WHAT IS U.S. TELEVISION NOW?

—by Amanda D. Lotz

Amanda D. Lotz

She is an American professor in the Department of Communications at the University of Michigan.

She has written several articles and books about the evolution of television, as well as the study of gender in television.

This particular article was written in 2009.

The author explores the adjustments that occurred in

the

post-network era of T.V., which took place in the

following areas: technologies, industrial formations,

governmental policies, practices of looking, textual

formations.

Her main goal is to trace how and why T.V. has

evolved the way

it did, and in doing so, she presents an overview of

what she

characterizes as the Network Era and Post-Network

Era.

Major Points :

Political changes : The government’s power over what was projected to the mass audience slowly diminished, as technology evolved.

Technological changes : The arrival of the RCD, VCR and DVR, the invention of the remote control and creation of cable.

Social changes : Prices went down and enabled households to have more than one set per home.

Political Changes

“Minimal choice and control characterized our viewing experience compared with subsequent technology innovations and the modes of engagement they allowed.” (51)

"The truly profound adjustments that have already taken place in the United States and that continue to redefine the television industry occurred with minimal governmental intervention or involvement.” (55)

Technological Changes

Crucial developments in the post-network era involved the new practices of looking that emerged as a result of the breakdown of the linear daily schedule as a dominant organizing feature of television. (56)

The “on demand” technologies of the 1990s that allow viewers to save a range of selected content and create their own schedule represent the most fundamental break from schedules of the network era and the constraints on viewing that they imposed. (56)

"The networks have also diversified their programming base to feature some high-budget scripted programming that matches the aesthetic and narrative quality of feature film as well as more affordable unscripted “reality” programming." (58)

Social Changes

"In the network era, we primarily experiences television as a domestic, non-portable medium used to bring the outside world into the home." (51)

"Most homes possessed just one set, and families watched together, which means negotiations about what to watch — television viewing in the network era was largely a home-based, shared experience. (51)”

Main Argument:

These latter technological and industrial

adjustments changed our television viewing

experience, in the sense that our interaction

with the medium, as well as the role it

occupies in society shifted since the “network

era”.

Key Concepts:

Network era

Post-network era

Multi-channel transition

Practices of looking

Textual formations

Interoperability

Network era

The “network era” took place

from 1952 to the mid-1980s. It

represents the time period

when television was first

introduced and mainly

experienced in the home

setting; where program content

was limited and that the action

of watching was limited to the

available television schedule.

Post-network era

The “post-network era”,

which begins in this

present century and is

still ongoing, is

characterized by a shift in

the medium as the

experience of watching

television and the role it

occupies in society

changed.

Multi-channel transition

The multi-channel transition is defined by

a period with increasing alterations in the

conventional operating procedures of the

television industry.

Practices of looking

The author

suggests that

the practices of

looking can be

thought of as

“day-to-day

behaviors and

norms of use

that have come

to organize our

interactions with

television” (51)

Textual formations

The practices of looking of that time were also centered around the fact that the experience of watching was a familial one. This in turn influenced the content of the television shows, which she defines as the concept of textual formations, since the content was broad and followed universal themes in order to please the entire family.

Interoperability

Interoperability emerged as a result of the

introduction of the process of digitization,

since the latter “was the key that unlocked

new portable, extradomestic uses of

television”

Contemporary Examples

Anywhere:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmw2G4Fvso0

Netflix:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puv1lS00ho0&spfreload=10

Post-network Era:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Po6F4kG7I

Personal Reflection on the Value of these Concepts

Critics: - Lack of gender content analysis

- No hypothesis for the future of television

Related Reading:We chose to do a parallel with Raymond Williams’ article “Television: Technology and Cultural Form”

Discussion Questions

In what ways do you think the experience of watching television will evolve in the upcoming years?

Do you agree with the author’s statement that television is not a dying medium, but simply one that is evolving?

Seeing how Netflix’s popularity has arisen in the last several years, will cable TV come to an end? And will channels like HBO start copying Netflix?