In the Cole family household it is very rare that everyone will agree to watch one show that pleases all of our interests. With my younger sister being a “zapper”, flipping through channels constantly until she finds a music oriented show, and my grandmother being a “loyalist”, always complaining about her DVR being full which hinders her from watching “Army Wives”, it seems like there is never a clear consensus. At least for my twin and I who are “casuals”, we can agree on a show like “So You Think You Can Dance”, while dancing simultaneously during the shows duration. Looking from the outside in, one would think that my household consisted of barbaric animals who couldn’t agree on one thing without an argument being imposed considering our different television preferences. But ladies and gentlemen, contrary to popular beliefs, this is considered normal.
According to Philip Swan, author of “TV.Com: How Television is Shaping our Future”, “today’s viewer needs constant gratification: if she’s not entertained or intrigued for any stretch of time she will flip the dial,” (Jenkins 264). I can agree with this statement single handily considering the fact that I prefer shows that include comedy, dance, superheroes, or fashion and if a show doesn’t include these factors then my interest is limited. The same applies to my grandmother, who at most would watch five minutes of a dance show simply to satisfy my twin and I’s request to tune in for the latest dance craze.
When it comes to television consumption in groups, I tend to only watch award shows with friends because it’s a live broadcast, and I find it entertaining to see others reactions when watching the same program. Not to mention it sparks conversation even though majority of it may be gossip about someone’s performance or outfit. Nonetheless it’s a great opportunity for social interaction and as Debra Jones puts it, “It's not who you’re talking about its who you’re talking with that matters,” (Jenkins 268). I can’t help but t mention how my grandmother is the queen of television gossip especially in regards to the “View”, which I am exposed to through her constant phone conversations with her girlfriends about the latest on celebrities, and what Whoopi Goldberg was wearing today. As for other television programming, I watch dance related shows with my twin since we share the same passion, and leave the comedy programs like Kevin Harts, “Seriously Funny” for family time despite its derogatory language.
Recently however, I haven’t been watching that much television since I am in college which comes with demands that are important like homework, dance, and work. If I do find time to watch television, which is very rare, I watch the episodes that I missed on “Hulu” since nine times out of ten the show I wanted to watch isn’t airing on that particular day in which I have no work. I wouldn’t say that I use the internet as a constant supplement to television but it is convenient when I do miss a show. As for my cell phone, I only use it for texting and calling purposes just as I did when I was at home, so it really doesn’t have much of an influence on my television habits. Since the turkey season is fastly approaching which is complimented by a brief break from school, I am sure that I will be consuming more television than I am now!
As for whether or not television consumption has changed the Net-age or vice versa, I personally believe that it has had a slight effect on myself but for shows like “American Idol, and “Americas Best Dance Crew”, it has had an impact. As a series progresses, audience members begin to have favorite contestants or groups, so they are bound to rush to the internet to find out more information about them. I was guilty of doing this when it came to one of the seasons on ABDC, where I decided to look up “Boogie Bots”, only to find out that members of the crew attended UMBC!!! Internet influence can have both positive and negative effects, an example of a negative effect would be finding out that one of the contestants on a show used to be a stripper prior to competing which would spark up controversy. Cellular devices also contributes to television consumption with some shows having viewers use their cell phones to cast their votes in order to keep a certain person or group on the show.
So what assumption can we make from this? It’s a clear one: television consumption with the aid of internet and cell phones will be common formulas for the future success of television programming.
Reference From:
Jenkins, Henry, “TV in the Net-age”, Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 6th edition. Boston. Pearson, 2010
Image From: http://ldsmediatalk.com/2009/04/01/video-watching-live-tv-still-king/
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