The History of the Present
It's always difficult to write the history of the present. However, if you were attempt to look at television today through the lenses used in this course, how would you describe it? Take one example of a current trend in television and analyze it.
In this course we have learned about niche programming, in which networks have been established based on genres, format, demographics, language, lifestyle etc. In looking at television today and thinking about niche programming it is evident how prevalent such programming has become. In television today, there are networks such as ESPN that have been established to cater to a very specific niche. ESPN is a very unique network, in that it was the first of its kind and has set the trend for other networks to follow. ESPN is a network devoted to all things sports. It features not only live sporting events, but also has its own news-like shows in which it delivers only sports-related news. This network is also unique in that it follows much of the same format of other networks, but stays true to being all about sports. ESPN caters to a specific niche of those interested in sports and sports-related news, whether it be sports at the high school, collegiate, or professional level. In looking at the history of television, ESPN network is a great example of how television has developed throughout its history.
ReplyDeleteI feel like a trend in current television that resembles something that we talked about in this class was the idea of branding. In early television in order to have a program you had to have a company sponsor your show and essentially make commercials with a little bit of show around them. There was a move away from this with the establishment of television companies. But it seems to have come full circle and now everything is sponsor heavy. Commercials are two minute breaks entered into each show and on top of that there are the same products being placed through out the actual programs. The main difference in how current television does product placement is simply smarter in that it isn't as loud and in your face, as in a program like Texeco theaters and the like. The way that it works now is a program will show you fifty different products in shorter amounts of time and using ways that make you not notice as much.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that comes to mind from the things we talked about in class is the move from separate and distinct episode storylines to serial shows that carry stories across seasons, or in many cases, across an entire series. It seems that previously this was more something that hour-long dramas partook in, rather than half hour sitcoms. More recently, however, it seems like more and more sitcoms are beginning to follow this serial nature. One prime example that comes to mind is How I Met Your Mother. The whole point of that show is for it to be this long serial story about how Ted meets his wife. It follows a chronological path, and there is an intended resolution, and closure to the story by the series end. The Big Bang Theory, while also having episodic storylines that don’t necessarily need prior knowledge to be enjoyed, still has an overarching story involving the ups and downs of character relationships. I guess what I would be comparing it two would be sitcoms of the early 2000s like, Everybody Loves Raymond, or King of Queens or other similar sitcoms that I don’t feel like had a serial nature to them. While sitcoms like these are definitely still present, it does not seem like they are still the norm anymore.
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