Losing the Streaming Wars: What Netflix loses in Television Narrative and Participatory Fan Cultures
Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Humanities and Cultural Studies
Major Professor
Amy Rust, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Todd Jurgess, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Abigail Lee, Ph.D.
Keywords
Binge-Watching, Broadcast, Lost, Stranger Things
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the rise of streaming television and subsequent “binge-watching” and its impact on the narrative structure of a series. By looking at shows such as Stranger Things, which pioneered the rise in this new form of television, one can see the shift in narrative structure in comparison to previous long- form television such as LOST. This shift can be seen in the slow disappearance of “game-changer” cliffhangers within episodes that build to a larger implication in a season arc in favor of one longer mystery that stretches throughout the season. In this thesis, I argue that this shift consequently has come with a loss in the communal fan culture that has accompanied the television viewing experience in comparison to serialized weekly broadcast. This shift ultimately poses a risk to the medium as a whole due to its reliance on the participatory nature of viewership and fandom.
Scholar Commons Citation
Naudin, Annabelle G., "Losing the Streaming Wars: What Netflix loses in Television Narrative and Participatory Fan Cultures" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/9909
