FTVMS 211 EXAM- DISCUSSION Q'S

How did Marae DIY function as an example of glocalisation?

'Marae DIY' is an example of globalisation as the show is a uniquely New Zealand take on the DIY television format. Glocalisation is the processs in which a global phenomenon- in this case the format of DIY television program formats is reinterpreted by a local audience and reproduced to both fit and reflect the context it is being recreated in. This is clearly evident as the DIY TV format is one that is highly popular in America and broadcast by channels such as Home and Garden Television. Yet, bu choosing to focus on Marae's, Marae DIY becomes easily distinguishable as program that is created and focused on a New Zealand and Maori audience. Marae DIY uses the DIY television format which is an element of global television culture and 'glocalises' it by choosing to focus on maraes; an important aspect of Maori culture.

How does TV II mark a departure from TV I?

- TV I: 'network era television'- a time period that was TV was dominated by three major companies (ABC, NBC, CBS). One of the central ideologies was the normalisation of ethics such as the hetero-patriarchal nuclear family, suburbanisation sustaining Cold War paranoia. as an expression of fordism, popularity of TV during this period was defined by audience size, ratings and shared. While people 'watched' tv, they did not 'experience' a show. - TV 2: post-fordism. The era where the fundamental rigidity values stated above were swapped into entrepreneurial culture, windfall profits and hit and run marketing. TV 2 is a combination of cable and satellite distribution. It saw the dismantling of the three major networks who lost around 30% of their audience, allowing a large variety of channels that catered to different groups. It was more targeted and devoted to avid viewers from here 'fandom' came about with shows such a Star Trek and The X-Files.

List three ways in which American idol was a break through for advertisers and or sponsors.

1) it increased the popularity of texting in the United States through its text-in voting system, and was able to do what other marketing by telephone companies could not achieve at that time. 2) Coca-cola was able to target its 12-24 y/o target market through product placement in the show which was very popular with that age group and had very engaged fans who would pay attention to the products in the show. 3) The winner of the programme, Kelly Clarkson signed with WCA records as her prize who promoted her single on the back of the show which would go on to become the top-selling US song in 2002. The programme itself as a competition was able to build up the hype of the emergence of a new star in American music. A record company was then able to deliver her to the airwaves and music stores for consumers.

What does it mean to refer to television as a 'hearth' and how does this relate to space?

A 'hearth' is the floor of a fireplace and is typically associated with family bonds and connections. By referring to TV as a 'hearth', Spiegel emphasises how television became an integral part of the home and thus a new means for the family to unite around. In relation to space, the television ultimately effected the spacing of the family home, made evident by the fact that other household fixtures had to "make room for the TV" and that TV was "shown to replace the fireplace altogether". This spacing formation gradually became accepted as the norm to the point where magazines like Household Beautiful presented the TV as the focal point of the household.

With reference to Smith and Abel, was are some of the justifications for having autonomously produced indigenous programming?

A justification of having autonomously produced Maori programming was that it was given a right in the Treaty of Waitangi and to encourage and preserve Te Red Maori. The treaty of waitangi, signed in 1840 guaranteed tino rangatiratanga.. Given that public broadcasting is a resource, Maori were entitled to an equal share. The programming's intention not only preserves Te Red but also encourages viewers, non-maori included to learn and expand their knowledge of the native culture and language.

Who are the loyals, casuals and zappers, according to Jenkins and which group is more valuable?

According to Jenkins, loyals are those TV consumers who form a long-term relationship with a particular TV series and would go out of their way to record their favourite show. While 'zappers' merely watch television and are likely to watch snippets of shows as opposed to the entire duration of the show, loyals are committed to a series and as a result are less likely to flick between channels while their show is screening. The result of this is that they are more likely to remember brands, and pay attention to advertisements which is of high value to advertising companies. Lastly, 'casuals' are the group that fall between those two groups, they will watch a TV series but will not be as committed as 'loyals' as they tend to only watch a show when they remember or have nothing better to do. Overall, the most valuable to advertisers, producers and media companies are the 'loyal'.

