by Cory Barker
Maybe, it’s a good thing for us to have less control over what we view every once in a while. I cannot imagine this is a popular viewpoint, and it has probably got something to do with my age, but there’s also a wider political point to be made here about the extent to which we’re losing control over all aspects of our lives, except as consumers…. If you only grew up with three channels on the TV and had to wait for a week for the next episode of your favorite show then TV on-demand is nice but you don’t think of it as a human right!
Eve also agreed with Kim and Gareth that having less control over their consumption is not necessarily bad. Still, Eve noted that she is often irritated by the fact that she and her husband cannot agree on what to watch on Netflix, and that she misses certain elements of her old viewing habits. She contemplated how much better it used to be in that sense:
As I said, with standard TV we used to watch whatever was on in the evening when my partner would come home. This I liked because we’d spend time together. I’m used to watching TV to relax and like easy to digest stuff. So I was not planning my viewing. I just like hanging out there on the couch together with my partner. Now, yes indeed, I’m more selective, feel more in command of my viewing. But still I miss that being together as a couple in front of the TV and watching whatever with Mike. It wasn’t like that with Netflix at starts. It’s since he got so hooked on House of Cards [2013–], that I do not like, that we separated in front of the TV. So now we watch on our own on our laptops. I don’t watch that anyway…. You are in more control with Netflix and I’m more independent as I said. But the standard TV schedule was not a bad thing either. As I said, I really did enjoy watching whatever was on, and not having to always do the choices. That’s not really bad. I sometime miss it.
It again should be emphasized that Netflix users celebrate their enhanced freedom and control over the schedule, and their personalized viewing allowed by the platform’s on-demand capacity. In fact, this freedom and control, without technological or time constraints, is what distinguishes Netflix from DTV and other services of the past. Netflix and other online streaming platforms catalyze a shit away from the broadcasting schedule or what Uricchio calls “the programming-based notion of flow … to a viewer-centered model.”26
However, as some of the above comments illustrate, interviewees sometimes miss this flow provided by broadcast television. They appreciate the planned viewing of Netflix’s algorithm, but some reminisce about the unplanned and unstructured viewing facilitated by traditional television. Thus, while interviewees form new Netflix-related habits, they still retain some of their old habits, or even develop new ones outside of Netflix (such as following news and current events online). These consumption habits align with Yu-Kei Tse’s claim that despite the increasing success and “growth of online platforms and personal media devices … it is inappropriate to assume that the media environment and audiences just switch from one end (broadcasting-mass audiences) to another (narrowcasting-individualized).”27 Or, as I would like to suggest, by linking Netflix users of today with interactive DTV users of the early millennium, change in viewing practices and habits coexists with continuity. User habits—both within the same and across different media platforms and distribution modes—tend to shift in a gradual, evolutionary way.28 This gradual shift of practices appears “as a result of a constant interaction between the user and the technology.”29 Lisa Gitelman proposes that a new medium and all its “supporting protocols” (that is, the technological standards but also the norms about how and where we use it) develop slowly, and through time they “become self-evident as the result of social processes, including the habits associated with other, related media.”30 Indeed, as Philip Palmgreen and Jay D. Rayburn assert, consumption patterns and the gratification users expect and gain from media usage are based largely on past experience—or as Terje Rasmussen similarly claims, “old new media practice structures new media practice.”31
Content and Viewing Experience
In terms of content, interviewees are very satisfied with the quality of films and series available on Netflix. Even if a few complained about the limited range of accessible material, they all seem happy with the high standards of the content and, as Maya described, the “almost cinematic experience” the platform allows. Many of the participants mentioned the numerous serials available on Netflix (such as Breaking Bad [2008–2013], House of Cards, Weeds [2005–2012], and Orange Is the New Black [2013–]) as key selling points of the service. For instance, when commenting on the quality content, Maya noted that “Breaking Bad was the reason we got on Netflix too. Great cult series that shows that television is neither dead, nor lacks quality and imagination in production. Sometimes.”
Regarding the viewing experience, two points of interest arose in my research findings: (1) the contradictory feelings of empowerment over controlling the schedule and guilt over extended binge-watching; and (2) the association of on-demand viewing—on one’s own schedule and with one’s preferred content—with relaxation and entertainment.
Importantly, both of these are also characteristics of the early DTV era of enhanced choice. On one hand, respondents familiar with older television eras also tended to be a bit defensive when watching too much and concerned with the quality of television. On the other, they generally associated viewing with leisure, relaxation, and entertainment, considering it a “laid back,” low-demand, easy activity in which to engage. A 30-year-old male DTV subscriber, for example, explained why he rejected the interactive services on Sky Digital: “It’s too much hassle; you really want to sit back and just watch whatever’s on TV.” Similarly, a female 35-year-old DTV interviewee and mother of two whose parental responsibilities defined her media consumption noted that she did not use the enhanced interactive services because her exhaustion meant she preferred to just watch programs. She stated that she used television to relax, unwind, and to be entertained without having to make an effort: “I’m watching a program, I don’t want to read about it!… I just can’t be bothered…. I haven’t got the time or energy…. I’m usually watching the telly half switched off. So to actually add any more information to what’s coming in would just be too much for me.” Interestingly, users of the post-network television era also link their (online) viewing with needs and expectations they previously associated with television, as will be shown in the next section. They still consider their online viewing a leisure activity that takes place when they have the time, in order to relax and escape from the concerns of the day, without putting too much effort to this practice.
