Post-network era

<p>The post-network era, also known as the post-broadcast era, is a concept in American television that was popularized by <a href="/facts/Amanda_D._Lotz/oFWa18vG">Amanda D. Lotz</a>. It denotes the period that followed an earlier <a href="/facts/Network_era/VtRdTmyD">network era</a>, the nation's first institutional phase that started in the 1950s and ran through to the mid-1980s, and television's later <a href="/facts/Multi-channel_transition/LldJnYb8">multi-channel transition</a>. It describes a period that saw the deterioration of the dominance of the <a href="/facts/Big_Three_television_networks/sPIA5F9W">Big Three television networks</a>: <a href="/facts/American_Broadcasting_Company/WGxg4vRX">ABC</a>, <a href="/facts/CBS/BhMsVoej">CBS</a> and <a href="/facts/NBC/zyfTYCvW">NBC</a> in the United States, and follows the creation of a wide variety of <a href="/facts/Cable_television/GzXa4pbW">cable television</a> channels that catered specifically to niche groups. The post-network era saw the development of networks that deliver a wider diversity of programming choice, less constraints on a consumers choice of medium, decentralization of the location of viewing, and freedom of choice over time of viewing. It is concurrent with the <a href="/facts/Golden_Age_of_Television_(2000s%E2%80%93present)/uDU9QAo0">Second Golden Age of Television</a>.
</p><p>For <a href="/facts/Amanda_D._Lotz/oFWa18vG">Amanda D. Lotz</a>, the post-network era has been defined by five C's: "choice, control, convenience, customization, and community". These five concepts, which have defined the post-network era, all relate to the ways in which viewers have greater access to a wider array of content which can be consumed on their own terms. The concept comes from the field of <a href="/facts/Television_studies/FlKF5xbJ">Television studies</a>, and has been used by various academics to discuss numerous different topics. The concept has been endorsed by media scholar <a href="/facts/Henry_Jenkins/2jG3ANNw">Henry Jenkins</a>, co-director of the Media Industries Project Michael Curtin, and American Studies, and Film and Media professor <a href="/facts/Jason_Mittell/2nnaQKQe">Jason Mittell</a>.
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Post-network era open-in-new

Post-network era