It was in the 1900s that the term television was first coined. From there, countless developments were pushed further. What most of us did not know was that the making of this phenomenal medium started seven decades before. Back in the 1830s, inventors initially worked with electronics and gradually adapted more concepts. At first, there were mere moving pictures, and they were without color. Thirty years later, there was only one TV station established and the reach was utterly small. People relied on the radio to get broadcast reports. This habit carried on to television. However, no matter how limited, the numbers rapidly expanded. When demands grew like this, it was only second nature to upgrade television pictures into colored ones. The demand for television reached an all time high by the 1950s. During this time, programs were no longer limited to the news. In the 1970s and onwards, more options were introduced such as the VHS tapes and broadcasts via satellite distribution (“Television History”).
Here, we see a complex issue that warrants clarification. Thus, it is necessary for us to find out what the real deal is about television. With this, this paper would be addressing the question, “Is Television Dead?” Given the topic at hand, we argue that although there are new technologies and practices available for the media consumption of the new generation and although these can threaten the existence of television, this old medium is here to stay indefinitely due to its ability to evolve as a cultural platform.
Primarily, the timeline is based on the United States. So far, we have introduced some of the circumstances that happened in history, which belonged to the broadcasting era. We would delve more into specific terms as we journey through the narrowcasting and the post-broadcasting era. A substantial part would also be dedicated to the latest era since the elements in question are part of it.
Furthermore, other than the eras, we would define and utilize key terms and concepts such as culture and convergence. Most importantly, we would cite issues that lead to the transformation of television. As a result, we would give examples of such circumstances, which culture influences, and discuss their implication. From here, we would show how the television would remain a relevant medium in the future. The sources range from books, journals, and online information.
Television has undergone three known phases of transformation. The first is the broadcasting era. This was the earlier years of media consumption when people were highly dependent on radio for receiving news. Since there were only 7,000 television sets in the United States, particularly in the 1940s, television was used as a supplementary. Also, the broadcasting networks were a handful. It is important to note that these were the war times as well. Thus, people looked forward to getting the news from limited sources. It was referred to as “broadcasting” because the dissemination of information was towards everyone. Furthermore, the consumed information was homogenous (Uricchio 1-12).
It was in the second phase when people get to choose other information than the readily available news reports. Other than the news, entertainment programs were also featured. From a handful, it grew to 27 stations. By the 1950s, there would be a total of 9,735,000 television sets in America. This era is the time of narrowcasting. In narrowcasting, the information and audience are more specific. It boomed from the 1970s to the 1990s, especially with the emergence of cable TV, which allowed for distributions via satellite. This meant that people could consume various programs regardless of the time. With this, people could choose the programs that suited their interests (Uricchio 12).
The third phase is the so-called post-broadcasting era. If the previous era had cable TV, here we have the DVR or Digital Video Recording. It allows the audience to make their own media contents. Add this to the already diverse programs and now we have an unlimited amount of content. The audience is now becoming more and more particular to the point that they are now personally reached by TV programs. Today, the term audience is already referred to as a user. The tricky part in the post-broadcasting era is that these contents are not only available on television. The user can also log on to YouTube and other streaming sites through the Internet to consume whatever he or she wants to be exposed to (Uricchio 12).
This is where the notion of the end of television may have come from. This is because when people access this new age content, the media context they turn to is not television; rather, it is their laptops, smartphones, and tablets that are Internet enabled. These technological devices can do exactly what television does and even more. For one, there are no frequent commercial ads that may interrupt the user. In addition, users can choose to skip the ads and instead proceed to watching their favorite shows.
This occurrence is the manifestation of media convergence. It is not due to the change in technology that this happens. It is more than that. It is a process that is taking place among appliances, franchises and companies, and consumers. At the same time, it changes the relationship among the involved entities. According to Henry Jenkins (34), convergence is an indication of media power reconfiguration and a media aesthetics reformation. It is in the Internet where people share the new collective intelligence that gives rise to a new culture (Jenkins 34-35).
This is what the Internet, through media convergence, has done for humanity. It is a feat that never happened during television’s century-old existence. If this is the case, it would seem that television no longer has any use. However, since it continues to exist until now, it means that people still find it useful. People keep going back to television. In this case, let us also refer back but this time in history and see the patterns of what kept people and television stuck with each other.
