Determinants of the Content and Creation of Modern Television Series

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Vol. 3, Issue 1, 2016

Theories – Research – Applications

Determinants of the Content and Creation of Modern Television Series. Selected Issues

Krzysztof Arcimowicz University of Bialystok, Poland E-mail address: [email protected]

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to present the most important fac- Keywords: tors affecting the creation and content of two different genres Content of television series– Polish television sagas and American Creativity post-soap operas. The analysis which I have carried out in Genre the field allows the formulation of several conclusions. The Polish television saga creation of the two genres is similar. In both cases the most Post-soap opera important people are the producers and scriptwriters and the Economics most important criteria used for the assessment of a produc- Audience tion are audience ratings and economic factors. Polish television sagas and American post-soaps are often very different with regard to their content and the ways they present social issues. The reasons for the differences include: genre convention, expectations of viewers, social and cultural context, and the emergence of commercial subscription television in Article history: the United States. At the turn of the 21st century HBO, an Received 8 Febuary 2016 American pay television provider, followed by other stations Received in revised form 11 April 2016 began to produce shows which, even though they have origi- Accepted 12 April 2016 nated from older television forms, break the ties with their antecedents. Makers of post-soaps address sensitive social ISSN: 2354-0036 issues and create their characters in an original and often DOI: 10.1515/ctra-2016-0008 controversial way.

INTRODUCTION The term "television series" can be defined as a television programme that (usually) maintains the continuity of characters, setting, issues and plots, with several or many episodes shown regularly at certain times (cf. Gałuszka, 1996; Godzic, 2004). Television series are one of the most important of television genres; they play a key role in the programming of many television stations, both public and commercial. The most popular productions attract audiences of several million viewers and provide broadcasters with sub- stantial advertising revenue. Television series have been, are and – one may risk speculat- ing– will be in the future, the economic pillar on which the functioning of television stands.

105 Arcimowicz K., Determinants of the Content and Creation of Modern Television Series. Selected Issues

Television series are over 70 years old and so far many different genres have been created: soap opera, telenovela, crime series, medical drama, comedy series, TV sagas, and so on. The beginning of the XXI century was marked with the appearance of Ameri- can productions which media experts began to call "the new generation of television series" or "post-soap opera" ("post-soap" in short). These new shows, although originating from older television forms, in many cases have severed the ties connecting them with their antecedents (cf. Filiciak, Giza, 2010, pp.7-9; Kaja 2013, pp.65-66). The aim of this article is to present the most important factors affecting the content of two genres: Polish television sagas and American post-soap operas, on the basis of the literature and the statements of scriptwriters and producers made in the Internet and the press. I intend to describe and compare the conditions for the creation process of these two types of shows which involves the creators (scriptwriters, producers, directors and actors) but also different types of institutions and audience. The main criterion for the choice of genres – TV sagas and post-soaps – is their wide popularity. Another important factor is that they are created in a different socio-economic reality, they present social problems in a different way and they are addressed to different viewers. With reference to what Denis McQuail wrote, we can say that deciding on a genre helps producers to create meanings in the show and viewers to understand them (McQuail, 2008, p.365). Usually, genres are formed over many years and maintain established conventions as to ways of creating characters, plot and the pace of narrative, which does not mean that these are not modified or developed within the framework of the original genre form. Determinants of the content and the process of creating Polish television sagas Television sagas, also called telenovelas or soap operas, are the most popular television programmers in Poland. I believe that the term "television saga" proposed by Alicja Kisielewska to describe Polish multi-episodic television series from the beginning of the 21st century, depicting the history of a family or a character, is more appropriate than "soap opera", and certainly much better than the incorrectly used term "telenovela". It is safe to say that soap opera is a global genre which has a key position in the programming of many television stations all over the world (Allen, 1995, p.2). However, one has to be aware that there is no single model for soap operas, as they are created according to patterns originating from specific cultures and although their formal patterns are similar, they are always filled with local content (Kisielewska, 2009, p.9). Polish TV saga's formal characteristics make it much more similar to soap opera than to telenovela. Telenovela is a genre characteristic of Latin America. Classic telenovelas count approximately 120 episodes and are shown for a period of eight to nine

106 Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications 3(1) 2016 months. They include the main plot, usually a love story, that resolves in an ending – most likely the marriage of the two main characters. Whereas soap opera is character- ised by the lack of a main plot and story, and instead of ending in a traditional, resolving- all-conflicts finale, often simply breaks up in medias res. Soap operas include more than ten main characters, many more than classic telenovelas. Such a large number of protagonists is necessary to create a variety of threads and the narrative web. Each of the threads in soap operas may become the most important (Arcimowicz, 2013; Butler, 2007, p.41; pp.106-114; Cantor, Pingree, 1997, pp.116-124; Nowicki, 2006, pp.38-45).

