In his book, Television: Technology and Cultural Form, Raymond Williams explains television is an extension to broadcasting which came to prominence via radio and audio. Williams also explains that television as technology was affected by cultural requirements, particularly the increase in social interactions in the post-industrial Revolution society. Williams’ sentiments counter Marshall McLuhan’s conception of technological determinism, which states that technology is a psychic extension of human beings. McLuhan’s technological determination states that technology is ex Nihilo as it pops into existence without external influence. In addition, technological effects are disconnected from cultural perspectives in which the technology exists. Williams opposes this view as he deems it necessary to return history, intention, and context to the discussion regarding television and its effects. William also states the need for choice in directing a new communications technology.
Williams starts by tracking the history and development of technology and analyzes how other technologies such as television resulted from social needs. The growing desire to organize capitalist and military maneuvers led to the development of technology to communicate information across long distances quickly and efficiently. Television emerged from social interactions where it was invented to distribute information to individual homes, thus meeting similar social needs. In addition, the production is centralized; therefore, there is uniformity in the information disseminated. The increased separation from a sense of community that had interconnected society breeds the need for distribution of information to people since it fills their social requirements objectives. Due to improved industrial practices, the increase in societies also necessitated a need to disseminate information, a function accomplished by public gatherings and town meetings.
William’s also explores the organizations controlling the production and distribution of television programming. William notes that the signal existed first, then television came second; thus, no television programs were waiting for technology to disseminate into consumers’ homes. However, the existence of the signals led to the development of information to send it over, thus leading to the invention of T.V. shows. William’s analyzed several American and British TV stations as he explored the difference between publicly owned and privately owned stations. The analysis focused on the types of shows produced and shown on the channels and their financial implications. William’s indicated that the proliferation of technologies would increase signal coverage, thus reaching all areas worldwide. The effect of this phenomenon is the increase in cultural imperialism and consolidation of power among a few organizations. William believed that television significantly contributed to our social construction of reality. Television is part of our historical material encompassing economic and political forces thus will most likely change over time with the emergence of new technologies.
Williams also explored the programming concept in the way television works, where he stated that flow is the dominant mode of Televisual communication. Williams outlines how television shows integrate into one another in a continuous flow. He expounded that there is a flow within those shows from scene to scene or from show to commercial breaks and back. In addition, there is a continual flow of audio and visual information (Thompson, 2020). The continuous flow of information leads to television addiction and negatively influences those who view the information as degrading society’s morals. The flow of information is everywhere since there is still an experience of information flow when switching channels. Williams also shows the difference between the flow of information between U.S. and British television. The U.S. televisions have continuous advertising interruptions, while British TV did not have such large-scale disruption. Williams suggests that the constant interruption with advertisements and messages distorts the main narratives. Over time, this continuous interruption becomes part of the narrative, and audiences get used to it.
Williams criticizes McLuhan’s treatment of television as an ideology rather than a technology integrated into society. Williams states that society is the sole origin of the information of television. Television has also been described as helping facilitate communication between those in power and citizens and how entities can work within the system for their own needs. The realm of private television networks exists within this parameter though they were not the intended effect of technological advancements. This premise forecasts the future of television which will largely depend on the internet.
In conclusion, Williams explores how the continual development of technology related to broadcasting will create an international network of competitors based on different distribution methods referring to internet-based television. Williams concludes there are two ways in which the internet age will affect television technology. First, there will be a democratization of information and communication where laws are passed to ensure local control over what is broadcast. Second, bureaucracy may lead to corporations influencing the development of television technologies (Thompson, 2020). In such a scenario, the corporations may manipulate the business events to control what is aired on television. The corporations will have the power to control what is deemed acceptable or unacceptable according to their standards.
This binary of possible results regarding technological advancement in terms of the internet points out what has happened in the contemporary world. The internet has enabled increased possibilities regarding communications with each other and improved exploration of the world. However, corporations still control the way people use the newly found information and lay the foundation of thoughts that most people still follow. Williams’s dystopia, where the coorporates control all communication elements, is still not practical since there are cracks in the system in terms of pirate messages.
Williams believes that intentions guided the development of broadcast technology. The intention was both political and economical; thus, Williams offers suggestions for future television technologies. Williams argues that broadcast technology was created to improve military, commercial and administrative capabilities. However, future technologies intentions will primarily be based on an economic model. Williams believes consumers should seek access to media production to allow for a more democratic culture (Williams, 2004). In this dystopia, consumers have the opportunity to create content that discusses issues and envisions their lives. Williams believes that future technologies will have the power to control our whole social process through advertisements and general television. Williams argues that failure to use these technologies to ensure participatory democracy will lead to few multinational corporations’ total capture of programming decisions.
