I Want My Appointment Television Back

So, my best friend changed her career path. This is all part of the journey; everyone has that redirection until you find something that truly pulls you. At this time last year, I got an “I changed my major” text and was surprised to hear that the new major involved sports communication. Great! I don’t know a lick about sports. 

Okay, a new leaf will be turned. I’ll learn some sports for my dear friend. She decided to turn her focus towards ice hockey, and I followed in her footsteps. 

If you told me a year ago I would be canceling plans to watch a hockey game, I would think you were absolutely, for sure, without a doubt out of your mind.

But, I’ve never been happier to look forward to something that means nothing to me.

I used to be ashamed and a little embarrassed, but over the winter break I read The Apothrocene Reviewed, where John Green told me, “I know sports don’t matter in the scheme of things, but I miss the luxury of caring about stuff that doesn’t matter.” So yeah, I will enjoy my sports. 

But part of what this newfound love brought to my attention is the true downturn of appointment television. I have noticed that in recent years, It’s entirely rare that people want to be home for the premiere of their favorite television show. Appointment television only truly remains in live sports broadcasts, because it hasn’t been touched by streaming services and part of the pleasure of sports is when you watch it in real-time. 

Very few television shows that can proudly call themselves worthy of schedule diversion still linger, but it is nothing near as strong as it used to be. The only true revival was the show Euphoria when the episodes were released weekly on Sunday nights. I always looked forward to Euphoria Sundays – there was no way you could reach me at 9:00 on Sunday nights at 9:00 in early 2022. 

With the rise of streaming services for multiple types of media, it has become hard for that live audience to remain strong. There is no urgency – if I miss it, it will be on streaming services. If I am busy, it will always still be there. Or, is there simply an issue with the media itself? Are there no good, ‘can’t miss’ television shows anymore? Or is everything disposable enough to be stuffed away on a streaming service?

I would make a strong case that ‘Euphoria’ was the last time we saw appointment television because it was that good. What streaming services have also done to television shows is ruining the longevity. When a TV show is released nowadays, an entire season is released in one day. From here, viewers scramble to watch the entire season and forget about it within the month. 

With this system in place, audience members are more likely to miss important details in the rush to complete the show, and aren’t able to anticipate what comes next – next is right at the tip of their fingers. People will binge the season, talk about it on social media for about a week, and then it dies. Next show, repeat.  

If television shows want to keep succeeding in the wake of streaming services, they need to figure out how to hold their audience as long as possible. They can do this with the aid of weekly releases, and emphasize the appointment aspect of television. 

Maybe it’s just my introverted side coming out, but I missed having an excuse to go home. For audiences’ sake, and the future of enriching media — we need appointment television.

• entertainment
• media
• television