(I tend to only be able to sustain a small number of shows at a time, so I don't need that much high quality signal to be pretty happy.)
You and everyone else... that's just how TV is. Appointment television is pretty rare; it's the golden apple that broadcasters and cable nets go for, because it means they've got their hooks in you so deep you're willing to structure your available time around that instance... but most people use TV in a distracted way, so this isn't a big phenomenon.
What I find interesting is that, in order to create appointment television, broadcasters in particular create situations where you don't need to be there, like Lost and Heroes. Miss the show? Watch it online the next day, or get it off the iTunes store and watch it on your iPod over lunch. Miss the first arc of the story? Watch the marathon on Sci-Fi Channel the day before the show comes back from hiatus in time for sweeps. The genius of it is that by removing the appointment part, they ENFORCE the appointment part. The whole point of making it unavailable is that you're compelled to catch the first run. Of course, the Internet and spoilers and watercooler discussion still make appointment TV attractive... I just find it an interesting dichotomy.
Of course now I'm not even talking about the original topic anymore so I'll shut up.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-07-17 07:57 pm (UTC)You and everyone else... that's just how TV is. Appointment television is pretty rare; it's the golden apple that broadcasters and cable nets go for, because it means they've got their hooks in you so deep you're willing to structure your available time around that instance... but most people use TV in a distracted way, so this isn't a big phenomenon.
What I find interesting is that, in order to create appointment television, broadcasters in particular create situations where you don't need to be there, like Lost and Heroes. Miss the show? Watch it online the next day, or get it off the iTunes store and watch it on your iPod over lunch. Miss the first arc of the story? Watch the marathon on Sci-Fi Channel the day before the show comes back from hiatus in time for sweeps. The genius of it is that by removing the appointment part, they ENFORCE the appointment part. The whole point of making it unavailable is that you're compelled to catch the first run. Of course, the Internet and spoilers and watercooler discussion still make appointment TV attractive... I just find it an interesting dichotomy.
Of course now I'm not even talking about the original topic anymore so I'll shut up.