Internet distributed television refers to the online portals distributing content produced in adherence to industrial practices. Internet distributed television covers a wide range of content such as online television, web T.V., video on demand, and streaming. Internet distributed television is a subsidiary of internet distributed video made according to industrial logic in film industries. The video can be accessed via Hulu, Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Video platforms. Not all videos offered are categorized into television; thus, services are organized based on specific features. The specification includes geography, whether the service is global or restricted, the business model, the non-linearity, ownership, and library structure.
Television is characterized by industrial practices, technologies, and government policies. The industrial practices and viewing norms inherent to the television medium include broadcasting and cable protocols as the primary distribution technologies. For example, a schedule was crucial since signals could only transmit one message separately. Cable networks also maintained the broadcast norms; thus, the schedule required entities to organize viewing as they acted as network gatekeepers. Internet distributed television is nonlinear thus does not have this limitation as it relies on personalized content independent of schedules.
The technological advancements of internet distributed television are independent of the protocols by single entities disseminating information to a mass audience. The new distribution methods are the central differentiating capability of internet distributed television affordance of techniques to deliver personalized content from a curated library. Internet distributed television and non-linearity enable protocols that were unavailable to previous television distribution mechanisms. The non-linearity in internet distributed television led to two critical adjustments in television protocols. The first adjustment was the adoption of a subscriber-funded revenue model. The economic model led to the disruption of industrial practices as the primary aim of creating content was to attract subscribers instead of advertising to the masses (Lotz, Lobato, & Thomas, 2018). Second, content creators produced content that directly connected with audiences by allowing greater control of production and distribution.
Broadcast and cable television organize viewing according to network mandated schedules. The time-specific viewing led to the development of the flow of content and limited program length practices to deal with the necessity of a linear plan. The current developments regarding internet distributed television are based on changing viewer behaviors derived from industrial and technological shifts. Practices such as time-shifting, self-curated media, and restricted access have become the norm in the internet age. Williams fore casted the shifting cultural uses of technology from residual, dominant, and emergent technological practices. Broadcast and channel distribution technologies utilized three models; the flow model, the written model, and the publishing model.
The non-linearity of internet distributed television established new logic that allows distinct protocols. Williams described the flow model as the continuous flow of content that corresponds to the daily life patterns. The distribution of scheduled messages reduced creativity since the program operated on daily programming. Internet distributed television requires different models of conceptualization due to the self-selection characteristic, particularly from portal libraries. The non-linearity in internet distributed television can be described in terms of the publishing model. However, there are inherent differences between the two in that the publishing model is based on transaction payment to gain access to the library content. In contrast, internet distributed television entails portals and subscribers.
The publishing model involves the transaction of revenue thus has made internet-distributed television an option for those whose convenience eclipse price. Portals offer access to a wide range of content; therefore, unlike the publishing model where a single good is exchanged, access to a range of movies and series is exchanged for a monthly subscription fee. In addition, portals do not operate with a linear schedule and require content curation where there are multiple texts available at a time (Lotz, 2017). Internet distributed television also relies on the underlying principle that users have access to a set of goods rather than a specific good based on the publishing model. These characteristics differentiate most internet-distributed television portals from broadcast and channel logic. Non-linearity in internet distributed television has led to cultural imperialism by curating content that satisfies a particular market segment.
Williams argued that television technological advancements would lead to decreased public opinion regarding the choice of content. William states that future technologies should be inclusive regarding a democratic culture where the consumers have a say on the type of content. Cultural imperialism results from the non-linearity of internet distributed television where the content is approved in the boardrooms rather than consumers. The democratic process is almost obsolete in the internet age as content curation is done by corporations depending on their location. For example, where a U.S company is involved, most of the content will incorporate U.S content leading to cultural imperialism. To avoid cultural imperialism, there should be a demand for cultural policies relating to locally produced content, national services, and children’s content.
Linear distribution relied on structured television engagement as its economic model. However, nonlinear distribution and its on-demand nature necessitate economic strategies’ change since they are incompatible with its predecessor. The technological limitations of the broadcast model necessitated scheduling since viewers had no control over advertising or the content streamed thus were more likely to be captivated by the advertiser’s messages. The ability of users to self-navigate the portals and the content abundance have challenged the norms of advertising used by broadcast and cable technologies. The measure of advertising exposure and level of practices are also different, particularly in content quality.
