For my online television experience, I decided to catch up on a show I had watched quite religiously at home but neglected since my move to Providence and the chaos of the corresponding transition. As the streaming video page header helpfully informed me, "episodes are available 8 days after broadcast"; however, my intent to start at the beginning of the season was dashed when I realized that, quite reasonably, these streaming episodes are only up for a limited amount of time. Television networks may be buying in to the free on-demand content aesthetic of the new digital economy, but they will only go so far when their profits depend mostly upon TV advertising. Any forays into the digital field will only be sustained so long as they do not pose a threat to the central business of TV, which is of course television. Needless to say, I was quite put off not to be able to pick up right where last season's dramatic finale had ended (another tried-and-true television technique to keep viewers engaged during and beyond the months-long summer break between new material). Not having much choice within at least the legal realm, I submitted to my disappointment and sat down with the oldest of the new episodes still available.
I was immediately met with a dull, black screen, and then prompted to install a special Fox video player, which I was assured offered "the best video quality online". After this process was complete, I again got ready for the familiar opening teaser of an episode of "House". Not yet. The now ubiquitous commercial into to online television reared its ugly head, advertising a new show on the same Fox network. I would not realize how annoying this ADD burst of lie-detector intrigue could be until I had seen it five or six times, once (at least) at each of the predetermined commercial breaks programmed in to the Fox player. Also to my intense displeasure, the initial thirty-second clip was replaced in subsequent viewings by a version seemingly identical but somehow twice as long.
Finally, the actual episode began. I had been watching it quite happily for a good ten minutes or so when the program, as television often does, faded out - only this time it didn't fade back in again. I waited for a little while to no avail, then gave in to the natural tendency of an Internet native: I clicked around hoping that something would happen. It seems I had been caught unawares by a prescheduled Internet equivalent of the "commercial break", a luxury available to networks when the use of their own, special video player is mandated. In retrospect, this made sense, as the progress bar was broken in multiple places by a short vertical line - billed, no doubt, as an easily identifiable stopping/starting point but functioning more as an excuse for more advertising. Unfortunately in my confusion I managed to stumble upon every commercial break except the one I was looking for, meaning I watched an identical ad for that inane Fox program five times consecutively. (In an unlikely dose of kindness from the network, I later found that the commercial breaks I had already cleared were not triggered a second time as I went through after this. Small comfort.)
The viewing from here was largely uneventful, with the exception of a few more frustrating commercial interludes I had missed in my mad rush to save the streaming video. The web site surrounding it, though, was an ideal exemplification of the new media reality. A list of episodes with thumbnail image was displayed prominently below the viewing area, a come-hither intended to appeal to lapsed viewers like me or more generally anyone susceptible to the flow encouraged by television in any context. All of these were marked with a five-star rating scale determined by the online audience; surprisingly, despite a large discrepancy in the number of votes included between the various episode averages, the groupthink averaged out at 4 stars every time. Not bad, "House". Beneath these episodes were conveniently placed "online extras", likely exclusive, in which the actors discussed the episodes above. One of these, I might point out, in its title alone gave up the secret of a SHOCKING TWIST that I had not yet seen! Oops. Below was a series of "user reviews" which seemed to be focused quite negatively on the video player itself, with a few passionate defenders standing up to the mob of detractors. Yet despite this disproportionality, the average star rating here was a perfect 5. Finally, below this was a convenient series of links to MORE Fox streaming programs, with a list of thumbnailed "Most Popular Episodes".
The material here exhausted, I followed a link to the "official site". A "House-isms" bar greeted me at the top left, with an EKG-inspired countdown to the next new episode (4 days, 22 hours, 55 minutes, 55 seconds at this writing. Mark your calendars.) below. The same links to recent episodes and websclusives were prominently displayed at the center, with a backdrop image of the man himself looking appropriately sardonic. Below thse videos were a pair of essential reminders: a timeslot change to Mondays starting in January (New Year, New Night) and an "extended" upcoming episode (Set your DVRs and VCRs accordingly -- the Nov 25th episode runs until 9:08pm!) Interestingly, these reminders were links back to the page on which they appeared. Next, we are reminded that "Election Time Isn't Over Yet", tapping into our Obamenthusiasm with an entreaty to vote for Hugh Laurie for Best Actor in the People's Choice Awards. Finally, we are implored to join the "Community" with links to the official House Facebook, the House wiki, and the four most popular topics in the House subset of the Fox forums. In a similar vein, a link at the top of the page marked "Bookmark and share this page" expanded to reveal a helpful array of possible tasks, including but not restricted to: bookmarking, Facebook/Myspace posting, digg, MSN Live chatting, and, my personal favorite, MORE.
Just another night in the world of Internet television.
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