The Lost Art Of Cable Television

[Terrence Clay]

Does anyone remember Cable? That shared experience of just turning on the TV and going on a whole new adventure? Whatever happened to that?

It seems that broadcast television has definitely seen better days. According to a study from the website nScreenMedia, US households with cable, satellite, or telco TV went from 100 million in 2014 down to 60 million in 2023. That’s a 40% drop, and the lowest its been since the 1980s. I mean, this is no surprise because of streaming; the privilege of being able to choose what you want, whenever you want, without any ads, and at a much more affordable price. A whole new movement known as “cord cutting” is now on the rise.

There’s no denouncing the incredible convenience and flexibility of on-demand content, but it does lack that very unique autonomy that its predecessors had, that feeling of just turning on the TV, flipping through the channels, not having to give it any thought, especially after a long day of work or school, and then just eventually discovering something. And with that, comes that feeling of togetherness, watching a live broadcast with thousands of other people, something that, by the nature of how Cable TV is designed, has yet to be replicated. And now, we are seeing the aftereffects of that. So how did Cable TV, as an artform, start? What went wrong? And how do we go back?

This is a deep-dive into the history of network and cable television in the United States and the shape it has had on the entertainment media of today.

[t***@gmail.com]

http://youtu.be/u-OcHoGFl5M

Does anyone remember Cable? That shared experience of just turning on the TV
and going on a whole new adventure? Whatever happened to that?

It seems that broadcast television has definitely seen better days. According
to a study from the website nScreenMedia, US households with cable,
satellite, or telco TV went from 100 million in 2014 down to 60 million in
2023. That’s a 40% drop, and the lowest its been since the 1980s. I mean,
this is no surprise because of streaming; the privilege of being able to
choose what you want, whenever you want, without any ads, and at a much more
affordable price. A whole new movement known as “cord cutting” is now on the
rise.

There’s no denouncing the incredible convenience and flexibility of on-demand
content, but it does lack that very unique autonomy that its predecessors
had, that feeling of just turning on the TV, flipping through the channels,
not having to give it any thought, especially after a long day of work or
school, and then just eventually discovering something. And with that, comes
that feeling of togetherness, watching a live broadcast with thousands of
other people, something that, by the nature of how Cable TV is designed, has
yet to be replicated. And now, we are seeing the aftereffects of that. So how
did Cable TV, as an artform, start? What went wrong? And how do we go back?

This is a deep-dive into the history of network and cable television in the
United States and the shape it has had on the entertainment media of today.

[Claire Rutherford]

Post by Terrence Clay
http://youtu.be/u-OcHoGFl5M
Does anyone remember Cable? That shared experience of just turning on the TV
and going on a whole new adventure? Whatever happened to that?
It seems that broadcast television has definitely seen better days. According
to a study from the website nScreenMedia, US households with cable,
satellite, or telco TV went from 100 million in 2014 down to 60 million in
2023. That’s a 40% drop, and the lowest its been since the 1980s. I mean,
this is no surprise because of streaming; the privilege of being able to
choose what you want, whenever you want, without any ads, and at a much more
affordable price. A whole new movement known as “cord cutting” is now on the
rise.
There’s no denouncing the incredible convenience and flexibility of on-demand
content, but it does lack that very unique autonomy that its predecessors
had, that feeling of just turning on the TV, flipping through the channels,
not having to give it any thought, especially after a long day of work or
school, and then just eventually discovering something. And with that, comes
that feeling of togetherness, watching a live broadcast with thousands of
other people, something that, by the nature of how Cable TV is designed, has
yet to be replicated. And now, we are seeing the aftereffects of that. So how
did Cable TV, as an artform, start? What went wrong? And how do we go back?
This is a deep-dive into the history of network and cable television in the
United States and the shape it has had on the entertainment media of today.

More than once Ive lamented to friends that I miss the excitement of watching a
show at a certain time once a week. It wasn't even just "water cooler talk" the
next day, it was also "reacting to the show on the phone with your friend
during commercial breaks" while airing, and a bit later with social media,
everyone mad-dash posting their reactions as the show progresses for viewers
across the timezone. "Liveposting/livetweeting." We were all watching at the
same exact time. So even if you were alone in your room, you were watching with
the whole community, chatting in-between breaks, freaking out at the same plot
points at the same times. You'd scroll through your feed (in order of posting
and not algorithmic!) and see a string of screaming all posted at one time, and
you knew what part everyone was reacting to. Once the episode ended, the
theorizing of what could happen next would begin immediately.

With streaming dropping entire seasons in 1 day, that vanished.
The only speculative fun to be had is talking about the absolute last episode
as we wait for the next season to drop.

I love that some streaming services have adopted the weekly format again, it
genuinely has brought back a lot of that theory-concocting, nail-biting
excitement for the next episode factor to fandom again. Even if we don't all
hit "play" at the same time, at least some aspects are here.

[moviePig]

Post by Claire Rutherford

Post by Terrence Clay
http://youtu.be/u-OcHoGFl5M
Does anyone remember Cable? That shared experience of just turning on the TV
and going on a whole new adventure? Whatever happened to that?
It seems that broadcast television has definitely seen better days. According
to a study from the website nScreenMedia, US households with cable,
satellite, or telco TV went from 100 million in 2014 down to 60 million in
2023. That’s a 40% drop, and the lowest its been since the 1980s. I mean,
this is no surprise because of streaming; the privilege of being able to
choose what you want, whenever you want, without any ads, and at a much more
affordable price. A whole new movement known as “cord cutting” is now on the
rise.
There’s no denouncing the incredible convenience and flexibility of on-demand
content, but it does lack that very unique autonomy that its predecessors
had, that feeling of just turning on the TV, flipping through the channels,
not having to give it any thought, especially after a long day of work or
school, and then just eventually discovering something. And with that, comes
that feeling of togetherness, watching a live broadcast with thousands of
other people, something that, by the nature of how Cable TV is designed, has
yet to be replicated. And now, we are seeing the aftereffects of that. So how
did Cable TV, as an artform, start? What went wrong? And how do we go back?
This is a deep-dive into the history of network and cable television in the
United States and the shape it has had on the entertainment media of today.

More than once Ive lamented to friends that I miss the excitement of watching a
show at a certain time once a week. It wasn't even just "water cooler talk" the
next day, it was also "reacting to the show on the phone with your friend
during commercial breaks" while airing, and a bit later with social media,
everyone mad-dash posting their reactions as the show progresses for viewers
across the timezone. "Liveposting/livetweeting." We were all watching at the
same exact time. So even if you were alone in your room, you were watching with
the whole community, chatting in-between breaks, freaking out at the same plot
points at the same times. You'd scroll through your feed (in order of posting
and not algorithmic!) and see a string of screaming all posted at one time, and
you knew what part everyone was reacting to. Once the episode ended, the
theorizing of what could happen next would begin immediately.
With streaming dropping entire seasons in 1 day, that vanished.
The only speculative fun to be had is talking about the absolute last episode
as we wait for the next season to drop.
I love that some streaming services have adopted the weekly format again, it
genuinely has brought back a lot of that theory-concocting, nail-biting
excitement for the next episode factor to fandom again. Even if we don't all
hit "play" at the same time, at least some aspects are here.

Your observations seem right. But I can hardly overstate how much I
prefer being able to binge at will...