Television as a Plural and Transmedial Concept

Today’s television is characterized by its diversification (linear and non-linear, free and pay TV, video on demand, etc.). Through the possibilities of reception on the web, television series in particular have detached themselves from television as an apparatus, institution and program. Nevertheless, decidedly televisual and teleserial principles of form and structure are adapted for rendering series on streaming platforms. The reception-guiding textual strategies of television are under new signs on Netflix. Episodes are only separated from one another by minimal program links; at the same time, these reduced connecting pieces—similar to the typical flow of programming—aim at a continuous reception. The representation of serial content on streaming platforms can thus be used to rethink television as a persisting transmedial concept.