Lection 6. Television, texts and audiences

1. Television, texts and audiences

TELEV IS ION,
TEXTS AND
AUDIENCES

2. TELEVISION TODAY

• The development of cultural studies has been closely connected to
the study of media, and television has been a major focus of cultural
studies for a long time. Television has produced a large number of
popular cultural texts and has had a massive audience, making it a
significant medium. It has been a primary form of communication in
the Western world and is increasingly important in developing
nations.

3.

TELEVISION TODAY
• These changes and their significance will be discussed later in this chapter.
For now, we acknowledge that the old-fashioned way of gathering to watch
television on a bulky set at a specific time determined by a network is no
longer the central viewing paradigm.

4.

TELEVISION TODAY
• However, there is ample evidence to show that television and its various
forms still play a central role in the media landscape and should be
analyzed in the present rather than treated as a thing of the past. In 2013,
television's international reach did not decline like fixed telephony and
radio broadcasting. Television set purchases are increasing in developing
nations and have plateaued, but not declined, in developed countries.

5.

TELEVISION TODAY
• There are overlaps between the topics discussed here and those
explored in the next chapter on digital cultures. However, for now, we
will primarily focus on television content produced and distributed by
corporations. The key conceptual models and approaches used in
television studies emerged during the network-broadcast era. It's
important to consider the context when engaging with this literature.

6.

TELEVISION TODAY
• There are overlaps between the topics discussed here and those explored
in the next chapter on digital cultures. However, for now, we will primarily
focus on television content produced and distributed by corporations. The
key conceptual models and approaches used in television studies emerged
during the network-broadcast era. It's important to consider the context
when engaging with this literature.

7.

TELEVISION TODAY
• Television has been given many
negative names, like "idiot box"
or "electronic babysitter," since it
became common in households
after World War II. Even before
its invention, people were
anxious about a device that could
transmit pictures and sounds into
their private spaces.

8.

TELEVISION TODAY
• Television has been given many
negative names, like "idiot box"
or "electronic babysitter," since it
became common in households
after World War II. Even before
its invention, people were
anxious about a device that could
transmit pictures and sounds into
their private spaces.

9.

TELEVISION TODAY
• To understand television, we need to consider:
❖The programs we watch (texts)
❖ The relationship between programs and viewers (audience research)
❖The economic and industry aspects (political economy)
❖The cultural significance and meanings (cultural patterns)

10. Questions for reflection

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
• Asking the question "What is television?", Daryn answers with a short
list: "Fun, boredom, public service, profit, sports, action, news, men,
Akorda, Astana, President, movies, color, disaster, routine, toxic fumes,
toxic parts, production soaked in sweat, and junk recycling". (2010:1).
Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list. Why do you think Miller
characterizes television in this way?

11.

THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
• The meanings of television are not only determined by the shows
themselves, but also by the people who watch them. Audience research
in cultural studies has introduced the concept of the "active audience"
paradigm.

12.

THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
• Audiences are active participants who actively create meaning, rather
than being passive recipients of predetermined meanings.
• The meaning-making process is influenced by both the structure of the
television text and the cultural and domestic context in which it is
viewed.

13.

THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
• The construction of meaning and the role of television in daily life
vary across different cultures, as well as within a culture based on
factors like gender and social class.

14. Online fans

ONLINE FANS
• Nancy Bame (2000) explores the online community of soap opera
fans. She claims that they constantly evaluate the quality of the show
and the realism in their performances and are involved in a struggle
for meaning with the writers, whom they sometimes criticize for
"doing it wrong."

15.

FANDOM
Fan culture, or fandom, is a term which describes
communities built around a shared enjoyment of an aspect
of popular culture, such as books, movies, TV shows,
bands, sports or sports teams, etc. Fan cultures are
examples of participatory cultures.

16. Antifandom

ANTIFANDOM
• Jonathan Gray suggests the term "antifans" to describe those members
of the audience who strongly dislike a given text, genre or personality,
but who may intentionally seek out these objects of hatred "precisely in
order to increase their blood pressure" (2003: 70).

17. Antifandom

ANTIFANDOM
• This is partly due to the recognition of the fact that there is a sector
of the media audience that can express a sharply negative opinion
about certain films and television programs without actually watching
them. Martin Barker et al. in other places, similar types of audience
were called "refuseniks" (2001: 85).

18. Questions for reflection

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
❖Which program don't you like?
❖ what you don't like about this
program.
❖Is there any pleasure in
experiencing a strong dislike for
the media text in this way?

19. Questions for reflection

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
❖Which program don't you like?
❖ what you don't like about this
program.
❖Is there any pleasure in
experiencing a strong dislike for
the media text in this way?

20.

Questions for reflection
•How does television make the World Cup both a global event
and a moment of local national identification?
• Why do television companies want to screen the World Cup?
• What role has sports TV played in the development of cable
and satellite television?

21.

The cultural significance of television lies not
only
in
its
textual
meanings
and
interpretations, but also in its place in the
rhythms and routines of everyday home life.

22.

• Joshua Meyrowitz (1986) is concerned with global space.
He suggests that electronic media alter our sense of the
‘situational geography’ of social life.