If someone was to ask me to record my television habits before commencing my Television Cultures course at the start of this semester, I would have given them a weird look and asked them why it was important I had done that. What I hadn’t put much thought into, which turns out to be the fundamental reason as to why television viewing is so interesting, is that every single person across the globe has a different television viewing experience. For example, the younger generation of television audiences are more focused around watching television on their personal computers and laptops, as well as their mobile phones and tablets; and generally speaking, the older audience tend to watch television during the normal ‘primetime’ viewing hours.

For me personally, in between fitting in my schooling commitments, working to make money and enjoying a social life; television can be a hard thing to commit to – making sure to tune into my desired programs each week. All up, I have figured out that I watch 22 hours of television each week, with the ratio between online and watching the physical television being a 20-hour online to 2-hour physical television watching experience. What I love about having my own personal laptop and the way that television has evolved is that I can watch my favourite shows when it suits me. I love both Australian shows, as well as American television and some British programs as well, so having this resource of my laptop at my fingertips makes it easy for me to enjoy my viewing experience. The day in which I watch most of my television is Sunday as it is generally my only day off and makes it easy for me to catch-up on all my favourite television shows in one swoop. My favourite genres of television include reality TV as well as comedy and dramas; having now nearly completed this course I have found myself open to an array of different television shows. One of my favourite genres that I was exposed to through this course was the online comedy program Broad City. Broad City is hilarious and has also broadened my horizons to other shows such as Parks and Recreation and Inside Amy Schumer. These mockumentary/skit style shows are quickly becoming some of my favourite programs.

My television viewing times have remained quiet similar since beginning this course due to a lack of spare time, I still watch my shows online late at night; however I have found myself getting into the habit of watching my favourite shows and picking up on a lot of different filming techniques and styles employed throughout the shows. Following the The Sopranos textual analysis and discussing what we picked up during the opening sequence of this show, I have found myself engaging in and attempting to understand different techniques employed in a few of my favourite shows such as Law and Order: SVU, Scream Queens, How To Get Away With Murder and Awkward. These shows, ranging from genres such as drama, horror and comedy, all use similar techniques to convey a message that they are trying to portray, and I love that I’m picking up on these vices. If it wasn’t for how engaged I have been with this course over this semester then I believe I would still be watching television in the same way that I was before beginning this course, while I would watch the show in a way that I would understand the message and appreciate the storyline of the show, I would be able to pick up on the devices that the producers, directors, cast and editors use to communicate their messages.

 

Bibliography

Bibel, Sara (2012) ‘The Inbetweeners cancelled by MTV’ in TV By The Numbers

Chalaby, Jean K (2005) ‘Introduction’ in Transnational Television Worldwide: Towards a New Media Order

Ferris, Amber L (2007) ‘The Content of Reality Dating Shows and Viewer Perceptions of Dating’ in Journal of Communication

Liew, Kai Khiun (2011) “Transnational Television” in International Journal of Cultural Studies

Ouelette & Murray (2004) ‘Introduction’ in Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture

Perkins, Claire (2015) ‘Transnational television remakes’ in Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies

Syvertsen, Trine (2001) ‘Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances: a study of participants in television dating games’ in Media, Culture & Society