Apr
23
Written by:
4/23/2010 5:13 AM
TV used to mean two things: moving pictures with
sound, and the box where they appeared. The box usually sat in the living room
covered with family pictures. When someone said they would spend the evening
watching TV, it meant they weren’t going anywhere.
People who appeared on TV shows really were stars. There were three networks.
If you appeared on TV, everyone saw you. Now there are 300 networks and people
appear on TV because they are from New Jersey, are a housewife, have a litter
of kids or they are fat. Most of the people who now appear on TV do so because
300 times 24 times seven equals a lot.
I know several people who have appeared on TV. I once appeared on TV for studying
in the University of Nebraska library during a home Husker game. There were perhaps
only 25 or so networks at the time. I was acquitted, but had to leave the
state.
TV was not something you could carry in your pocket or pull up in a browser.
You couldn’t just watch whatever you wanted whenever you wanted to watch it.
You had “appointment viewing.” The phrase now sits in the Smithsonian beside
crocheted doilies.
Buying a TV used to be a bit simpler as well. You had X square feet in the
living room and M dollars in your pocket. X plus the best-looking picture you
could get for M equaled your new TV, which you continued to use for 25 years.
This formula also resides on the doily shelf.
Now, if you are a consumer electronics lobbyist with a salary that makes
journalists cry, or you live at home with your gainfully employed parents, you
probably have all kinds of “TV.” You may get TV on your iPhone, though an
iPhone is not a TV. It’s an iPhone. Same goes for iPods, iPads and the rest of
the iSmack to come. You may get TV on your Blackberry, notebook, netbook, PC or
cell phone. It might be on the back of a JetBlue seat, in a metro bus or the
top of a gas pump.
It’s as if Dr. Seuss hijacked the meaning of “TV,” or it broke through the laws
of physics. There is no physical definition of TV any longer. There are only TV
“platforms.” But you don’t tell your friends you’re going to watch a platform.
I’ve never heard anyone say, “I’m going to watch my iPhone,” though frankly,
millions do just that. The alternative is direct interaction with other
carbon-based life forms. This is not done. That’s why we invented TV in the
first place.
Now it’s run away and joined the circus. The two-letter term that’s come to
stand for “television” is defined only by context. Lexical evolution holds that
frequency of word use predicts their rate of change. Like, whatever. Anyway, the
more we use a word, the less likely it is to evolve. So we’ll probably continue
using “TV” for anything that displays full-motion video with sound, including
the flexible, paper-thin, organic-light-emitting diode newspapers around the
corner.
We really will have TV Everywhere, and probably a resulting cottage industry.
TV-free zones. We’ll be paying to hang out in places where TV is prohibited.
Sound crazy? Consider bottled water.
Ayup.
6 comment(s) so far...
McAdams On: The Definition of TV
I use the grandmother definition of TV. If you use a device on which for 50 percent or more of the time you watch content that arrives on numbered channels (or content that simulates that kind of programming), then it's a TV. (I doubt you use your phone as a primary TV viewing device!). If use use the device for 50 percent or more of the time to play video games or surf webpages or do anything that your grandmother would not consider "watching TV" (ask her if you're not sure), then the device is not a TV, even if it has a tuner and was sold as a TV. By your choice of primary use, you define the device as a TV. It may be an overpriced digital monitor, masquerading as a TV.
By on
5/13/2010 2:12 PM
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McAdams On: The Definition of TV
Hi, fellow Husker. I like your essay, and I reposted it to my Facebook, if you don't mind. While we all gripe about the proliferation of content and the fragmentation of the audience (and sponsors' dollars), we forget that the opportunities to tune in have also multiplied. So, maybe we in the industry shouldn't despair as much as we do.
By on
4/23/2010 9:52 AM
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McAdams On: The Definition of TV
I've been a "Television" writer, director, and producer since the 1970s. Currently I'm an adjunct professor of "TV" production at a university. Thank you for the essay - I have long been telling my students and colleagues there is no such thing as TV, not as we knew it; that the styles of production need to keep in mind the various venues (platforms) they will eventually reach. I long ago suggested changing the name from TV Production to Video Production. I lost.
By on
4/24/2010 5:38 AM
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McAdams On: The Definition of TV
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By on
10/26/2010 10:20 AM
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McAdams On: The Definition of TV
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By on
10/26/2010 10:35 AM
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McAdams On: The Definition of TV
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By on
6/19/2011 5:44 AM
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