What do we really mean by television? The way we watch television has drastically changed over the last fifteen years due to new technologies such as digital television and services providing on-demand access. These drastic changes have had a huge effect on viewers and have “allowed online streaming platforms to dominate and revolutionize the way the audience consumes” (Aliloupour) media, ultimately allowing the viewer to be in total control of how, when and where they want their content. The idea of only being able to watch television on a television set is now a thing of the past. Due to technology, the audience now has a vast variety of options on how they can access content. By using scholarly articles, research in new media and Internet sites I will be analyzing current television and where the future of television will be heading.
The way the audience watches television has drastically changed since the birth of television. The viewer is “changing the rules” (Deign) of how we consume media and is no longer restricted to when they can access content. The company Netflix’s is a great example of this. Netflix is currently the dominant company in the on-demand media industry and “isn’t only changing the way that we watch television, but it’s also revolutionizing the way that it is made”(Page). Compared to old methods of television networks where the viewer is required to tune in weekly at a designated time for a television show, Netflix’s has allowed the viewer to watch
Television has been criticized as “a vast cultural wasteland”. Tv is supposed to be something that people use for fun and entertainment not a way to get away from your problems. Now with that being said this quote is trying to say that tv is useless. I think the reason that some people think that tv is useless is because of shows like SpongeBob and family guy. Sponge bob is a very popular kids show that has been around for years but doesn’t benefit the people watching it in anyway. In fact, watching a cartoon like SpongeBob can damaged the mind of many people and children with the stupidity that’s done on the show. Then you have a show like family guy where the things done can be called stupid but at the same time the things done are realistic but the only problem with a show like that is that it’s very inappropriate for kids to watch because of all the inappropriate behavior and violence that that is shown in a show like that. Another problem with tv isn’t the tv it’s the people. The shows are there to watch and to enjoy but it’s up to the person to watch it or the parent to allow their child to watch that. I don’t think that tv is a vast cultural wasteland because there are many different thins to see and watch and learn you just have to watch the right shows and use the right channels. Sometimes watching tv can even be fundamental.
How many people today watch family sitcoms to imitate or compare values with their own? Probably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontz's "What We Really Miss about the 1950s", she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasn't the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as "Leave it to Beaver", "Father knows Best", families watched them to make sure they were living correctly. It was like guidance and somewhat reassurance. However, values of families have changed, and this is shown on sitcoms today. We watch sitcoms today for
The television industry is one of the most rapidly changing media industries to date. Its evolution from black and white, to colour, to digital and now three-dimensional viewing, there is nothing slow about its development. Focusing particularly on commercial free-to-air (FTA) television, the FTA television industry plays a critical role in the Australian ecosystem. Due to its free delivery, it generates $3.2 billion per annum in economic and advertising surplus (Venture Consulting, 2015). This is why the value of commercial FTA television to the Australian public remains high whereby FTA television is watched by more than 14 million Australians daily (Free TV Australia, 2014). However, television nowadays is much more than a medium of entertainment and information. It is also used as a method for engaging in social interaction (Morely, 1986, p. 22), and this digital divide of interaction is what harms the television industry. The launch of streaming services not only confronts the traditional ‘linear’ TV format by allowing users to select what they want to watch and when they want it, it also broadens the offering to almost any device (Spooner, 2015). The research methods in the television industry despite its strength as a medium, must however, walk hand in hand with the fast progression of new technology and challenge the rise of digital omnivores.