The first Polish television saga W labiryncie (In the Labirynth) was established at the turn of the 80s and 90s of the twentieth century. New television series appeared in the second half of the 90s and at the turn of the century including Klan (Clan), Na dobre i na złe (For Better or Worse), M jak miłość (M for My Love), Plebania (Presbytery), Na Wspólnej (Wspólna St.), Samo życie (Such Is Life).1 The listed television series share many characteristics with American soap operas, but are not simple copies of the original. On the basis of my own observations, as well as genre analysis done by Alicja Kisielewska, I would like to present the main features of television sagas. I understand Polish television sagas as multi-episodic feature television series intended for television and shown regularly at certain times. Television sagas have a set of formal features such as: – setting the story in Polish social and cultural reality; – lack of narrative closure (theoretically, they may last forever); – multiple threads and a large number of protagonists; – lack of a distinct storyline – there are many parallel threads, equally important; – melodramatic character of the narration; – didacticism; – focus on family life, interpersonal relations and the problems of the everyday; – dialogue as the basis for developing scenes; – action usually taking place indoors; – episodes lasting from 20 to 50 minutes; – episodes ending in a cliffhanger;

1 Television audience measurement data from AGB Poland indicate that the average audience for TV sagas in Septem- ber, October and November 2009 ranged from 2.7 million viewers (Samo życie) to over 8 million (M jak miłość). It is worth noting, however, that according to a survey by TNS OBOP (another public opinon research centre) some episodes of Na dobre i na złe and Klan attracted more than ten million viewers and M jak miłość even 12.5 million. In September 1990 the series W labiryncie gathered a record-beaking audience of about 14 million viewers (Buchalska, 1990; Ratuszniak, 2009; Oglądalność polskich i zagranicznych seriali TVP1, TVP2, Polsat, TVN we wrześniu, paździer- niku, listopadzie 2009 ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem nowości jesiennej ramówki 2009).

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– infrequent references to political events or support for specific political parties, which, however, does not imply ideological neutrality (typical of Polish TV sagas) (Arcimowicz, 2013; Kisielewska, 2009). When analyzing factors relevant to the process of creating television series, one has to be aware of the fact that media are never impartial in their communication behavior. Communication reflects the hierarchy of values, social relationships, specificity of culture, it shows the sender's way of thinking about the receivers. Horace M. Newcomb and Paul M. Hirsch believe that the rhetoric in television is mostly that of discussion. They add, however, that questioning of dominant standards may be dangerous to the interests of broadcasters, if it becomes too strong (Newcomb, Hirsch, 1997, pp. 96-97). One of the most common theories pertaining to factors influencing the content of the message is the so called reflection hypothesis, based on the belief that the content present in the media reflects the behavior, relationships, values and standards which are most common and/or dominant in society (Renzetti, Curran, 2005, p. 232). However, one has to remember that television is a genre-type-of medium and particular genres – to a greater or lesser extent – present a distorted picture of reality. The main aim of state television productions in Poland up until the end of the 1980s was to serve the authorities and The Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP) in carrying out their policies. Since the 1990s public television programmers have aimed to attract the largest possible audience, which does not mean that they are free from ideological or political influence. In the communist period creative process consisted of two decision paths – one established by authors and the other by the PUWP. Today, this process is much more complex. The period of political transition was a time when independent production companies, such as Triplan, MT Article Prod., MTL Maxfilm, first appeared in Poland. They produce television series, but also other programmers commissioned by television stations (cf. Kisielewska, 2009, pp. 379-380).

The main factors that influence the content of Polish television sagas include: broadcasters, producers, scriptwriters, ideologies, expectations of viewers, social and cultural context (in which a TV series is created and received), genre convention and other cultural texts. In addition, the content of a series may be influenced by different types of institutions, advertisers and, to a small extent, directors and actors (for example by offering scriptwriters or producers some ideas or suggestions concerning characters or the plot). It should also be emphasized that the final shape of a TV series is determined by economic factors and that broadcasters and producers treat their productions as commercial ventures which should generate profit.

