Demetri Bryant
November 23, 2014
Prof. Smith-Casanueva
Blog 3: Television Studies
In the second part of the course we discussed television interactivity from the audience and how the media corporations attempt to keep the audience in its grasp. As the television progressed over time numbers have become increasingly more important. The numbers give these media corporations an idea of who is tuning in, ultimately trying to become number one. Its all about having the number one most watch program as they revealed their secret. In "Televisual Audience" by Caldwell he states "clearly part of the viewers game was watching with consciousness that the act of watching was also simultaneously a kind of ratings vote, a participation in the no longer secret process of head-to-head network competition." To keep competition and growth booming these corporations have to have new ideas and ways to keep the audiences attention. A good way to keep rating high is to stay current with trends in technology. Interactivity has become bigger then ever before.
Interactivity now is bigger then the examples Caldwell gave us when referring to Americas Most Wanted and Americas Funniest Home Video. In these examples the viewer is not fully in control as the media corporations can still filter what they want to share to the public. The opinions of the viewer is not fully known to the audience. Interactivity is a self conscious appeal made by the network to its viewers. It is a way for the program to have an relationship with the viewer. Caldwell tells us "under this guise viewers get what they want from the networks. Networks publicly applaud viewer activity and choice. When shows are successful,the, the remote is a populist interactive voting tool. Now the cellphone and internet has become the new voting tool and way to measure TV ratings. He says "interactivity then was not a cybernetic product." In today's world with the era of smartphones it is a cybernetic product. In the past it was just phoning to show the interactivity between viewer and producer with the example of American Idol in the early 2000's (phoning in to vote) and Americas Most Wanted (phoning in to give tips).
The Walking Dead is very successful television show for numerous reasons. The Talking Dead airs every Sunday after The Walking Dead finishes. The Talking Dead is great example of interactivity now because it is a podcast dedicated to the AMC TV show The Walking Dead. This podcast allows the fans to vote on polls depending what happened in the previous Walking Dead episode, phone in with questions, comments, or assumptions via phone, Twitter, and Facebook. If one visits their website, you can watch videos of The Walking Dead show, enter sweepstakes, blogs, forums, game apps and interact with the cast on the show. The relationship between audience and network is definitely present and has evolved as technology continues to evolve and shape society. The number of ways to interact continues to increase. This can also contribute to high rating because the website allows for the in case you missed people to visit and stay current. Caldwell tells us that television as become more then something you can hold and push into an appliance and physically move around with a controller. Not only has the conceptual frame which we view television has changed, but the relationship between the public and private spheres that characterized television in the past has been altered. This evident with new ways to interact and the change in technology
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