The primary characteristic of the subscriber model is that a user pays a fee for access to a collection of curated content. The subscriber may be a household or an individual and typically has unlimited access to the library curated content for the subscription duration. The model also provides a value proposition to subscribers by curating content based on individual preferences. Linear scheduling constrains personal preference since it enables a channel to offer a single content at a time. Internet distributed television creates archives of content according to the audience’s preferences. The key to subscription model content curation is providing value to consumers who will pay for the library among all available options, including those that do not require a subscription fee. Subscribers pay a flat fee despite the size of the library; thus, the central task of internet distributed television operating within a subscriber model is organizing content in an accessible and convenient manner to offer the primary value proposition (Lotz, 2017). In contrast, linear scheduling competed based on the content provided. The content is curated through funding original content or licensing acquired content from third parties.
Internet distributed television media makes a profit by balancing the cost of content creation and licensing and maintaining valuable content that encourages continued subscription. Income is linked to the number of subscribers rather than the quality of content or the consumption of certain content. The subscriptions are made monthly; thus, there is consistency in revenue. In addition, the use of automated bank accounts and credit cards subscription deductions ensures a regular flow of income since the subscription is deemed active until subscribers cancel the service. Tier pricing is used to provide more significant pricing variations based on the amount of content streamed. This pricing structure encourages consumption since it leads to unlimited viewing. The benefits of scale are thus apparent since the greater the number of top-tier subscribers, the greater the revenue. Subscriber option is less democratic as it disadvantages people with low-income due to the cost of the portal and internet. However, the subscriber option invokes Williams’s concerns about providing more opportunities than reinforcing dominant powers such as established broadcast and cable distribution television (Williams, 2004). Internet distributed television leads to open markets with alternatives, thus leading to flexibility, thus reducing the probability of monopolistic markets.
Vertical Integration in Internet Distributed Television
Vertical integration in internet distributed television has led to the incorporation of new distribution mechanisms to establish an oligopoly market. Conglomerate companies own internet portals, and the majority of the content is distributed through the portal, thus increasing retained earnings. The avoidance of advertising revenue reliance necessitated the shift to vertical integration. Throughout the 1990s, conglomerated ownership structures emerged that enabled diversification of revenue through intellectual property. The increase in intellectual property also led to further expansion of revenue streams through subscriber funding. Broadcast and cable channels derived 50% of their revenue from fees paid by cable service providers, thus subsidizing revenue from advertising. Internet distributed television made the subscriber revenue model the dominant revenue stream.
Subscriber funding also reduced the number of intermediaries between content creators and consumers. Broadcast and cable television bundled channels into shows and sold the rights to multichannel video programming distributors. This led to the rise of conglomerates such as Disney, Fox, Time Warner, and CBS. By 2013, these conglomerates controlled 90% of television content in the U.S (Lotz , 2017). The content oligopoly market led to increased consumer fees due to barriers of entry. Internet distributed television compounded the dominance of these conglomerates since their maintained their preeminence. Major players that entered the restricted markets were Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu . The entry barriers also include the lack of a deep library of intellectual property since most of the copyrighted content is owned by conglomerates.
Williams’ concerns about an oligopoly market where a few transnational corporations dominate the media are echoed in today’s internet distributed television market. The conglomerates control most of the content and charge subscriber fees depending on the market rates influenced by the same companies. There is resistance to providing more open options rather than reinforcing these dominant conglomerates due to copyrights that limit the library of competitors. The conglomerates serve the stakeholders’ interests to increase share value, thus leading to a subscriber revenue model rather than advertising. The natural alternative to the conglomerates is the introduction of a fully public system. However, a public system has inherent risks, such as the possibility of becoming a government propaganda machine.
Conclusion
William takes the social-political view regarding developing technologies such as internet distributed television based on consumer needs. Williams also examines the effects of technological advancement by looking at how television has evolved from broadcast and cable to internet distributed television. Williams concludes that there are two ways in which the internet age will affect television. First, there will be a democratization of information, and second, bureaucracy will lead to oligopoly markets. The emergence of internet distributed television reinforced Williams’s theories through non-linearity, subscriber economic model, and vertical integration. Non-linearity led to increased democratization of information without restrictions based on linear scheduling. The subscription economic model led to increased content creation based on consumer preferences, and vertical integration led to the emergence of dominant players in the television industry.
Lotz, A. D. (2017). Portals: A treatise on internet-distributed television. Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9699689
Lotz, A., Lobato, R., & Thomas, J. (2018). Internet-distributed television research: A provocation. Media Industries, 5(2), 35-47.
Thompson, A. (2020). Television: Technology and Cultural Form by Raymond Williams | Alex Thompson’s Exams Site. U.osu.edu. https://u.osu.edu/thompson.3374/2020/07/10/television-technology-and-cultural-form-by-raymond-williams/
Williams, R. (2004). Television: Technology and cultural form. Routledge.
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