The changing dynamics of television consumption in the multimedia living room

Abstract

This increasingly saturated media environment potentially alters how viewers engage with tele-visual media and with each other. In this respect, we address how mobile devices, such as tablets, have entered our living rooms and alter TV's social uses and practices. By means of in-depth interviews, we revisit the enquiry of the audience in the living room context, with specific attention to Lull's typology of social uses. The study shows the use of these mobile Internet devices in front of the TV is integrated in our everyday TV viewing behavior. In addition, we recognize the complex nature of physical and verbal avoidance and affiliation in a multiscreen living room. Participants personally consume media content in the presence of other family members, which allows physical contact but reduces the opportunities for conversation. In addition, these computer technologies allow online sociability, which we label as 'outbound affiliation'. These tendencies are discussed in a broader understanding of contemporary (media) culture, with a particular focus on the reflexive audience and the related broader process of individualization. In conclusion, we understand the findings as emerging trends that are likely to evolve in the future. In addition, we define the value of traditional audience research as well as the necessity to understand the mediated nature of audience conversations

Skeuomorphic Domestic Television’s Analog Divide: Television and Social Stratification in Singapore

“…Deviations from these idealized images are often associated with dysfunctional households of absent parents and unsupervised children (Davis et al 2004; de Mediros et al 2009; Livingstone 2009; Zoeller 2009). However, increased individualization in the deregulated media environment of Internet TV and smartphones has resulted in the television industry struggling to sustain television’s communality in the midst of a more fragmented audience base (Dawson 2007; D’heer and Courtois 2016; Groening 2010; Hollows 2000; Leal and Oliven 1988; F. Lee 2010).…”

Second Screening for News and Digital Divides

“…Another strand of literature suggests that second screening for news generally promotes political engagement. It is positively related to online political participation (Fitzgerald & Clarke, 2012; Gil de Zúñiga et al, 2015; Vaccari, Chadwick, & O’Loughlin, 2015), it provides alternative spaces for political discussion (D’heer & Courtois, 2016; D’heer & Verdegem, 2014; Iannelli & Giglietto, 2015), and it promotes online content creation (Freelon & Karpf, 2015; Giglietto & Selva, 2014). Additionally, second screening may enhance engagement with and enjoyment of news content (Auverset & Billings, 2016; Choi & Jung, 2016; Horning, 2017), and it may be influential in terms of helping people to form opinions about the event they are watching (Barnidge, Gil de Zúñiga, & Diehl, 2017).…”

Media Convergence Meets Deconvergence

“…This association of an advanced condition or product is also part of the dominant social imaginary of media convergence. But rather than coming together or matching a harmonized textual universe, media usage is marked by overlaps of content, meaning and context (D'heer & Courtois, 2016;Stauff, 2015;vukanovic, 2016). The convergence of media texts thus corresponds with different forms of deconvergence, as illustrated in the increased complexity of usage situations.…”