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Figure 1 Factors determining the content of television sagas (Arcimowicz, 2013). The main producer of a television series is responsible for the budget, decides on its content, selects the story, cast and production crew, may modify the plot or influence the way the series is directed. Executive producers supervise the creation process, they control the progress of work and running costs but leave specific decisions influencing the final outcome to the main producer of the series. One should also be aware of the fact that television series these days are often created in a hurry. Time pressure is exerted equally on directors, actors, producers, but also – and perhaps above all – scriptwriters, as the screenplay is cru- cial for continuing with the production of subsequent episodes. For this reason many famous writers cooperate with other writers to help them develop more stories faster. Usually, the screenplay of a television saga is created by a team of writers in which one person plays a leading role. It often happens that such a group of scriptwriters, who have worked on a specific series for many years, changes – some people resign and new people take their place (Nowicki, 2006, p.159-166; Ł jak Łepkowska, 2010, p.105). What producers want from their TV sagas is to attract as large an audience as possible, their artistic value is of secondary importance. Soap operas, telenovelas and television sagas are among the most profitable television genres.2 The production costs are relatively low compared

2 The data collected by the media house Lowe Media indicate that in the years 2004-2014 the highest advertising revenue was generated for the following TV series: Na Wspólnej (TVN) - 2.08 billion zlotys, Pierwsza miłość (First love) (Polsat) - 1.95 billion zlotys, M jak miłość (TVP2) - 1.42 billion zlotys. It is worth noting that M jak miłość was at that time the most popular TV series in Poland, and despite this the advertising revenue was lower than in the case of a series attracting a much smaller audience (Lemańska, 2015, p. B2-B3). The above demonstrates that the largest number of viewers does not always guarantee maximum advertising revenue as not only the number, but also certain socio- demographic characteristics of the viewers such as age, education and place of residence, are important for advertisers. The most desirable age group is the so-called "commercial group" – people aged 16-49 years.

109 Arcimowicz K., Determinants of the Content and Creation of Modern Television Series. Selected Issues to feature films or entertainment programmes and advertising income – thanks to generally large audiences – high (Hobson, 2003, pp. 63-64; Nowicki, 2006, p. 147).

One can say that the majority of TV series producers and scriptwriters try to pander to the audience, satisfy their tastes and desires. It may seem a much easier task to create an unambitious TV series attracting large audiences than a piece of work of some artistic value. However, one has to remember that creating TV sagas, which are in principle commercial, is not easy. One can never be sure if the new show will be welcomed by the viewers as the choice is great and the competition on the media market is high. Every big television station in Poland has at least several TV series among the programmes it has on offer. Scriptwriters are not fully independent of external factors when they create a TV saga or a soap opera aimed at a multimillion audience. They also have to take into account the economic rules according to which television functions (Cantor, Pingree, 1983, p. 123). Their task is to create characters whose lives would be similar to the lives of real people. When interviewed, they stress that the presented world in TV sagas should be realistic from many points of view. The realism of the plot is achieved and strengthened by the use of consultants, e.g. the creators of Na dobre i na złe use medical consultants and the scriptwriters of Plebania are helped by a priest (Łaciak, 2013, p. 39). Ilona Łepkowska, the scriptwriter for the most popular Polish television sagas, including M jak miłość, Barwy szczęścia, Klan, Na dobre i na złe and herself also a TV series producer claims that most of her ideas come from hundreds of conversations and over- heard stories which she later compiles into a script (Meller, 2003, p. 60). In a television show Polacy (Poles), shown on April 11, 2007 on a public TV station she stressed that making a TV series is the work of a craftsman and a salesman and not that of an artist. She admitted that the value of her work is determined by the number of viewers. That is why television sagas include a full variety of characters differing in terms of per- sonality, age, social status, etc. "This is the assumption on which the whole business stands. A productions has to allow for the maximum number of viewers to find something or somebody of interest to them. In other words – different strokes for different folks. As a result we have, on the one hand, decent housewives, and on the other hand, women who often change their partners or enter into relationships which are doomed to fail. Some male protagonists are ambitious and successful, others helpless, some relationships are happy, others unhappy, some are very traditional and some are modern, e.g. civil unions" (Ł jak Łepkowska, 2010, p. 163). Television sagas may expose different values, but the authors are aware that in order for a show to become a commercial success, the most highlighted ones must be those