How, according to Louisa Stein is the viewer of Gossip Girl invited to intervene in the programme?

According to Stein, viewers of GG are invited to intervene with the show through using virtual reality games such as 'Second Life' or 'Social Climbing'. By becoming a part of the fictional world, users can explore the virtual depiction of the Upper East side by creating avatars of themselves, attend virtual gatherings and purchase 'scandal' or s'potted' points to gain access to the virtual elite of GG.Another example of viewer participation is by using their online shopping website 'www.bluefly.com' whereby viewers can purchase clothing that the characters of the show would wear. These all invite the viewer into the narrative world of GG, breaking the divide between reality and fiction.

Describe a 'sympathetic but bad' male protagonist.

An example of a sympathetic but bad male protagonist on TV is Walter White from Breaking Bad. Walt starts cooking meth as a way to provide income and support his family after he is diagnosed with cancer (this, garnering supporting from the audience). Walt is not what we would think of when we think of a drug dealer; he has more depth. We can understand him more holistically, we can understand why he is doing this 'bad' deed through understanding him as a character and his backstory. Breaking Bad is aired on the AMC network which is a cable and satellite channel and is attributed to helping grow the channel's popularity during the time in which it was on air.

How, according to Zoe Shacklock, do memes work within the transmedial network of a text?

Audiences and fans can draw on shows and engage with texts through the creation and sharing of memes. These memes combine elements of the show with multiple aspects of society. For example, in Game of Thrones, the hipster game of thrones memes show how fans combine popular culture (in this case hipster culture) and Game of Thrones for humorous effect. The instances of transmedia and when fans are utilising the internet to create content that the show's creators did not anticipate.

Why does Feuer call 'liveness' the ideology of television?

Because while television in fact becomes less and less a 'live' broadcast medium, in regard to the equivalence between time of event and time of transmission, the medium in its own practices seems to insist more and more upon an ideology of the live, the immediate, the spontaneous, the real. Television has the capacity to produce time as 'nowness', through the feeling of being live, in this way, liveness becomes an ideology of television.

What does Lotz say is the key distinction that defines the male-centred serial and separates it from other shows (especially broadcast network shows) about men?

Cable channels provide more sophisticated adult renderings of characters (greater depth of character and unconventionality). There is no black and white idealised expectations from protagonists to choose the 'right' like on Network TV. Second, cable channels allow seriality which put the foundation of self discovery and the exploration of characters. The viewers know more about characters as the interiority of characters are shown in an omniscient viewpoint which is easy for them to decode and to expect what would happen to characters in future episodes.

Is television a thing it itself or merely a means of transmission?

Difficult question to answer in today's environment because there are so many other things to considers- what counts as television today? If the modern concept of television includes both traditional forms of broadcast television and newer forms of series distribution such as streaming websites and web series then it can be said that television is a specific signifying practice. This is because it is a unique medium as its form is different from all other types of entertainment and yet has so many forms in itself. To claim that it is merely a means of transmission for other processes of signification is to discount the content that is made specifically by and for television. While traditional television does transmit information for other processes of signification it changes even these to fit its form. For example, cinema played on television is edited to contain advertisements and strategically chosen times, news is organised to fit a certain plow to maintain audience attention and "live" events are cut and formatted to fit in a time frame and include all the relevant footage. Further, newer forms of television such as streaming services and web series are made specifically to be consumed as television. Overall, it can be said that modern TV is absolutely a 'thing-in-itself'.

What, according to Enck and Morris, does 'colour-blindness' mean in the context of 'normative narrative' in the US and how does this tend to be manifested in mainstream TV?

Enck and Morris use the term 'colour blindness' to denote the way in which ideas of racial injustice and institutional racism is seen as 'a thing of the past' and thus no longer relevant to American society. This idea is carried through and perpetuated as the 'normative narrative' on US television. This narrative presents a society that has overcome racial barriers which in turn allows white people to maintain racial hierarchies and divisions that marginalise people of colour. OITNB however is described by Enck and Morris as a challenge to this colour blind narrative as it highlights the way in which racial divisions and hierarchies are still prevalent in society and even more so how these hierarchies privilege white people.

