Flow (television)
Encyclopedia
In television
programming, flow is how channels
and networks
try to hold their audience from program
to program, or from one segment of a program to another. Thus, it is the "flow" of television material from one element to the next.
The term is also significant in television studies
, the academic analysis of the medium. Media scholar Raymond Williams
is responsible for first using the term in this sense. He emphasized that flow is "the defining characteristic of broadcasting, simultaneously as a technology and as a cultural form" (1975, p. 86, 93). "It is evident that what is now called 'an evening's viewing' is in some ways planned by providers and then by viewers as a whole; that it is in any event planned in discernible sequences which in this sense override particular program units" (Fink 2005, p. 132).
Since the 1990s, the concept of flow has been threatened by new technologies and programming strategies that free the viewer from the old television model. VCRs, DVDs, DVRs
(such as TiVo
), Video-on-Demand
, and online video sources all allow the viewer to construct their own flow. They are no longer limited to a choice of three or four networks, as they were in the 1950s-1960s.
Consequently, the concept of flow is under attack and may not survive beyond the broadcast era of television.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
programming, flow is how channels
Channel (communications)
In telecommunications and computer networking, a communication channel, or channel, refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel...
and networks
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
try to hold their audience from program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
to program, or from one segment of a program to another. Thus, it is the "flow" of television material from one element to the next.
The term is also significant in television studies
Television studies
Television studies is an academic discipline that deals with critical approaches to television. Usually, it is distinguished from mass-communication research, which tends to approach the topic from an empirical perspective...
, the academic analysis of the medium. Media scholar Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams
Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...
is responsible for first using the term in this sense. He emphasized that flow is "the defining characteristic of broadcasting, simultaneously as a technology and as a cultural form" (1975, p. 86, 93). "It is evident that what is now called 'an evening's viewing' is in some ways planned by providers and then by viewers as a whole; that it is in any event planned in discernible sequences which in this sense override particular program units" (Fink 2005, p. 132).
Since the 1990s, the concept of flow has been threatened by new technologies and programming strategies that free the viewer from the old television model. VCRs, DVDs, DVRs
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
(such as TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
), Video-on-Demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
, and online video sources all allow the viewer to construct their own flow. They are no longer limited to a choice of three or four networks, as they were in the 1950s-1960s.
Consequently, the concept of flow is under attack and may not survive beyond the broadcast era of television.
Sources
- Fink, Robert (2005). Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice. ISBN 0-520-24550-4.
- Williams, Raymond (1974). Television: Technology and Cultural Form. London: Fontana.