In the broadcasting era, people had dial television. They needed to go in front of the television and manipulate the buttons on it to use it. In the narrowcasting era, on the other hand, television sets came in with remote controls. Here, the viewers no longer had to walk towards the television since the buttons were within their grasps. They could literally sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. This was further advanced in the post-broadcasting era (Uricchio 12). Nowadays, it is the show that comes to the viewers. It can then be seen that television keeps pace with other technological devices.
Based on this historical examination, it can be seen that television is continuously upgrading. The upgrade included in the recent era is the ability to also channel the contents from the Internet and other user-generated contents. Upgrades are also made on other devices. For example, phones are not solely used for calling just like computers are not limited to academic and professional purposes. Media convergence affects all possible media and the ways we consume it. In this regard, the Internet is not overpowering television. Instead, the Internet and the convergence that goes with it strengthen television.
Another point to infer is in the way that television advances through the ages. It is similar to how cultures thrive. First and foremost, it has a long-standing history. Second, it adapts to the people’s behavior, which includes the usage of the Internet. According to Jinna Tay and Graeme Turner (32), media history in the likes of television demonstrates to us that emerging technologies rarely displace or turn current technologies obsolete. With this, in the world of media, the new culture becomes part of the old culture. This is to say that the Internet is becoming a part of television.
This also goes with the rise of targeting audiences personally. In the past, the audience was one unidentifiable mass market. Today, we address people by their hobbies, interests, occupations, and many other distinctions. With this, we know that each viewer has their preferred programs. For example, food would simply get the attention of chefs, culinary majors, and all other food enthusiasts. This is where television becomes part of people personally. The televisions of today are at par with -- if not better than – the other technological devices in terms of resolution. Clearly, televisions would always have wider screens than any commercial computers. The best part is that the quality of the images is close to reality. With these characteristics, television could provide a unique experience that no one wants to miss, which include things like the images of the mouth-watering foods that are featured in a cooking show. Perhaps what television has become today is far from how we used to know it. This appeal to the senses is far from its dial television roots. Broadcasting that is easily attributed to television is slowly becoming less prioritized (Tay and Turner 44-47).
In conclusion, we can say that change is in favor of those that adapt to it. Culture thrives when its people keep on learning things. Consequently, the things that people learn may change the way they do things. The three phases of transformation that the television went through were the epitome of a thriving culture through convergence. In a span of time, a new culture would spring somewhere while the old exists. What we have here is the coming of the Internet and other new technologies. Furthermore, we have the transition of the audience to a user. The market has become so focused to the point of personally reaching out to them through the development of content that is based on the user’s hobbies and interests.
At first, the Internet and new technologies were perceived as a threat to television. They were seen as things that may overpower television. This was because the Internet enabled media convergence. Here, we saw how other new technologies could do what television did. We could get rid of television anytime. However, this is not the case. We are attached to television even more than ever due to the unique experience it brings us while we watch our favorite programs. It hooks us by appealing to our senses. Apparently, this is what the new devices cannot do. The screens of the new devices are relatively small, which affect the quality of the user’s viewing experience. Meanwhile, televisions today are huge and clear enough to let the viewers feel an experience that is close to reality.
What television did was take advantage of the media convergence that goes with the rise of the Internet and adapted to it. Television indeed has the ability to evolve along with the cultural changes in the media. With this, we can say that as long as this culture in the media exists then television would also continue to exist.
Works Cited
Jenkins, Henry. “The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence.” International Journal of Cultural Studies, 7.1 (2004): 33-43. Print.
Keilbach, Judith, and Markus Stauff. “When old media never stopped being new.”After the Break: Television TheoryToday. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2013. Print.
Tay, Jinna, and Graeme Turner. “Not the Apocalypse: Television futures in the digital age.” International Journals of Digital Television, 1.1 (2010): 31-50. Print.
“Television History: A timeline.” Tarlton Law Library, 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. <http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/mason_&_associates/documents/timeline.pdf>.
Uricchio, William. “Contextualizing the Broadcast Era: Nation, Commerce, and Constraint.” The Annals of the American Academy 339145: 1-13. Print