110 Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications 3(1) 2016 shared by the majority of viewers, maintaining the status quo (McQuail, 2008, p. 354). John Fiske claims that soap operas become popular thanks to their close links with the dominant ideology at the time (Fiske, 1987, p. 112). Łepkowska once said in one of her interviews: "With regard to social conventions or morality, I prefer to show how it really is, that people have different values and live different lives and that there are different op- tions (...). But I am not going to show in my TV series, a woman who seeks equal rights in all fields of life, who, no matter what, demands that responsibilities at home should be shared fifty-fifty and shouts like a pro-choice activist »my belly is my business« because I think such a character would simply be grotesque" (Ł jak Łepkowska, 2010, p. 182). In fact all TV saga scriptwriters (there are people of both conservative and liberal views among them) in a sense become hostages to broadcasters, advertisers, and various institutions which, for ideological or economical reasons, may interfere with the content of the show. The scriptwriter of Plebania, Olaf Olszewski, when asked by a viewer in an Internet chat about the lack of love scenes and only very rare moments when couples kiss in the TV saga, answered: "This series (which I personally regret) according to the broadcaster's opinion has to be particularly »decent«" (Internet chat with Olaf Ol- szewski 2005). Also, it has to be added that screenplays for television sagas ordered by particular TV stations have to take into account statutory provisions. A screenplay cannot include violence or obscenity, and therefore the presented world may seem idealized (Ł jak Łepkowska 2010, pp.100-101). Television sagas feature such social issues as adultery, alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling and prostitution, but it all has to be presented within the framework of genre convention and for this reason they often become distinctively didactic or even moralizing in nature. Polish TV saga producers and scriptwriters are eager to remind us that their films often become the means for promoting different social campaigns and educating the public. Various organisations or interest groups lobby for their causes to be included in the scripts (idea placement). Initiators of social campaigns knock on the doors of scriptwriters and producers being aware that the effect of promoting ideas through TV series is much stronger than through e.g. news programmes. The TV saga Klan – to give an example – promoted many significant issues, including: child adoption, work abroad, Down's syn- drome, Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer. Idea placement may also concern finan- cial issues, as was the case with Plebania and the 2008 campaign of the Polish National Bank persuading people to set up accounts and bank deposits (Arcimowicz, 2013, pp. 130-131; Łaciak 2013, pp.42-43). It is also worth noting that sometimes viewers' wish- es expressed in letters or on the Internet (official websites, forums) are taken into account by scriptwriters, who like to learn about their preferences (Ł jak Łepkowska, 2010).

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Determinants of the content and creation of post-soap operas In 1999 HBO, a TV station, began to show The Sopranos which is considered by media experts to be one of the first post-soap productions (Włodek, 2014, p.235). Since then there have been many TV series which are now counted as belonging to the post-soap category, including: Lost, Six Feet Under, Dexter, House M.D., Breaking Bad, Weed, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, House of Cards.3 On the basis of the literature (Filiciak, Giza, 2010; Kaja, 2014; Włodek 2014) and my own observations, I would like to enumer- ate the main features of the new generation of TV series: – complex, sophisticated narration; – many threads in the plot; – not self-contained episodes; – addressing sensitive social issues; – avoiding melodramatic convention and a didactic approach; – vivid characters, usually controversial (antihero); – language of characters similar to that of real life; – moral relativism; – mixing genre conventions; – reference to literary and film conventions; – innovation, stylistic and technical refinement; – original, intriguing title sequence and music; – seasons; – (about) 45-minute episodes shown once a week; – big budget; – prime time of shows. The creation process of American post-soaps and Polish TV sagas is similar, although it is worth mentioning that the budget of American productions is incomparably greater. The cost of production of one episode may be several or even over ten million dollars (e.g. Game of Thrones, Lost), whereas in Poland the amount usually does not exceed several hundred thousand zlotys. The big budgets for post-soaps allow American TV stations to hire talented and renowned scriptwriters, directors and producers which guarantees the artistic quality of the production (e.g. J.J. Abrams, Vince Gilligan, Ag- nieszka Holland or Steven Spielberg) (cf. Kaja, 2014, pp. 69-70). It is also worth mentioning that in the case of post-soaps which have not yet fully developed into a genre one can often observe the crossing of different genre conventions which requires greater creativity

