TV Tuesday: The Small Screen

[yourlibrarian]

Some observations about TV shows have focused on how people are watching. Do you think there have been general changes in TV as more people watch via phone?

Comments

[jo]

I will start by saying that I never watch anything on my phone -- it's TV only for me. So I can't say that I've specifically noticed any changes in shows that would lead me to think that they were being dumbed down or whatever to be the equivalent of background muzak. Well before the advent of smartphones (and even computers), there were shows that required you to pay attention, and others that were much less demanding on the viewer.

I do appreciate having a mix. I like having the TV on in the background at times when I'm busy doing things like prepping/cooking supper, washing up afterwards, etc., but I rarely watch anything new when doing that. I will usually turn to syndicated favourites like various Star Treks, Friends, Big Bang Theory -- shows that, for the most part, I've seen every episode multiple times, so I don't have to focus on them, or new episodes of things like Bake Off. I also like to have new shows that are entertaining, but that don't require 100% focus for when I'm too tired to handle a show that has really intricate plotting/dialogue/subtitles, etc. Shows where it's totally OK if I drift off partway through an episode because whatever happened in that episode isn't critical to the rest of the series. And I really like having smart, intricately plotted shows that do require my total focus.

I will also add that I don't really do anything with my phone while watching, with the exception of sports (especially baseball). If I'm watching a show, I watch the show. Maybe it's an age thing -- I mean, I've not had a smart phone for WAY more decades than I have had a smartphone. If anything, watching TV is my distraction from doing something more "intellectual", if you will, i.e. reading.

[starfleetbrat]

"Netflix have told various screenwriters to have their protagonists “announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along”."

that just boggles me to be honest. I mean, if someone is having trouble following what is happening, then Audio Description is a thing? Netflix could invest more in that instead - and it would actually be beneficial for visually impaired accessibility too.

I'm not so sure Netflix has actually been dumbing down tv though. I do think they are catering to short attention spans occasionally, in that in some cases, episodes are getting shorter. I've seen some shows recently where episodes are only 25-30 minutes long - when previously those types of shows would be 45-55 minutes. I mean, 30 minutes used to be reserved for sit-coms. Now serious dramas are getting 25 minute episodes.

For me personally, I stream almost all of my media now, but I stream it via my computer to my tv. So I am still watching it on a large screen. I don't use my phone for anything except phone calls (and an alarm) when I am at home. But I'm in my 50s, so watching something on my phone isn't a natural instinct like it might be for someone younger. Doing anything on my phone isn't a natural instinct. Plus, the phone screen is too small to do anything imo. I have no idea how people even watch tv on it, or play games or do anything at all on their phones. The tiny screen drives me crazy. lol

[yourlibrarian]

Yes! That was my thought too when I read the article. This is already a thing, and while not as available as captions (which is fairly widespread though hardly universal) surely it would be a worthwhile investment, particularly for their own productions.

Oh that's interesting about the episode shortening. I have noticed that their runtime varies but it tends to be around the 45 minute mark -- perhaps to both match programming with commercials as well as the fact that most streamers now use them as well. That seems a real problem to me -- there's only so much story development that can be packed into a half hour. I wonder if that tends to happen most own shows with smaller casts?

I can relate to the lack of natural use of the phone and for much the same reason. I loathe having apps on it that I can't run on my computer instead, where I have a particularly large monitor. I first got my smartphone for work use so email and office software was necessary though 99% of the time I just used it for urgent communications if I was not at home. Voice dictation is imperfect but still very helpful.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, I don't watch shows on anything but a TV either. I also agree about different types of shows always being a thing. These days the biggest problem is non-English shows I must use captions for. (I use captions for everything but obviously it's particularly critical for those). I can't imagine trying to read those on a tiny screen.

I also use the TV while doing other things (mainly exercising and puzzles) but the phone is not it. If I start having to reply to texts or take a call, I pause the TV.

[delphi]

I've definitely noticed some things in the fannish spaces I've been in. This is by no means a large portion of even that small population I'm talking about, but I've been surprised how often people who have self-selected to care about deep dives and details are confused about very basic facts of something they're engaging fannishly with. Every time I've probed on this with someone I know well enough to ask, it's pretty much come down to some combination of watching on a screen too small to see some details and watching while multitasking - whether that's doing other things online at the same time on the same or separate device, watching in public, watching in small chunks that are interrupted by going to do other things and sometimes not coming back to the same spot, and attending virtual watch parties where they might have been participating in text or voice chat concurrently.

Again, not a huge number of people, but if that's happening even among those for whom watching that show is part of a passionate hobby, I'm willing to believe it's more widespread among the general population.

That said, for all that I do think watching on phones or just being able to have multiple devices in the mix at once has changed how people watch, I often think about how much people also used to miss before the ability to stream and pause. Long before cell phones or even watching TV on a computer (which I've been exclusively doing for twenty+ years), it was still super common for someone in the family to just be listening and half-watching a show through the kitchen door as they got dinner ready, or to miss ten minutes of something they were looking forward to because traffic was bad, or to mis-time a commercial break, or end up watching somethin while on a phone call, or miss the climactic scene because the kids were screaming bloody murder and now there was no chance of seeing it again until summer reruns unless a friend had taped it.

[yourlibrarian]

That's so interesting! I could see that -- and I also wonder if perhaps that's one factor in what has been a general dropoff in discussion about TV shows. On the one hand, it gives even more value to recaps but would seem to generate less meta.

I am so used to pausing when viewing that I will sometimes try to pause while listening to a radio show. Being able to view on demand and to stop, start and review is an enormous change that I couldn't do without now. It's one reason I don't care to see movies in theaters.

[delphi]

It's one reason I don't care to see movies in theaters.

That makes sense. I do still enjoy seeing movies in theaters, but it definitely feels like an Occasion and a distinctly different experience compared to when it was the only way to see new movies and I used to go at least twice a month.

[tinny]

omg i hate that trend so much. I watch with full attention, and since that attention can't last for a whole episode (let alone a whole movie) at a time anymore, I split it up into parts. but i wouldn't do other things in parallel. The blasphemy! ;)

[yourlibrarian]

Hee!