Binge-Watching and “Guilty Pleasures”
On-demand bingeing is a novelty that signals a change in viewer habits that scholars are beginning to acknowledge and examine.32 At the same time, however, one could say that watching, for example, a week’s worth of popular British soap opera Eastenders Omnibus (1994–2015) episodes when they screen, in sequence, every Sunday on BBC One, is not much different as interviewee Eve mentioned. The fundamental logic of continuous viewing is the same between the two examples, but there is still a crucial difference—Netflix gives users the control of when, where, and how many episodes they binge.
Many of the contemporary interviewees binge content on Netflix. Like most viewers, they like not waiting a week for the next episode, but now watch for extended periods of time, or, as Tilly confessed, have “lots of late nights.” Often, with this pleasure come feelings of guilt for viewing too much—and sometimes with embarrassment in admitting it, thus turning binge-watching into what Debra Ramsay calls a “guilty pleasure.”33 For example, even though Kim admitted that one of the things she appreciates most on Netflix is “being able to watch as many episodes as you like in a night—bingeing,” when asked to say how many hours she devotes to it she responded: “I don’t know. Don’t like to think about it!” Maya also expressed the same kind of underlying guilt for bingeing, even if she considered her Netflix viewing as better than the “vegging out” one does on standard television
.
Leo, in describing his bingeing patterns, sounds like he is trying to justify himself. Arguing for his pleasure, he stated (in a somewhat defensive tone), “I don’t need to download, I just watch. I do binge a bit yes. I can watch 5–6 episodes in a row of How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014), for example. Why not? I am drawn to it. I can leave it; but also, it’s a way of being lazy and doing nothing. I work a lot! I don’t have any regret. I can do that. Why not?” Chris on the other hand, confidently explained that he happily binges because his viewing always occurs past 10 p.m., long after he has completed his daily tasks. Chris has fixed a routine so that he can watch unobstructed from any preoccupation in a carefree mode:
Oh yes absolutely. I do binge. I like it. Yes time flies and you watch a lot. I’ve been watching things till 3 a.m. in the morning. But I like it. It doesn’t matter (devoting so much time to TV). I watch it at night; I don’t watch it at normal television times so it does not intervene with the tasks of the day. I watch 10 p.m. onwards. My son’s in bed. Dishes are done. Tiding up is done. Time to relax.
Here, then, we see how Chris domesticates Netflix so it will not intervene or obstruct daily tasks or patterns, and will give him the chance to binge-watch, guilt-free. Binge-watching in general “recasts our relationship to televisual time,” affirming our control over media content.34 Despite associations with guilty and out of control watching, users like Leo are “drawn to” binge-watching. This mode can also improve the viewing experience, particularly in attention to the narrative of what is being watched. It reveals a kind of commitment that can be particularly appealing to fan communities.35 In this sense, as Chuck Tryon notes when reviewing Netflix’s promotional discourse, bingeing can be characterized “not as a passive activity but as one aligned with active viewing practices, as a way of managing one’s time in front of the television rather than succumbing to a television schedule.”36
Furthermore, much like Chris’s above quote indicates a process of domesticating Netflix, DTV subscribers also regularly found shortcuts and ways of incorporating their viewing into the web of daily activities. At that time, new digital video recording technology TiVo allowed DTV users to pause programs while watching and record one channel at the same time they were watching another. Of course, such a novelty was met with strong enthusiasm from those who could afford it. For instance, a 34-year-old DTV interviewee and mother of four explained what a relief the technology provided her in terms of juggling her obligations as a mom and as a fan:
Well, I’m watching television in the afternoon; when the children are around I pause things in the middle of what I’m watching and then I’ll continue watching it after I’ve helped them with what they’re doing or after I’ve put the vegetables on to boil or whatever…. In order to cook the children’s dinner I don’t have to miss what I’m watching. I love it. And it also means that rather than saying to the children “Shhh, just let me watch this bit,” I just press pause and they can say what they need to say and run off and carry on with what they were doing.
It was clear at the time that the more new gadgets DTV users could afford the more freedom they had in structuring their viewing in a productive fashion. Again, such freedom has increased further for Netflix users—as Chris implied above—and at a fraction of the cost.
