Online TV

Conceptualizing the Experiential Affordances of Watching Online TV

“…That is, we should direct our attention toward how interfaces, algorithms, and menus work to create streaming flows, replacing the sequenced scheduling-flow of linear television. Likewise, but more radically, Johnson (2019) and Cox (2018) position user agency more as an illusion than a reality. Certain programs are made more visible than others, search functions are downplayed in favor of pre-organized catalogs, and while recommendation algorithms depend on patterns of use, viewers cannot determine the criteria informing how algorithms work (Johnson 2019).…”

“…Likewise, but more radically, Johnson (2019) and Cox (2018) position user agency more as an illusion than a reality. Certain programs are made more visible than others, search functions are downplayed in favor of pre-organized catalogs, and while recommendation algorithms depend on patterns of use, viewers cannot determine the criteria informing how algorithms work (Johnson 2019). Cox (2018, 439-440) reasons that the types of interactions facilitated "foster a sense of user control that often downplays the industrial control exercised on users through these very same interactive features."…”

“…Like watching the same as your friends becomes a social thing." The notion that online TV facilitates fragmented and individualized viewing is not only too simplistic due to the continued programing control of services providers (Cox 2018;Johnson 2019), but also because of a human need for belonging, pulling viewers toward shared repertoires of programs: Maria ( 31 As an experiential dimension, social appears as an unlikely condition to change rather than a "slow-to-change condition" (Livingstone 2003, 338). Online TV, if considered primarily materially, enables a form of individualized viewing aligned with industry conceptions of the algorithmic audience (Burroughs 2019), but the social and ritual roles of television pull toward the continued importance of togetherness.…”

“…Reflecting on how online TV services tailor interfaces and recommendations to match her viewing patterns, Sara (26) points to how the result is a feedback loop where she is never challenged: Sara illustrates the tension between the industry's interest in guiding viewers in certain directions (for instance toward prestige shows that generate buzz and promote critical acclaim) and her interest in exploring diversifying paths. Sara's quest for programs that "widen your horizon" can even be seen an argument for a television schedule and challenges the prevailing market discourse of online TV (Burroughs 2019;Johnson 2019;Tryon 2015). Participants who contest the notion of infrastructures as objective and neutral do not so much react to the control service providers retain in guiding their attention, but rather to how they are categorized as viewers.…”

“…These eras are characterized by different logics (from scarcity to abundance; from mass to niche audiences) and adherent branding strategies. The emergence and increasing use of online TV services may in this context represent a distinct phase, requiring re-thinking definitions of television as a medium (Jenner 2016;Johnson 2019).…”