Technology

History
For many decades, the audience was at the mercy of network executives. If a show was to be seen, it would be aired on a specific channel at a specific time. This required television shows to become “must-see TV” to be viewed as successful. A show’s success hinged upon ratings, and a hook in the first act of every episode was required. The introduction of the videocassette recorder (VCR) rattled the chains of silver-screen slavery: a user-centered technology for the television story. In line with Robert R. Johnson’s User-Centered Technology: A Rhetorical Theory For Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts, the television can be viewed as the artifact of a system-centered technology. The VCR allowed television shows to be recorded and watched at a viewer’s discretion--though not without issues. The VCR was not considered “user-friendly,” as many a joke has been made about the lack of knowledge of the public to program the VCR (Computer Hope). The VCR was phased out by the digital video disc player. DVD releases of complete seasons allowed people to catch up on shows at their own time in chronological order, a fact which helped boost ratings for the second season of 24.

The emergence of the World Wide Web and high speed internet made anything and everything accessible to anyone and everyone. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded what would become Netflix, a website that rented DVD’s similarly to Blockbuster video. It was a matter of time before that was followed by watching shows on a video site such as Youtube. In 2007, Netflix offered streaming services of television shows and movies. This streaming service followed a similar model to premium cable channels such as HBO: create original content worth buying a subscription for.

Diverging opinions were found regarding the prediction of when internet television would completely take over its coaxial predecessor. The Economist wrote though it was predicted to cause a quick death of cable television as we knew it, it has been a slow bleed. Jeff Green of the website Recode wrote the opposite: the end is nigh due to high cable costs, a plethora of advertising time almost dominating the actual content, and the increasing number of alternative options.

2015 “was the year streaming services moved from being an alternative to cable, to being a full-scale replacement for it. Mostly this was because writers and actors finally saw streaming services as a desirable home for their passion projects, instead of a last resort. This new legitimacy probably has something to do with the fact that the coveted 18-34 age bracket happens to overlap with the most common age of cord-cutters.”

Why this matters was eloquently summed up by Calvin Page, an IT Specialist for the website IT Briefcase. “Gone are the days of making sure that you were home at a certain time for your favorite show, as with streaming video, DVR’s, on-demand services and recording technology you can watch pretty much what you want, whenever you want.”  Television scheduling is no longer within the realm of corporate executives at television networks, but the uninitiated viewer, to paraphrase from pages 76-77 of Robert R. Johnson’s User-Centered Technology - A Rhetorical Theory for Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts. The viewer is the user, and the technology is now user-centered with internet television.

“A television storyteller’s first job is to avoid alienating potential viewers."  On common cable, ratings are the driving force of a show existing.  If a show alienates viewers, it is dead.  The cable structure is a simple schedule of certain shows at certain times every week.  The user has little control over the artifact, rather than what channel to be watched.  One can channel surf and stumble upon a program that would alienate them, thus the type of content allowed in shows can be restricted.  These restrictions are lax in premium channels and streaming television.  While premium cable follows the same format of common cable--certain shows at a certain time--streaming services are on demand.  The user is in control of the artifact.  The user chooses what to watch, and can stop the show if alienated. On cable, the user has no such control other than changing the channel.

Allowing the user to take in the show at their own pace, not having to repeat previous narratives in case an earlier episode was missed, and being able to stretch the story cycle over multiple episodes opposed to compressing one for each episode are benefits to streaming shows. Being able to adapt and change a show in regards to audience input while filming, sometimes “sagging” narratives that are not considered very interesting, and the loss of anticipation are some of the complexities lost on a season being released all at once.

A New Genre?
Technology has been at the forefront of a growing storytelling change in television. While the structures ingrained into our subconscious may forever be utilized and appreciated, there has been a growing desire for something a bit different; more complex (West). Some television has become complex, according to Jason Mittell in his book Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling. “Narrative complexity redefines episodic forms under the influence of serial narration…with the underlying assumption that a series is a cumulative narrative that builds over time, rather than resetting back to a steady-state equilibrium at the end of every episode,” (p. 18-19).

Origins of this growing television complexity can be traced back to X-Files, where episodes alternated between a monster-of-the-week arc and a “mythology” arc; a continuing narrative for a story that exceeded the length an episode would allow. This back and forth divided fans, but Buffy the Vampire Slayerand Angel seemed to pull this off better in the eyes of the audience. Writers were no longer beholden to weekly episodes which must present a problem to be solved by episode’s end. It is expected that a show will be watched in chronological order from beginning to end, creating a longer, perhaps more complex, narrative. Instead of shortening the three-act structure into a few minutes of time, it can stretched on for hours for an entire season, or beyond.