How does celebrity on TV combine the ordinary and the extraordinary?

For reality TV, the aim is to represent their celeb subject as being both 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary'.. For example, "Keeping up with the Kardashians" is a reality TV show that documents the lives of a celebrity framing through exhibiting snapshots of their 'extraordinary' lavish lifestyle. While the audience finds this part of the show entertaining and awe-evoking the show also depicts the family as being 'ordinary' or just like the average family by intervening in the everyday ordinary lives of the family such as work stresses and family conflicts. Through this, the audience is able to form a connection to them as they are reminded that while they do live these extravagant lives, they too experience the common, everyday family dramas. By mixing the ordinary and the extraordinary, Reality TV creates something that upon viewing is different to the average viewer's life experience but not too unrelatable that it becomes unwatchable.

Name two ways in which television was considered a threat to the family and briefly note why.

In the early years of television, tensions rose in regard to televisions potential negative and corrupting influences on children. Critics argued that the TV encourages both passive and addictive behaviour. A supposed consequence of a child's passive and addiction to TV was that it increased aggression, ultimately posing a threat to the functioning of the family unit. Secondly, in contrast to the belief that the television was an object that brought the family closer, it was also viewed as a device that divided the family unit. In her study, Eleanor MacCoby noted that there is very little interaction among family members when they watch TV together. In a 1995 advertisement, family harmony was depicted through watching TV divided as opposed to together. TV also undermined the role of the father in the family as television took over, father's began to lose the power they once exerted (e.g. The Dick Van Dyk show).

What does Lotz mean by 'interiority' and how is this linked to the protagonist of the male-cantered serial?

Lotz uses the term 'interiority' to describe the way in which male-cantered serials narrowly focus on the males minds and backstory, offering considerable character depth. in this way, viewers are invited to explore the entire world of the protagonist, both in terms of his personal and professional life. Such character development can act as a means for us to be more attached to the male protagonist; shaping our understanding of the character's personality to the point where can anticipate how the character will act in certain situations (because such backstory is likely to influence the protagonist's personality in the present).

How has Maori television presented a counter-narrative of NZ nationhood?

NZ nationhood seemed to derive from the idea that the majority of the population were NZ European, thereby creating the view that Maori are marginalised and somehow a "threat to the nation". Maori Television created a space for Maori stories, though it is not only for a Maori audience- rather, it is a platform for a more inclusive representation o NZ society. Maori television does not view NZ society as a homogenous group, as mainstream NZ mainstream media tends to.

Why is queerness "out of time" and explicitly out of televisual time, according to Needham?

Normative time, according to Needham is simultaneous with the ordering and structuring of the hetero-patriarchal, domestic family life. 'Queerness' refers to something that is outside of this perceived 'norm'; "queerness is something that is literally out-of-time in the sense of being urgent, immediate and on the outside." When it comes to the scheduling of TV programs, queerness is explicitly placed on the outside of normative time. For example, programs between 7-10pm are thought to be prime time for (normative) family TV viewing whereas anything aired after 10pm is considered as being in the 'marginal zone', this marginal zone is conveyed as a space for the un-famillial, the childless couple and the queers. The programs that appear in this marginal zone are characterised as being 'wrong, out of sync' and potentially unsafe or unsuitable for family viewing- a zone for queerness.

What does Raymond Williams mean by the 'flow' of TV and to what extent is this historically specific?

Raymond Williams refers to 'flow' as the defining characteristic of broadcasting. Flow refers to the immediacy and the continuous presence of television in our lives. Through advertisements and previews, television content is never ending and it is this that distinguishes it as a medium, as something different from film and cinema which have a clear beginning and end. It's a historically specific model because in the contemporary age, with the likes of online viewing platforms (such as Netflix) there are no advertisements- the viewers can watch their programs how they would like, they are thus given agency to control the flow.