3 House of Cards was produced for the Netflix Internet platform but it was also shown on many TV stations.

112 Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications 3(1) 2016 on the part of scriptwriters than in the case of soap operas which are based on clichés. In some cases it becomes a kind of experiment which, though controlled by the scriptwriters, may bring unexpected results. The writers have a certain vision of their characters, their family and professional lives, but even for them it may be difficult to predict how the plot may develop. At least this is what Vince Gilligan, the main scriptwriter of Breaking Bad, considered to be one of the best TV productions in history, once claimed ("Breaking Bad” Creator Vince Gilligan Answers Fan Questions, 2013). It might be interesting to consider why the new generation of TV series appeared at all. Such an analysis might provide an indirect explanation for why the ways of present- ing social issues and the content of Polish television sagas and American post-soap operas are so very different. One can identify several reasons why the new generation TV series emerged. One of the main reasons is the social transformations in the US and Western Europe which took place in the last decades of the 20th century. Among these the following should be mentioned: greater sexual freedom, more frequent cohabitation, secularisation, emanci- pation of women and homosexuals, individual freedom as the supreme value. A new approach to what is presented on television was also the result of the spread of postmodern thought, which questions the concept of truth and promotes moral relativism. The stagna- tion and conservatism of many television stations, as well as the Hollywood film industry resulted, and will continue to result in producing films, the majority of which are predicta- ble, based on clichés. Few producers decided to try and use new conventions, since the old ones still sell quite well. However, at the turn of the 21st century there were more and more well-educated viewers, many of them young or middle-aged, for whom such films had lost their appeal. These people did not want to watch schematic characters anymore, they wanted television which was more ambitious, talked about existential problems and addressed controversial social issues and taboos. This is exactly what post-soap productions do (cf. Kaja 2014; Włodek 2014). The makers of postsoaps, recognizing the new demand, began to create characters which were as interesting as they were controversial. The antiheroes of the new generation TV series often act against the law, but whether their deeds should be judged immor- al is not so obvious to the viewers, who are tempted to justify them to some extent. Wal- ter White, a protagonist of Breaking Bad has a deadly cancer. He manufactures and sells methamphetamine to provide for his family, also after his death. The main protagonist of Dexter leads a double life. Dexter Morgan in the daytime is a respected forensic blood analyst in a police department and at night he kills criminals who have managed to es-

113 Arcimowicz K., Determinants of the Content and Creation of Modern Television Series. Selected Issues cape justice. The problem of moral relativism is also present in House M.D. The main protagonist defies unambiguous descriptions. One cannot easily decide whether the controversial way to talk with patients or treatment techniques employed by Gregory House are good or bad. New generation TV series, by means of exposing antiheroes, raise the question of moral relativism, in particular, whether every kind of illegal conduct should be evaluated only with regard to legal provisions. Post-soaps also try to break the taboo of non-normative sexuality. Although homosexuality is more and more present in Polish TV sagas, it is presented in quite a schematic way. Most of the homosexual characters are people who are unhappy because of their otherness among the heterosexual majority (Arcimowicz, 2013, pp. 391-411). Passionate kissing or homosexual sex are completely out of the question, while in American post-soaps such scenes are present. Game of Thrones or Queer as Folk,4 might be two good examples of productions which include quite explicit gay and lesbian scenes. Makers of post-soaps also address the issue of child adoption by gay couples, Modern Family being an example of the TV series in question, in which a gay couple who live in California raise an adopted daughter. The phenomenon of new generation TV series should also be seen in the context of technological progress and the emergence of new types of television. The develop- ment of thematic channels and cable and subscription television caused the draining of viewers from generalist (mainstream) stations. In the 1970s in the United States the first pay television, HBO, was established and was then followed by other pay television services. Broadcasters whose budget relies on revenue from advertising rarely produce and generally avoid programmes containing very controversial heroes and openly subversive content, as it may cause the advertisers to turn their backs on them and put their economic stability at risk. In the case of subscription television advertising ceases to be "religion" and does not have to determine the content of television programmes any more (cf. Kaja, 2014; Włodek, 2014). In analysing the success of American new generation TV series one should also make reference to Henry Jenkins. According to this researcher we are dealing here with media convergence where the roads of the old and new media cross (Jenkins, 2007). Young viewers watch post-soaps mainly on the Internet. It is also the medium where they look for information concerning their TV series,5 share it with others in on-line forums

