Convergence Television (last blog post due anytime before final exam)
Discuss how you see two of John Caldwell’s five elements of convergence television (outlined on page 46 of his essay) applying to the television you consume today.
In Caldwell’s essay he lists five elements of convergence television. These include ancillary textuality, conglomerating textuality, marketing textuality, ritual textuality, and programming textuality. All of these could be related to television we see in the present time period. An example of conglomerating textuality we see today is in the HBO show Game of Thrones. This story is not just limited to what is seen on the television series, rather there are a multitude of places to learn more and more about the fantasy world that the characters live in. This includes the books, which have detailed maps of the lands along with the ancestry of all the major families. If one looks online, it is easy to find other extensions of the show. At www.dothraki.org, there are ways to learn the fake languages Dothraki and Valyrian that are spoken in the show. Programming textuality can also be seen in this show. Although it does not need to participate in sweeps as it is an HBO show, they still have one form of programming textuality that I think would fit. The writer of the books, George R. R. Martin, writes one episode per season. This episode is usually one with major plot twists such as the Red Wedding, which involved the slaughter of a few main characters. These major episodes may draw in viewers that may not normally watch the show because they are so hyped up by the people that do follow the show.
We talked about Doctor Who as a cult show in lecture, but its also a good example of conglomerating textuality. I began watching the show a few years ago when Matt Smith was playing the eleventh doctor. I went back and watched starting from the ninth doctor, but there are 33 years of episodes I still haven’t seen. There are some fans who have seen all the episodes and therefore have a deeper understanding. This contributes this conglomerating textuality. Occasionally there are characters or jokes from previous episodes that some people will understand, but for others, it will just seem like part of the show. Similarly, there’s a spinoff show called Torchwood. It stars one of the characters from the show and exists in the same universe. You don’t need to watch Torchwood to understand any part of Doctor who, but it does provide more depth into the universe of the whole show. Additionally, each year Doctor Who airs a Christmas special, a form of programming textuality. The special doesn’t fit in with the narrative arch of the season and is essentially ignored in other episodes. Though it doesn’t air during a sweep week, audiences who are not frequent viewers of the show can still watch and enjoy the show without feeling too lost.
Although all of Caldwell’s five elements still apply to television today, I feel programming textuality and ancillary textuality are the most commonly used. Programming textuality is the concept that networks and producers will air “stunt” episodes in order to attract more viewers and expand to wider audiences. Today, Fox is creating “crossover” episodes on Sunday nights in order to attract viewers from two different shows. For example, they recently aired a crossover episode where the Griffins from Family Guy visited the Simpsons in Springfield. This episode was a stunt that viewers from both shows anxiously awaited for many years. In addition, they are also airing a crossover between the cast of Futurama and The Simpsons. The CW is also airing a crossover special between Arrow and The Flash. All of these examples reveal a tremendous effort on behalf of the networks to create “stunts” that will reach a wider group of audiences because it is the one-time event where people can see two shows intertwine. I also feel they are stunting shows that have cross audiences, meaning if someone likes the The Simpsons, then they will also like Futurama. In these situations, the people in the cross audience category will enjoy the crossover episodes even more than those who are watching the stunt because it is a special event on TV.
In addition, ancillary textuality is also very prevalent because of the new online streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. Audiences are now more prone to watch “reruns” of shows online through these subscriptions, rather than buy the DVD box set. This increases ancillary afterlife because of the endless syndication possibilities of streaming content that can be reached by larger audiences.
Caldwell mentioned five elements of convergence television, namely ancillary textuality, conglomerate textuality, marketing textuality, ritual textuality, and programming textuality. Marketing textuality can be seen in Harry Potter the movie series and Harry Potter merchandize available for purchase online. This way, the merchandize could benefit from the popularity of the HP series to sell products.
Progamming textuality can be seen in crossovers between NCIS and NCIS: LA, where stars from both shows star in one episode, drawing in fans from both shows to watch one episode together. Also when NCIS: LA first premiered, it likewise incorporated actors from NCIS to ensure that there will be people watching the show. This technique is known as piggybacking, where a new show borrows the popularity of an existing show to gain an audience base. Piggybacking is another instance of programming textuality.
Two of John Caldwell’s five elements of convergence television that I see on television today is conglomerating textuality and programming textuality. Convergence textuality can be seen in various shows like Pretty Little Liars in which the tv show is marketed across various platforms. Pretty Liars distributes content and spoiler alerts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even snapchat. Audiences can go on ABC Family's website and watch episodes as well as behind the set interviews with the actors. In addition, every shows, a cast member is actively on twitter and in a chat room for promotional services and to allow the viewer to feel like they can interact with their favorite characters and ask them questions about themselves and what they believe is going to happen next. The show even as a place where viewers can sign up to receive A alerts on their phones. In the show, the girls are constantly harassed and intimidated by "A's" intimidating messages. If viewers sign up for this option, they will simultaneously receive the A message on their phone at the same time the characters on the show do. Programming textuality is also apparent in the show. Every year the show holds a H'A'lloween special that occurs when the show is not on air and that twists the plot before the second part of the season airs in the next year. This special draws in viewers and also other audiences who enjoy watching spooky halloween sweeps that take place during the month of October on ABC Family. Personally, the main reason why I even began watching the show was because I happened to watch the halloween special during the halloween sweepstakes on ABC and eventually I went back and caught up with everything to know how the storyline got to that place. Since then, I just continued watching the show.