How did GG's transmedia extensions meld digital tools with the shows emphasis on consumerism?

Over its six seasons, GG's transmedia extensions allowed the audience to participate in both themes of digital gossip and consumerism- both pertinent themes in the show itself. One of the first of the transmedia extensions that emphasised consumerism was a software called 'Second Life'. Second life allowed viewers to create their own, online avatar and explore the area of the Upper East Side (where characters of the show spent most of their time). These avatars were able to shop and consume goods from high end department stores, just as the characters in the show did. Further, in 2008, 'www.bluefly.com' paired with second life to create a platform whereby viewers of the show could purchase clothing that their favourite characters wore, further encouraging consumerism. Overall, it is through these transmedia extensions that the shows emphasis on consumerism was merged through these various transmedial digital platforms.

In OITNB, what is the effect of positioning Piper as the comic fool?

Piper is deliberately positioned as the comic fool to guide the audience into the prison industrial complex (PIC) and the endemic racial politics of a punitive criminal justice system. As a result, audiences get to see how 'new racism' prevails in contemporary society. Piper provides comic relief through the representation of an 'educated white woman' attempting to handle the racial divisions implemented in incarceration whereby Piper is portrayed as an 'outcast'. As Enck and Morris state; "Piper's race and class privilege is used as comic relief which calls into question post-racial narratives of colour-blindness.

What does Mark Andrejevic mean when he says that online viewing puts audiences to work?

Putting audiences to work refers to the tracked personal behaviours of online users that can then be sold to advertising agencies, enabling the advertisements to be pushed out specifically with the individual in mind under a set criteria, e.g. browsing google for 'google chrome cast' will then prompt the algorithm to display adverts on different sites relating to google chrome cast. This essentially means that the audience is actively providing advertisers with valuable information, in this way they are being 'put to work'. Whether or not you are seeing advertisements you are nonetheless being monitored in internet use habits and television use habits- monitoring that puts audiences to work.

What does Raymond Williams mean by 'flow' and how does Feuer critique this?

Raymond Williams' notion of flow is an attempt to identify the process by which television networks 'flow' from programme to to programme and thus keep audiences engaged with the channel. Williams argues that his account of 'flow' is means to explain the "effect of immediacy and presence the experience of television gives". Most noteworthy in Williams' account is the argument that the defining characteristic of broadcast television is one of sequence or flow. Feuer argues otherwise, amending Williams' concept of flow to one of flow and segmentation. While Feuer concedes that television is constructed of fluidity between sequences, she argues that it would be foolish to ignore the existence of the segments that make up a single text itself and thus it would be more appropriate to regard television as being characterised by a "dialect of segmentation and flow". Feuer argues that television is based upon program segments, advertising segments and preview segments. In this sense, flow is an illusion and perhaps more prudent to consider. In a contemporary sense, as within the age of Netflix, and more isolated viewing schedules, if "flow" is the defining characteristic of TV, then Feuer's critique of flow as more longevity than that of Williams'. In short, Feuer argues that it is not merely about the sequence, but more about the single text that we can identify as a single text- images are juxtaposed one after another. The SCHEDULE of TV is constituted by a dialect of SEGMENTATION and SEQUENCING.

What are some of the competing discourses that construct celebrity, especially on reality TV?

Some of the competing discourses that constructs celebrity are authenticity and manufactured celebrity. Authenticity denotes that celebs have intrinsic talent- such as being a talented actor or singer. Manufactured celebrity is centred around how one becomes a celebrity. This can be seen in the talent show format of TV, like X-Factor or American Idol. For example, American Idol's slogan was "the search for the superstar" where the show would also actually explore the mechanics of the making of a celebrity.

In what way is Spigel's use of the phrase 'family circle' a metaphor and what way is it meant literally?

Spiegel argues that the television was the centre of the family circle. The use of this phrase is a metaphor as magazines would relate anthropomorphism to the TV set, claiming that people should make the TV set a family member, a part of the family circle. Could also mean the television being central to the family and the object of enhanced family ties. The phrase 'family circle' is also meant literally, as the family would be situated around the television set in patterns of semi circles when watching TV together. The family would congregate in the living room with the TV in the centre.