HBO shows such as The Wire and Sopranos ventured into serial storytelling. Premium cable has not always proven the best outlet for this type of storytelling, as David Sims wrote of The Wire in his article for The Atlantic. The problem was the model was still not user-centered but system-centered. On Demand television is merely a response to the instant streaming services offered by Netflix, and others. Some shows on regular cable such as Lost and Breaking Bad, have proven the serial format to be popular enough to attract ratings, but basic cable fails to fulfill this niche as well as the streaming services. House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, BoJack, the Marvel shows, and Dear White People are allowed to flourish in their uniqueness and without being beholden to advertisers.

These streaming shows have created a story viewing method: binge-watching. No longer exclusive to the reading world, binging stories as been welcomed to television with open arms. Sure, one could binge-watch Full House or The Simpsons or some other villain-of-the-week show, but it is not necessary, nor does it make the show more complex. Binge-watching Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist gives the viewer deeper connections when watching Defenders. Watching episodes of Dear White People continuously in chronological order tells the “real” story as opposed to random episodes in random order, as syndicated television has done for decades.

The content barrier for cable channels prevents certain shows from being realized. This barrier is not always about language, violence, and other elements that would send a show from primetime cable to premium cable, but how that content is structured. “Gone are the days where you have write / shoot / edit around commercial breaks and — this is my favorite — you can choose to build an episode around the idea of people binging. It's a boon to serialized storytelling, in that shows like Sense8 aren't burdened by having to build stories around the idea of having some "OMG moment" that keeps viewers coming back every week. And because Netflix and Amazon especially are releasing all episodes at once, not only does it encourage binge-viewing, it also means the showrunners get to tell their full-season story without the fear of cancellation or having to react to changes in viewership.”

“In TV, narrative has always been an outgrowth of the delivery mechanism. Why are there cliffhangers? So you’ll tune in next week. Why are shows a half-hour or an hour long? Because real-time viewing required predictable schedules. Why do episodes have a multiple-act structure? To leave room for the commercials.”

The freedom from editing around breaks and not requiring a hook at the end of each episode--plotting structures that were not developed until the permanence of television shows--allows for more creative ways to tell a story. As a result of viewers forsaking common cable for internet television, some networks are changing their formula for shows, attempting to mimic serial storytelling and placate binging tendencies by airing marathons of certain shows. “TV executives are also working with advertisers to change commercials, so binging viewers stay engaged. Experiments include making brands part of the show on Turner. CBS (CBS, -1.32%), meanwhile, is studying whether commercials themselves should be serialized to tell a story."  Serialized storytelling, which emerged in popularity due to its evasion of commercial advertising may soon influence advertisers into serialized storytelling.  The format change has considered some to question if these streaming shows can be considered television at all.

The effect of internet television’s platform to produce creative stories has led some to believe that it has become an entirely new genre. “On the other hand, streaming shows — by which here I mean the original series that Netflix, Amazon and their ilk release all at once, in full seasons — are more than simply TV series as we’ve known them. They’re becoming a distinct genre all their own, whose conventions and aesthetics we’re just starting to figure out.”  Streaming shows break the typical television convention, such as the aforementioned breaks and hook endings, by not requiring the very first episode--the pilot--to be what the show hinges on. Since streaming shows release seasons in their entirety, many consider the entire first season to be “the pilot.”

“HBO series like Deadwood — which jettisoned the ad breaks and content restrictions of network TV — have been compared to Dickens’s serial novels. Watching a streaming series is even more like reading a book — you receive it as a seamless whole, you set your own schedule — but it’s also like video gaming. Binge-watching is immersive. It’s user-directed.” The concept that streaming shows are more like novels than television has been explored, and may be gaining some traction. Jeff Guo, a writer for the Washington Post, wrote an article comparing the two. The article indicates that television is now completely user-centered. “As I’ve come to consume all my television on my computer, I’ve developed other habits, too. I don't watch linearly anymore; I often scrub back and forth to savor complex scenes or to skim over slow ones. In other words, I watch television like I read a book. I jump around. I re-read. Sometimes I speed up. Sometimes I slow down.”