Television Goes Back to the Future

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1.. Introduction: Exploring Discourses of Streaming Television’s Exceptionalism

   Anthony N. Smith, Laura Minor

   Abstract

   This chapter outlines this book’s central aim: to reveal how internet-distributed television maintains continuities with linear broadcast by adapting traditional practices to online contexts. It critically examines and challenges the prevalent ‘exceptionalist’ discourse surrounding streaming television. It maps how industry, journalism, and academia have framed streaming as revolutionary, while setting up the book’s counterargument that online television maintains significant continuity with traditional broadcast practices rather than representing a complete break from television’s past. Furthermore, the chapter summarises the book’s methods of research and outlines the title’s case-study chapters.

3. Chapter 2.. Return to the Old Ways: Instituting Broadcast Practices of Programme Dissemination on American Online Television Platforms

   Anthony N. Smith, Laura Minor

   Abstract

   This chapter examines how online television platforms have incorporated traditional broadcast dissemination practices through the 2020s. It shows how, despite their initial positioning as revolutionary alternatives offering personalised, ad-free viewing, many SVOD (subscription video on demand) services have increasingly adopted conventional broadcast elements, including appointment viewing for live events, weekly episode releases to encourage ‘water cooler’ interactions, and ad-supported subscription tiers. SVOD platforms on which the chapter focuses include Netflix, Hulu, Max, Peacock, Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+. The chapter also reveals how the emergence of FAST (free ad-supported television) channels represents the replication of linear schedules within streaming contexts. The chapter examines Pluto TV as an example of a leading FAST channel. Rather than maintaining a clean break from television traditions, the chapter argues, online TV has matured into a hybrid form that strategically adapts broadcast’s distributional conventions online.

4. Chapter 3. Properties of Episodicity: Structuring American Television Drama Narratives for SVOD Services

   Anthony N. Smith, Laura Minor

   Abstract

   This chapter challenges prevailing assumptions within television studies that seriality has rendered individual episodes meaningless in online television drama. Through a taxonomical framework—the properties of episodicity model—it identifies eight distinct narrative techniques that differentiate episodes within serialised SVOD dramas: story discreteness, character perspective, story setting, genre, visual style, thematic parallelism, singular plot structure, and temporal separation. It analyses a range of US dramas, including Bridgerton (2020-present), Severance (2022-present), The Last of Us (2023-present), The Morning Show (2019-present), and The Mandalorian (2019-present), from across multiple American SVOD services, including Netflix, Max, Peacock, Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+. In so doing, it demonstrates how episodicity persists alongside serialisation in contemporary television storytelling, reflecting both industrial contexts and cultural appreciation for the episode as a meaningful narrative unit, despite Netflix’s rhetoric around producing ‘long movies’.

5. Chapter 4. Digital Pilots From YouTube to Television: Short-Form Comedy and the Persistence of British Broadcasting Practices

   Anthony N. Smith, Laura Minor

   Abstract

   British television comedy has undergone significant transformation with the advent of online TV, yet traditional broadcasting frameworks demonstrate remarkable persistence. We examine how public service broadcasters maintain continuities in comedy development by analysing the BBC’s ‘Comedy Short Films’ and Channel 4’s ‘Comedy Blaps’, arguing that these initiatives ultimately reinforce conventional commissioning methodologies by functioning as digital-era pilot mechanisms with the goal of developing content for traditional broadcast. Building on this institutional continuity, we analyse the absorption of user-generated content into television via two case studies: People Just Do Nothing and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. Both originated on YouTube before transitioning to broadcast, revealing how television continues the historical practice of appropriating content from adjacent media forms. This process demonstrates continuity with past patterns; just as television comedy once incorporated talent from radio, it now systematically integrates elements from digital platforms, reflecting evolution rather than revolution of established practices.

6. Chapter 5.. Beyond Cultural Homogenisation: Korean Television on Netflix and the Endurance of National Identity in Global Streaming

   Anthony N. Smith, Laura Minor

   Abstract

   In this chapter, we examine the complex relationship between global streaming platforms and national television traditions through an analysis of Korean drama on Netflix. Challenging both technological deterministic views that see streaming as inherently homogenising and simplified narratives about cultural imperialism, we contend that there is a more nuanced dynamic of disruption and continuity. While Netflix challenges national broadcasters’ audience share and alters traditional power dynamics, it also preserves and amplifies Korean cultural specificity through strategic investments, local creative leadership, and maintenance of distinctly Korean narrative traditions. Through institutional analysis and a detailed examination of the series Hellbound, the chapter demonstrates how streaming platforms enable nationally specific content to reach global audiences while maintaining cultural distinctiveness, revealing more continuity than rupture with television’s historical relationship to national identity.

7. Chapter 6.. Conclusions

   Anthony N. Smith, Laura Minor

   Abstract

   This book’s concluding chapter draws from and synthesises the research findings of the preceding case study chapters. In so doing, it challenges notions of ‘streaming exceptionalism’ and emphasises the book’s main intervention by arguing that contemporary internet-distributed television remains deeply rooted in traditional TV practices. Structured around ten key points, the chapter highlights continuities in terms of appointment viewing, commercial interruption, linear programming, public service broadcasting, episodic storytelling, national specificities, and industry gatekeeping. While acknowledging technological innovations that streaming platforms have introduced, the chapter argues that online television represents the medium’s evolution rather than a revolution, with many streaming platforms increasingly adopting conventional television practices they once positioned themselves against.

8. Backmatter