Why, according to Reeves, Rodgers and Epstein was the original Star Trek series important despite its failure to rate highly during its initial run?

Star Trek was significant in three ways. First, it was significant due to it "prototype status in the history of cult TV". Second, due to the fanaticism of its followers, and third, due to its place in the syndication revolution in the 1970s. Star Trek was a show whose fanatically active following first insisted that the show be renewed for a second season because ratings were not high enough. When it got cancelled after the second season, the fan's did not stop- resulting in the syndication of Star Trek episodes. Star Trek saw the establishment of Cult Tv, where audiences demonstrated an avid engagement with the show, on a level never seen before.

Taking yourself, family members or friends as an example, how do you think yours (or theirs) viewing is being monitored?

Subscription platforms such as Netflix or Youtube monitor what I am watching using algorithms to track my viewing history. For example, after I had watched Stranger Things on Netflix, Netflix then suggested other science fiction shows that I may be interested in. Moreover, when I set up my Netflix account I was asked to pick out my favourite films and tv shows and also what genre I preferred. Netflix then used this information to personalise my account which can be seen when comparing my Netflix account with one of my friends. Youtube also recognises what I have recently searched or viewed and uses this data to provide other videos that may be of interest to me.

How did the X-Files represent a new model of Cult TV in the mid-1990s?

The X-Files represents a new model of cult TV because Fox initially conceived the program as a candidate for cult status. Fox knew that the show could not generate as high ratings as some of its other popular programs, and Fox also knew that the network could not afford to run a show with a small niche audience that did not provide much revenue. So X-Files was created with the intention of reaching cult status. The hope was that the relatively small avid viewership of the program would gradually build to a respectably large audience. Fox knew to take advantage of the cult status potential by licensing X-Files merchandise and promoting the shows discussion of websites such as Delphi. This model of Cult TV was new because it did not wait for the avid fan base to emerge, rather Fox expected and categorised the show as a cult status from the get go.

How is celebrity linked to commodification? Give an example.

There are two economies of celebrity. The first is celebrity as a brand. For example, by putting a celebrities face next to a product, they have the power to boost the product's popularity and thus, boost the product's popularity. For example, Kylie Jenner (from the Kardashian's) has her own beauty product line, which is highly successful because it is her brand- she markets this on his various social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat. The second of celebrity economy is that of celebrities within an economy of desire, which refers to how we, as people, want to see celebrities- we want to engage with their lifestyles on TV and through social media. This is more of an emotional/desirable economy whereby the celebrities become commodified themselves.

According to Mary Ann Diane, 'the major category of television is time.' Can you provide a couple of ways in which time is categorical to television?

Time can be categorical to television in the way that it reflects the corresponding schedules of families- for mothers, fathers and children. Such examples can be seen with early morning broadcast of cartoons before children go to school, prime time 6' o clock news to facilitate the arrival of the father from work. Television scheduling can also be seen to affect the way in which families live their daily lives, by structuring when and who should be viewing at any specific point in time, altering the habits of the family. Different today, we can refer to TV set but we also have streaming services and other ways to access TV at times that fit viewer's needs.

What does Jenkins mean by affective economics? What kind of crisis of broadcasting is it meant to resolve?

When referring to 'affective economics', Henry Jenkins is describing the idea of using consumer desires, emotions and identification to merge TV content and advertising. The idea is to create TV content that the viewer actively participates or is deeply connected to and merge that content with branding and advertising. Jenkins suggests examples of this can be seen with coca-cola in American idol and the Trump Brand (along with other brands) in the Apprentice. The crisis of broadcasting that affective economics is meant to resolve is that of the viewer having much greater control of the flow of media into their homes. Viewers can skip adverts, which is of concern to advertisers and media companies. By using 'affective economics', the viewer will not be able to simply skip advertisements and in fact, will be more heavily interested in the brands than previously. Affective economics can be used to create brand loyalty.