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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE EXAMINING TELEVISION OUTSIDE THE BOX A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies By Elizabeth G. Minarik August 2015 i The thesis of Elizabeth G. Minarik is approved: ________________________________________ _____________________ Dr. Bernardo Attias Date ________________________________________ _____________________ Dr. Aimee Carrillo-Rowe Date ________________________________________ _____________________ Dr. Gina Giotta, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Acknowledgements I am surprised to find myself on the cusp of this master’s degree. I applied to the program so I could take graduate-level courses, but without an intention of pursuing a degree. I just wanted to keep learning. However, I was quickly drawn into the curriculum. For that I have to thank Dr. Bernardo Attias and Dr. Kathryn Sorrells, who were my professors in my first semester at CSUN. Their classes made me both a better thinker and a better listener. And their classes made me want to continue down this path. During the years I have spent working on this degree, I have had two children. I am especially grateful for the kindness and encouragement from Dr. Rebecca Litke and Dr. Peter Marston when I was unsure of myself trying to balance school, and work, and parenthood. A million thanks to my husband Colin Doty and to our two wonderful kids for accepting my absences to attend classes and my distractions while meeting deadlines. Thank you as well to my parents Wendy Greenberg and Peter Minarik for encouraging me to keep going. Two of my fellow students, who finished long before I did, kept pushing me forward and insisting I could get to the end when I got discouraged. Thank you Carrie Shaw and Robert Weisler for making my classes more engaging and for giving me your friendship. Your support kept me afloat. Finally, I must thank my thesis committee, Dr. Gina Giotta, Dr. Bernardo Attias, and Dr. Aimee Carrillo-Rowe. I have taken up so much of your time, especially yours Dr. Gina Giotta. Thank you for giving me your energy, your guidance, your wisdom, and your support. I cannot properly express how grateful I am. iii Table of Contents Signature Page .................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................v Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature ....................................................................................8 Technological Innovations .............................................................................................11 Corporations and Technology ........................................................................................15 Quality Television ..........................................................................................................19 The Rise of the Writer ....................................................................................................25 Chapter 3: Methodology ...................................................................................................31 The Study .......................................................................................................................34 Participants and Recruitment .........................................................................................35 Data Collection ..............................................................................................................36 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................39 Chapter 4: Results .............................................................................................................41 The Writers and the Devices ..........................................................................................43 The Writers and the Industry .........................................................................................47 The Writers and Television Content ..............................................................................64 Chapter 5: Discussion .......................................................................................................81 The Narrative of Change ................................................................................................83 New as a Revision of the Past ........................................................................................88 The Continuity of Television Writers ............................................................................95 Chapter 6: Conclusion .....................................................................................................109 Limitations ...................................................................................................................111 Works Cited .....................................................................................................................114 iv Abstract EXAMINING TELEVISION OUTSIDE THE BOX By Elizabeth G. Minarik Master of Arts in Communication Studies This study looks at the intersection of new technology and storytelling in television by exploring television writers’ content creation process. While a great deal of contemporary popular discourse (and some scholarly discourse) about television presumes that new digital technology is radically transforming television content, this study seeks to understand the question of change from the television writer’s perspective. For this qualitative study, 10 television writers were interviewed and asked about their experiences writing for the medium. The interviews with the writers were coded and then grouped into three broad thematic concerns: television technology, the industry, and content creation. Results showed that while writers recognize new technology as having some impact on television content creation (for example, non-network production outlets’ willingness to take bigger risks on content) and a significant impact on their own personal viewing behaviors, they overwhelmingly see new technology as only minimally or indirectly affecting their writing. This lack of consideration of new technology in their creative process is supported by a number of shared narratives within the writing community about the role of the writer and the essence of the medium. In particular, narratives about prioritizing story and character, collaboration among writers, and respect for the past help facilitate the uneasy separation between technology and the creative process within the writing community. Moreover, such narratives suggest some of the v mechanisms by which supposedly runaway technological change is tempered and negotiated within this particular phase of the content creation process. vi Chapter 1: Introduction Forbes 1/28/14: “Why Television is Dead” (Rosenbaum) Politico 2/27/14: “TV is Dead. Now What?” (Shirky) Business Insider 11/24/13: “TV Is Dying and Here are the Stats that Prove It” (Edwards) The Atlantic 2/7/13: “Netflix, ‘House of Cards,’ and the Golden Age of Television” (D. Thompson) CNN 5/6/13: “The new, new TV golden age” (Leopold) NY Times 5/9/14: “Barely Keeping up in TV’s New Golden Age” (Carr) For the past few years, there has been an inundation of headlines declaring that television is at once dead and thriving. The medium as we know it is being forever changed by technology. The content is flourishing as it has never flourished before. We are being told the story of television today, and the narrative is one of rapid and significant change, both in television technology and content. Television, such discourse claims, is a medium that no longer is what it was thanks to new technology. However, looking carefully into what is changing reveals a more nuanced perspective. The distribution model of television is changing rapidly. We can now watch TV on a variety of devices and from a broader array of sources. Yet television still remains a focal point of living rooms across America. The television box is changing—bigger and slimmer as well as more portable options, but the shift in the content is not changing at the same speed. Thirty and 60-minute programming units, for example, still dominate the schedule. 1 Television content by its nature is never static. There is a variety of new programming on at any given time. The quality of programming varies greatly. The quantity of programming has remained on an expanding trajectory. But within the television box, what is happening to content in the current era? Even with an increase in quality programming, content is not being overhauled in step with technology and distribution changes. While much research has been done on the technological changes in the medium of television, limited research balances the understanding of new technology with an industry professionals’ perspective on the process of content creation. Looking both at new technologies and the content creation process allows us to understand both how technology does and does not impact television content. Discussion of television today often implies that the medium is being overhauled