Publishing Flow

Abstract

Commercial television has functioned as a flow medium for more than fifty years, premised on the sale of time (and ostensible viewers) to advertisers. By contrast, the film industry has operated as a publisher, selling or renting its individual media products to theaters. During the home video era, while the film industry shifted its focus to the VCR, television remained reliant on advertising and has held only a marginal presence in the video software market. However, increasing corporate synergy and the swift rise of DVD technology have prompted the practice of publication as an alternative means of television distribution and reception. This article explores why television did not succeed on VHS but has been transformed by DVD. The DVD box set in particular, as introduced with Fox’s first set of The X-Files in 2000, has reconceived television series as collectible objects, fostering a new commodity relationship between television and its viewers.