The future of Television, is it going to be watching a show.. about a show.. about a show?

 

 

Where is the future of Television bringing us? What exactly should we expect to be seeing grazing our Tv and computer screens in the upcoming years?. The article, “The New Water Cooler is a TV Show” by Rachel Dodes explains to us just how social media is affecting the way we will consume media in the years to come.

 

Nowadays, viewers are not turning off their television after finishing their series and continuing on with their lives, instead they want to further discuss and analyze what they just saw before their very own eyes. How exactly do they plan on doing this? Twitter is the answer.

 

One specific social media site : Twitter, has allowed viewers to send millions of “tweets” on the Television shows that they have just watched in order to discuss the drama that has just happened. These tweets have been the base for new television talk shows that are cost effective and easy to produce. A Television producers dream.

 

These new “After Party” talk shows are truly interactive and allow for users to interact directly with the talk show host such as Andy Cohen, who then incorporates the tweets he receives into his live show making this an interactive , fun type of after TV show party. After all, who doesn’t love a little after party. His own show “Watch What Happens” for example, promotes several different Bravo shows and sometimes even racks in more viewers then E! Chelsea lately.

 

The article goes on to mention another talk show called “The Talking Dead” which is supposed to be the “After Party” show for the “Walking Dead”. Hosted by Chris Hardwick, this show is a midnight talk show which airs as soon as “The Walking dead” is over and even receives more then one million viewers. This is a huge amount when you think about the fact that it airs at midnight when usually every human is tucked fast away in his or her own beds. Even though, it is zombies we are talking about this show is the third most tweeted drama on television.

The changes in television do not stop here. The article “From YouTube to Vice – 10 trends that are changing how we watch TV”gives 10 ideas that are changing the way we have come to know and love television. These trends have only started to emerge recently and have only really erupted because of new technologies that were not yet invented in years before.

The first trend is one that also ties into the first article that I read. It mentions that there is an ongoing competition between social media sites . These sites want viewers to discuss the shows they watch on Facebook and Twitter because there discussions are they base for inexpensive new television talk shows

Another trend is seen in the rise of the stars that are found on YouTube. There are more and more people who are becoming “famous” on the internet by creating their own little segment and then airing it on YouTube just like the gamer Joseph Gerrit who has s little over 2 million viewers for his site on YouTube. I can understand how people can become famous through the internet because I know that I have caught myself once or twice watching some funny segments created by YouTube celebrities.

Some of these trends are very exciting like the fact that one does not have to “phone-in” votes from a phone any longer and can use Google or other technology to place a vote.

I personally can see many new trends emerging in the way we consume television. I think that these trends and changes must come in order to keep the audience intrigued and as a loyal customer to the television instead of downloading shows and episodes on a laptop. One trend I can really see becoming very popular is the interactive television. Once technology becomes more developed, I think it will be easy to create shows where we can maybe interact with the actors or have an app that lets us directly participate in the series. Like the article by Stuart Dredge mentions, there are already concepts starting to develop where the viewer can help with the clues in a crime scene. I know that if this were the norm for all television series , it would keep television highly entertaining seeing as we would have the opportunity to not just be a couch potato, but to actually do something

I also see the rise of the YouTube star becoming more and more popular as it is becoming increasingly popular and socially accepted to find your talent and somehow get it unto social media and upload it. I know I have many friends back in the states when as soon as they think they can sing a song properly or recite a poem well they immediately mention uploading it unto a social media platform such as YouTube. After all, who says we can’t find the next Justin Bieber on YouTube.