4 I mean the American remake of the British series under the same title. 5 Speaking of the success of American post-soaps I do not only mean their popularity in different countries of the world, but also the fact that they have gained the recognition of experts and top the rankings of best television productions conducted by film portals, e.g. American IMBd or Polish Filmweb. Even though there exist audience ratings for post- soaps, they concern only television thus quoting these would not produce an accurate picture. In fact, the total number of viewers of new generation series is difficult to estimate. The problem has already been raised and it concerns the fact that, unlike television sagas which are viewed mainly on television, post-soaps very often are viewed on the Inter- net through official websites. Furthermore, in many countries there are web portals, some of them legal, some illegal or semi-legal, which show TV series and films for a small fee or for free (such as CDA.pl or Chomikuj.pl in Poland). Fur- thermore, viewers often download films from the Internet and share them with others. According to the Megapanel survey by PBI/Gemius carried out in 2015 the semi-legal platform CDA.pl had 5.7 million users and the monthly number of views exceed 300 million (Czubakowska, 2015).

114 Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications 3(1) 2016 or during so-called conventions where fans of a given show meet. One can describe this as a kind of game between the creators of post-soaps and the viewers. Creators and often broadcasters of TV series encourage viewers to search for information concerning the heroes, actors, threads or behind-the-scenes activity. The emergence of new technolo- gies, new TV productions and new involved viewers contributes to the creation of a specific culture of participation. This concept contrasts with the conviction of a passive atti- tude of viewers towards the media. (cf. Jenkins, 2007, pp. 7-13; Kaja, 2014, pp. 78-79). Internet forums and communities of fans have also arisen for Polish TV sagas, but the scale of the phenomenon is much smaller than in the case of American post-soaps. CONCLUSION Due to limited space I have not been able to explain in detail all the determinants of the content and creation of contemporary television series. Thus, I have focused on those which I thought to be the most valid. However, the analysis carried out above allows the formulation of several conclusions. Determination of genre is still one of the first steps in the process of creating a television series. The process itself is similar for different genres, however the final effect can be very different. Awareness concerning the genre convention of a series is important in the process of both creating and interpreting the meaning. Although contemporary television is still a genre-type-of medium, generic impurity is a more and more frequent feature of television productions. Many television series blend different genre conventions, for example Lost includes the elements of adventure series, thriller, crime series and even science fiction. The creation process of Polish television sagas and American new generation television series is similar. In both cases the most important participants of the process are the producers and scriptwriters and the most important criteria that allow an assessment of a production are audience ratings and economic factors. It should be noted, however, that in the case of a series commissioned by a subscription, television scriptwriters are not held hostage to advertisers and therefore can address sensitive social issues and create their characters in an original and even controversial way. The following widely recognized examples of series produced by HBO at the turn of the 21st century would make a good case in point: The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Game of Thrones. Encour- aged by HBO's success, other American television stations also began to produce post- soaps. The example of new generation television series proves that television productions can be ambitious, free of moralising, address sensitive social issues and at the same time gain recognition in the eyes of both "ordinary" viewers and experts.

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Post-soap productions in Poland are still somewhat rare. The few examples of series bearing certain features of the new genre include Hotel 52, Pit Bull and Krew z krwi (Blood of the Blood). There are a few reasons for this. Few Polish post-soaps are finan- cially and ideologically secure. Most Polish-speaking television stations simply cannot afford such productions and those which could afford them (TVP1, TVP2, TVN, Polsat), generally do not want to take the risk. Broadcasters can never be sure whether a particular series will gain the popularity needed to ensure the desired profits. Also, they do not want to put their reputation at risk by violating traditional norms and showing explicit content. Yet another reason for this state of affairs could be the fear of failing to meet the competition from American television stations which have much bigger production budgets. As a result Polish broadcasters would rather chose to show American productions, than try to create something of their own. Television changes at a rapid pace. These changes are related to convergence pro- cesses, the increasingly stronger union between television, the Internet and mobile media. With the expansion of the Internet, television was thought by some, to be doomed to failure. Even though such opinions were formulated not so long ago, there is no indication that television is in decline; on the contrary, in its converging and interactive form, television seems to be enjoying a revival (Nacher 2008, p. 12).

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Corresponding author at: Krzysztof Arcimowicz, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, University of Bialystok, 20 Świerkowa St., 15-328 Bialystok, Poland E-mail: [email protected]

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