I’ve never really been a big television watcher- in saying so, I’ve been a big VOD kinda gal. I pick shows to watched based on recommendations from friends and family rather than anything else, and don’t really pay much attention to television promo ads.

While I never gave into big hits such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, I have been sucked in to lighthearted, easy to watch programmes such as Geordie Shore, Ex on the Beach, Parks and Recreation, Bob’s Burgers and Friends (Oh God, I love Friends).

Over the semester as I tracked my viewing habits, I did catch myself logging in actual scheduled television hours (wow, go me) however these moments did come at times when I had been too lazy to turn the television after mum left the living room, or after The Bachelor/Bachelorette finished running (one of the only shows I watched all year without time shifting).

Almost always my television viewing was done on my laptop through catch-up television such as TenPlay, or through web-streaming services. I usually always watched television at night or before bed, or sometimes even in the morning before I got out of bed! I found that even whenever I watched, I had the screen on a half-window so I could multitask by checking the weather, scrolling through social media, or even using my phone to snapchat parts of my viewing session to friends, and even to talk to my friends about something totally unrelated.

I admit I am a big user of second screens, but not convergence culture. More often than not, I had a phone or tablet or as earlier said, my laptop on half-window while viewing content. But my use of second screens was rarely to access further content from the programme I was watching. I usually spent most of my time aimlessly multi-tasking (I have a very short attention span).

My attentiveness to liveness was apparent when watching the scrolling bylines/live news feed on banners during the news, and my hate for live elimination shows on X Factor have grown significantly as I held out behind my laptop as mum anxiously yelled profanities at the television during the infinite pauses between saying “THE PERSON WHO IS SAFE IS… ”

*crickets*

* eight thousand years pass, the earth has turned to dust and we are all but minute beings floating throughout space*

“*INSERT NAME OF LOSER*”

Was that an accurate depiction of live television or what?

Another thing that occurred to me throughout looking back upon my television habits included how dependent I am on the Internet to watch TV. Since most of my viewing is done in a time shifted or streamed manner, I literally NEED the internet in order to watch the content that I want to watch. Because I am at work or at uni, I am unable to watch scheduled television as I please. While I have the capability to record a programme on VHS, I must admit I would have 0 clue on how to do so, since I have grown up with the World Wide Web. Also, my household has no sort of video time shifting mechanisms because my dad is an anti-hoarder and throws away anything that is any bit outdated.

Comparing the times when my dad and I used to sit down every Saturday at 2PM sharp to watch WWF (back when it was called WWF) and now, where I wait until whatever day he and I are both free so I can hook my laptop up to the tv so we can stream 3 episodes of Suits in one go, my dependence on the advancements of time shifting capabilities has increased dramatically, as it has for majority of the modern content viewer. With increasing accessibility to platforms such as Foxtel IQ, Stan, Presto, Netflix and catch-up sites like JumpIn and TenPlay, the digital world has not only identified us as individual beings with individual schedules, but has encouraged us to do so, allowing us to fit television around our schedules rather than making us work around a networks programming.

My tether to time shifting is definitely the biggest takeaway I have had through recording my habits and reflecting on them, but I have definitely learnt so many key concepts that have opened my eyes to television from a wider perspective and I have gained a stronger insight into the power and potential of users in the industry.