Viewing Ritual and Associated Needs
Aside from bingeing, most interviewees engage in another pleasurable ritual of viewing: that of watching Netflix with their partners (or by themselves) in the evening after a long day’s work. This is their “relaxation time,” and is when they usually watch more television series than films. Such rituals are and have always been common with each generation of broadcast television. Most of the early DTV interviewees made similar linkages between television and relaxation in the early 2000s. These interviewees to a large extent rejected the supposedly innovative and interactive services of DTV exactly because they were not deemed compatible with the relaxing, low-demand experience of television. As a 30-year-old male interviewee told me at the time, “Television is there as a relaxing tool. You get home in the evening and it’s there to entertain you. In effect, you have to actually physically do something if you’re interactive, rather than the relaxing element of it, which is what television basically is.”37 In another article, I reviewed findings from this same research, discussing how differently those early DTV viewers perceived television and the computer/Internet.38 There, a 43-year-old male made a clear distinction between the two, stating, “When I want to come and sit down and relax, I’ll come down and sit down and watch the television. I can’t relax if I use the computer. That’s the difference, I think.”39
Today, consumers view computers, tablets, and smartphones as more than tools for working and administrative purposes. Indeed, these tools are increasingly used not only to communicate via social media and messaging platforms, but also to watch media content; in short, they are regarded as entertainment and relaxing tools as well. Nonetheless, as the above interviewee suggested, watching television—from whichever access point—is still associated with the need to be entertained, to relax, and to unwind.
Much like early DTV users, Netflix users engage in what Lotz calls “cocooning,” a practice that emerged well before the advent of DTV—that is, staying at home to be entertained with their family and/or friends by watching content on the streaming service of their choice.40 In these instances, interviewees prefer television series to films. As Neil explained, “I love movies, but most of the time I prefer series, because I watch Netflix to relax after work in the evening, and I’m looking for light entertainment.” Other participants, such as Mimi and her partner Bob, confirmed this experience, noting that the shorter nature of individual episodes means that they are easier to digest, less demanding, and thus in accordance with a relaxing mood.
Maya revealed the viewing customs she and her partner Lenny have developed around Netflix: “Series watching on Netflix has become a ritual on weeknights with my partner as we do follow two to three serials and that’s the time we ‘block’ to sit down together and relax.” She further explicated the premises on which such rituals are built: the need to be social and share time with her partner, but also the need to relax and be entertained in a relatively short period of time with undemanding yet good television. As she stated, “Low demand, shared time which helps to relax after long tiring days. Serials on Netflix are also good alternatives to films as an episode is shorter than a film so can fit in an evening without feeling that you totally abandon quality, like, for example, you do when you vegetate in front of whatever is on TV.”
Similarly, Kim noted that she and her partner watch Netflix for a couple of hours a night: “after everything is done this is our down time!” She explained how their viewing fits in their domestic practices and how the couple has dinner in front of the television set, watching Netflix programs after the kids have gone to bed. As she said, “We are trying to eat earlier with our kids but our habit has been to get them dinner, get them to bed, and then chill out finally in front of the TV with our dinner—not healthy! But a quick route to relaxation, and not time to have dinner and then watch, so we’ve been combining.” Other interviewees expressed an appreciation for this practice of eating dinner or “chilling post-dinner” while watching Netflix. Yet again, this is a practice that is very familiar for most audiences, regardless of the technology or viewing platform. As such, some viewing rituals remain relatively consistent to older eras of television. For Netflix users, the social context of viewing is still important; they still prefer to watch television with partners, family members, or friends. However, exactly because of Netflix’s flexibility, it can be also regarded as a personal medium—especially when disagreements over what to watch occur like in the case of Eve and Mike. Netflix still creates notable changes in consumption, with users now free from traditional scheduling. Changes have also taken place regarding the spatial context of viewing. Though largely remaining within the private space of one’s home
, viewing can now increasingly take place in public space (such as the office, as Leo confesses, the park, public transportation, and more).
Conclusion: Content Is Still King
Today, television is at a crossroads. Technological developments have brought significant transformations, creating new ways of watching online, on-demand, and on the go. Yet, broadcasting and traditional viewing also persist—even if they are declining—and are still favored by a notable segment of the audience. As this essay illustrates, technological change and the proliferation of online streaming platforms such as Netflix have generally allowed for more choice and control for users. This choice and control manifests in personalized, customized viewing and ultimately eliminates the constraints of the broadcasting schedule. Yet, the choice provided by Netflix also cuts off users from content not available on the platform, including news, sports, and current affairs programming. Interviewees express how these additional programs are sometimes excluded from their “new” habits altogether, but more commonly they persist on standard television (watching sports) or develop on different media altogether (e.g., reading the news online). Therefore, as expected, changes are not necessarily abrupt or revolutionary, but rather slow and gradual.
Meanwhile, the comparison of emerging user practices in the DTV and Netflix eras demonstrated that some differences but also some similarities between the two groups exist after all. Offerings like Sky Digital first purported to allow viewers to “watch what they wanted when why wanted it,” creating what was then a substantive increase in content selection in comparison to the analog service. As a 41-year-old male noted at the time,
With digital TV you get such a choice to watch, to the documentaries, to the music, to the entertainment, to films, and you can watch it when you want to. You can usually find something in those categories if you want to watch television, to pick and sit down and relax and watch. But we won’t normally go to the television to watch a particular program. We will normally go to the television and I’ll flick through and see what’s on, find something we want to watch and just switch to that channel.