In Caldwell’s essay he lists five elements of convergence television. These include ancillary textuality, conglomerating textuality, marketing textuality, ritual textuality, and programming textuality. All of these could be related to television we see in the present time period. An example of conglomerating textuality we see today is in the HBO show Game of Thrones. This story is not just limited to what is seen on the television series, rather there are a multitude of places to learn more and more about the fantasy world that the characters live in. This includes the books, which have detailed maps of the lands along with the ancestry of all the major families. If one looks online, it is easy to find other extensions of the show. At www.dothraki.org, there are ways to learn the fake languages Dothraki and Valyrian that are spoken in the show. Programming textuality can also be seen in this show. Although it does not need to participate in sweeps as it is an HBO show, they still have one form of programming textuality that I think would fit. The writer of the books, George R. R. Martin, writes one episode per season. This episode is usually one with major plot twists such as the Red Wedding, which involved the slaughter of a few main characters. These major episodes may draw in viewers that may not normally watch the show because they are so hyped up by the people that do follow the show.
ReplyDeleteWe talked about Doctor Who as a cult show in lecture, but its also a good example of conglomerating textuality. I began watching the show a few years ago when Matt Smith was playing the eleventh doctor. I went back and watched starting from the ninth doctor, but there are 33 years of episodes I still haven’t seen. There are some fans who have seen all the episodes and therefore have a deeper understanding. This contributes this conglomerating textuality. Occasionally there are characters or jokes from previous episodes that some people will understand, but for others, it will just seem like part of the show. Similarly, there’s a spinoff show called Torchwood. It stars one of the characters from the show and exists in the same universe. You don’t need to watch Torchwood to understand any part of Doctor who, but it does provide more depth into the universe of the whole show.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, each year Doctor Who airs a Christmas special, a form of programming textuality. The special doesn’t fit in with the narrative arch of the season and is essentially ignored in other episodes. Though it doesn’t air during a sweep week, audiences who are not frequent viewers of the show can still watch and enjoy the show without feeling too lost.
Although all of Caldwell’s five elements still apply to television today, I feel programming textuality and ancillary textuality are the most commonly used. Programming textuality is the concept that networks and producers will air “stunt” episodes in order to attract more viewers and expand to wider audiences. Today, Fox is creating “crossover” episodes on Sunday nights in order to attract viewers from two different shows. For example, they recently aired a crossover episode where the Griffins from Family Guy visited the Simpsons in Springfield. This episode was a stunt that viewers from both shows anxiously awaited for many years. In addition, they are also airing a crossover between the cast of Futurama and The Simpsons. The CW is also airing a crossover special between Arrow and The Flash. All of these examples reveal a tremendous effort on behalf of the networks to create “stunts” that will reach a wider group of audiences because it is the one-time event where people can see two shows intertwine. I also feel they are stunting shows that have cross audiences, meaning if someone likes the The Simpsons, then they will also like Futurama. In these situations, the people in the cross audience category will enjoy the crossover episodes even more than those who are watching the stunt because it is a special event on TV.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, ancillary textuality is also very prevalent because of the new online streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. Audiences are now more prone to watch “reruns” of shows online through these subscriptions, rather than buy the DVD box set. This increases ancillary afterlife because of the endless syndication possibilities of streaming content that can be reached by larger audiences.
Caldwell mentioned five elements of convergence television, namely ancillary textuality, conglomerate textuality, marketing textuality, ritual textuality, and programming textuality. Marketing textuality can be seen in Harry Potter the movie series and Harry Potter merchandize available for purchase online. This way, the merchandize could benefit from the popularity of the HP series to sell products.
ReplyDeleteProgamming textuality can be seen in crossovers between NCIS and NCIS: LA, where stars from both shows star in one episode, drawing in fans from both shows to watch one episode together. Also when NCIS: LA first premiered, it likewise incorporated actors from NCIS to ensure that there will be people watching the show. This technique is known as piggybacking, where a new show borrows the popularity of an existing show to gain an audience base. Piggybacking is another instance of programming textuality.
Two of John Caldwell’s five elements of convergence television that I see on television today is conglomerating textuality and programming textuality. Convergence textuality can be seen in various shows like Pretty Little Liars in which the tv show is marketed across various platforms. Pretty Liars distributes content and spoiler alerts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even snapchat. Audiences can go on ABC Family's website and watch episodes as well as behind the set interviews with the actors. In addition, every shows, a cast member is actively on twitter and in a chat room for promotional services and to allow the viewer to feel like they can interact with their favorite characters and ask them questions about themselves and what they believe is going to happen next. The show even as a place where viewers can sign up to receive A alerts on their phones. In the show, the girls are constantly harassed and intimidated by "A's" intimidating messages. If viewers sign up for this option, they will simultaneously receive the A message on their phone at the same time the characters on the show do.
ReplyDeleteProgramming textuality is also apparent in the show. Every year the show holds a H'A'lloween special that occurs when the show is not on air and that twists the plot before the second part of the season airs in the next year. This special draws in viewers and also other audiences who enjoy watching spooky halloween sweeps that take place during the month of October on ABC Family. Personally, the main reason why I even began watching the show was because I happened to watch the halloween special during the halloween sweepstakes on ABC and eventually I went back and caught up with everything to know how the storyline got to that place. Since then, I just continued watching the show.