different eras in television I was able to imagine what television would have been like in the 1950s and how it is different from the way we view television today. Lotz describes the different eras: the network era, multi-channel transition, and the post-network era and how these eras have changed over time.

One question kept popping up in my head while reading the introduction: What is television? Some consider this an easy question and simply answer the question as something that appears on your television screen. While reading the introduction my idea of television continued to expand and the three different eras continued to broaden my idea about what to consider television. As Lotz continued to discuss a new evolution in television I continued to think of television as something more than what appeared on your tv set. While continuing to read the introduction I started to think about the different technologies that have developed over the years in television. As technology has evolved over the years we have come accross the remote, VCR, DVR and now access of television on our phones and computers. A period of time without something as simple as a remote has never crossed my mind. It is interesting to think that in the network era there were limited channel options and today what is considered the post-network era there are over 100 different channels to choose from.  

One quote that stuck out to me, “Rich Frank’s grandson may prefer to watch TiVo, but he probably considers himself to be watching “television” (p.22). This got me thinking about how some of us today think of TiVo as a form of television because it is something we watch on tv, however, is it still considered television if we don’t watch the show at the original air time? As technology is starting to advance I think it is changing the meaning of television as well and those who are being born in the 21st century have a different view on television. 

1. Do you believe watching shows on your computer, phones, or other electronics are still considered television?

2. Do you think in 10 years people will continue to have television sets in their homes? 

3. Over the past few years VCRs have started to become outdated. Do you think eventually the same thing will happen to DVDs? 

Web TV

Ever since taking the history of broadcasting class I have found a new obsession with web tv. Some people think this is simply watching your favorite shows on the computer when you are unable to catch them during their air time on the tv. However, web tv are different mini shows that popular networks have put together that specifically air only on the enternet. One of the web tv series that I enjoy is called Web Therapy. The main character played by Lisa Kudrow who is a therapist but has no patience for those who seek her help, I think this is a great and humerous web series and many people would enjoy it!