May 2001

TV Tomorrow

Continued from page 1

By Henry Jenkins

The availability of such digital recorder-based services may partially "liberate" us from the network schedule, yet this does not spell the end of "appointment" television any more than videotape rentals decrease the length of movie lines on opening night. We watch television in part so we can talk about it, and we want to see it when everyone else does so we don't have the good parts spoiled by other people's big mouths.

TiVo wisely targets both extensive and intensive viewers. It allows us to pause a live TV broadcast, do something else, and return to watching where we left off. But we can also book "season passes" to favorite series. The technology tracks down episodes wherever the network moves them.

While Swann imagines shorter and shorter series, the history of television drama suggests growing complexity, more elaborate story arcs, more back story. Among the current ratings champs are serialized ensemble dramas like ER, The Practice, and The West Wing-series Swann concedes would not survive in the media environment he describes.

But I believe interactive television could support even more serialization. Imagine a world where reruns could be downloaded, enabling latecomers to catch up on cult serials. Imagine being able to click on the screen and replay scenes from earlier episodes that reveal back story-say, all the scenes from The X-Files dealing with the disappearance  of Mulder's sister. Imagine annotations by both fans and producers. Imagine a new economics of television that supports many more shows, where a series with a small but committed group of intensive viewers-which couldn't cover the overhead costs of broadcast TV-could thrive via a download medium. In other words, imagine getting more, not less, from the shows we watch.

Undoubtedly, there will be new media forms that reflect the interests of channel surfers. But don't assume this represents the only direction for tomorrow's television. Swann envisions a future marked by diversity of media choices and yet a sameness of viewing styles, an audience eager to buy Ally McBeal's skirt but not to watch an entire hour-long episode. As I said, we inhabit different realities.