What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The
Television is so popular that it is almost a vital part of life to most people. According to the article “The Real Golden Age of Television”, the first successful demonstration of electronic television was introduced on September 7, 1927. (Handy & William). It was designed by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Charles Jenkins is also an important person to the creation of television because he created the first mechanical TV on June 23, 1925. (D’Addiro). These two men are responsible for what we have today; good quality television. Since then television has brought tears, laughter, joy, and many other memorable moments to the lives of people. Television came to its own in the 1940’s and 1950’s. During this time period television began to emerge into the households many families. This was something new to people. Never would they have thought of being able to sit in watch entertainment out of a TV screen. Then in the 1964 was the beginning of the “old” golden age of television. The reason for this claim is for the invention of color television made it more popular (Clapp). All television programs were in black and white before this unbelievable creation. This gave television viewers a better experience than the past because they were able to see things differently. Though the era was magnificent there was more to come. Time advanced into the 2000’s and so did television. Many
The advancement and development in delivery of media content has also affected the audience’s behavior in certain manner. In distant past, families use to gather around the only television screen in home and enjoy the prime time programs aired by these limited broadcasters. “Millions of households already have cancelled pay-TV subscriptions - up to 10 million U.S. households are currently broadband-only. And about 45 percent of Americans stream television shows at least once a month, according to research firm eMarketer. That number is expected to increase to 53 percent or 175 million people by 2018.” Anderson, Mae, and Michael Liedtke. "HBO Unleashes Streaming from Cable Contracts." The Charleston Gazette, 16 Oct. 2014. Web.
Television can be considered a cultural forum. By cultural forum, this means issues and points of view can be discussed openly and almost without punishment. These issues can vary anywhere from male dominance in the household, to wars, to racism, to political jabs and still be covered under freedom of speech. Television can hold a wide variety of opinions which may offend, but for the most part due so to prove a point.
Around the world, The United States is widely known as a leader in mass media production, like television and movies. There are very few inventions that have affected America as much as the television. Before 1947, the number of TV’s in the US could be measured in thousands, and by the late 1990’s about 98% of homes had at least one television set in it, which were on for on average, more than seven hours a day. The Typical American spends about 3-5 hours watching TV a day. TV became a way for Americans to either escape their lifestyle, relate to it, or keep up with current events. It has become a tool that the US uses to relate to each other
The spread of television has affected American households universally, which started in the 1940s but has continued to make a dramatic surge. There is a trend at that is being captured across televisions in households everywhere. Politics, reality television, social media and public information is being broadcast from household to household. Television has in a way become a mode of how we think and interact with each other. Television is starting to leave that bubble where it was strictly entertainment, now television is becoming a source of what we must believe. The consumer demand for television as spiked dramatically, in the way we view ourselves and perceive others in the world around us is through a television screen. Although we are
Netflix, an addictive media streaming concept born in August of 1997, has revolutionized the way in which we view films and television series. The appealing and amusing service wholly encompasses a wide range of aspects such as its own plethora of original series, video-on-demand titles, rentable DVDs, and even offers its users the ability to watch and live stream content from anywhere they please. Starting at merely $7.99 a month, the streaming service is affordable, accessible, and an overall satisfactory form of entertainment that has expanded worldwide and is continuing to reach a vast majority, all while impacting society is a multitude of negative and positive ways.
TV, more commonly known as ‘television’ is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. In ancient Greek tèle means ‘far', and in Latin visio means sight. From my perspective and many people of the world television has changed the way we live. Television has brought many amazing things, however nothing is perfect.
Today, digital technology and the Internet are deeply reshaping the motion picture industry with a trend toward the digitalisation and disintermediation (Zhu, 2010). Media streaming services are an example of this current restructuration. Providing an access to a wide collection of entertainment online at a cheap price, they have penetrated the monopoly that cinema once enjoyed (Herberg, 2017). A significant example can be found in the US company ‘Netflix’, source of nearly a third of all North American downstream internet traffic at peak hours (Hallinan & Striphas, 2016). Once a small DVD subscription service created in 1997, it offers today to its subscribers to watch its own produced movies and shows as well as content of other
Over the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the “idiot box” and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend their hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they claim that the development of the structure of the programs now requires one to intellectually participate in watching television. Essentially, the argument is whether TV is a beneficial societal force or is it simply a
Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language
Television, a telecommunication medium some may not survive without. Today’s generation may refer to television as a technological norm; delusional of a world where television was non-existent. Notably, television unites the nation through local or world events, politics, education, and entertainment. Philo Farnsworth, “Father of Television,” invented the television; the electronic transmission of fixed or mobile images. Furthermore, Farnsworth’s invention influenced a new form of media. Young Farnsworth’s scientific, technological imagination as well as, competitive battle with a major-league corporation, RCA, enticed the growth of one of the most popular media mediums; television.