The Potential Future of (Online) Television

Today, Professor Jamie Cohen of Hofstra University and Molloy University wrote a really excellent post for Tubefilter questioning the inclusion of new media television into the academic world. Cohen lands on resounding yes and cites several ways in which online content channels like YouTube and Blip have soared past a theoretical potential to succeed and have just plain done it. The academic world stands at the precipice of a new age of media and it's getting harder and harder for them to catch up. It's a really great read, so you should go check it out if you have some time. But the article got me thinking about this whole, miraculous television thing, which led me to a question of my own. Where the hell is all of this going? As usual, we have to dive a little into the past to tease out the future. So, what even draws us to the small screen? It can't just be a desire for or a draw to mono-formic, audiovisual supersaturation. I think I can say it's two things. First, is our general love for the serial format. That goes all the way back to ancient times, but for reference, think about how popular Dickens was simply because he could draw a story out in order to probe the minds of each of his characters (us critics call that "character development.") But when TV first emerged there was a real sense of civic responsibility to the audience. Pretty early on, TV was used to air major events, like the Olympics or Presidential speeches, which was usually not accessible for the average person. While film scholars were quibbling about whether or not they had stumbled upon the seventh art, TV networks were pushing out responsible documentaries at the behest of governments in the U.S. and Europe to fulfill what was considered an educational necessity. As misguided as it can sometimes become through scare tactics and late-night reports, that same civic duty continues in today's television programming. For some reason (and I can't fully profess to understand why) the audiovisual medium is more conscientious in serial format. So where's all this going? Cohen offers up YouTube's new NextUp program as a possible answer. YouTube has finally made the step over to original programming by starting a channel devoted exclusively to quality, TV-style content. And it's with the same sense of public commitment that YouTube is putting its best foot forward. But keep in mind, the tides are shifting. This responsibility no longer encumbers a desire to educate an audience but simply to connect them to each other. The creative process has only become dramatically more transparent over the last couple of years, with DVD commentary, interviews and unintentionally self-reflexive online content leading the way. It is not enough to simply act as a passive receptacle of content, we need to be more a part of it. Commenting, sharing, social media, you've heard it all before. It's either moving us closer to some sort of singularity or it's guiding us slowly to our demise. Nevertheless, the TV, which at this point I'm collapsing into our current conception of "new media," has a unique access point into this evolutionary process. TV content is bite-sized and digestible, at once relatable, shareable and quotable. Online content gives us even more ability to find our niche, so to speak, and for content providers to target specific groups without needing to appeal to an extremely wide audience. A couple of months ago, Berkley released a study that may bring us to the logical extreme of niche content. Researchers were able to use an MRI machine to scan someones brain and collect data about the images it is creating. Simultaneously, a computer sorts through millions of videos on Youtube and constructs a visual map of what you are thinking using archived content. The results are incredible, but it actually all seems completely logical. We yearn for unmediated individual simulation. We are an audience of one. The world is entering into an age of extraordinary connection, but also unprecedented cultural exclusion. We desire to be part of a smaller groups, centered around ultra-specific content that appeals to our exact sensibilities. Traditional television networks spend most of their time trying to resist this, benching or cancelling shows that didn't make the ratings, even as they cultivate a smaller, more devoted audience. Online content channels like YouTube and Blip don't have the same hang-ups. They are more then willing to connect a small audience to a group of people. This isn't an in-group, out-group kind of thing, it's what our postmodern, kitsch-infested minds demand. To bring it all back around, what I am truly trying to say is that we are not simply latching on to "TV" simply because of our love for the format. We are motivated by a much higher calling, to bring online audiences together. In its primordial form, this is what YouTube started to do. In coming years, you can expect a lot more collective response to quality, niche and dare I say, even interactive, content that collapses the distinction between the spectator and the creator. So why does television have a future? Because, it's helping define it.