[ecrea] Call for submissions to Northern Lights: Television Drama in the Age of Media Convergence

Call for submissions to Northern Lights, Volume 16 - Themed Issue on:



Television Drama in the Age of Media Convergence



TV drama seems to be in a state of permanent transformation. However, 
the present transformation hits the core of TV drama as we knew it, 
challenging the very concept of what TV drama used to be. Even if we 
choose to maintain the concept of TV, questions abound: Does digital TV 
increase choice and diversity, or does it just offer more recycled TV 
drama programmes? Does it change the role and obligations of public 
service broadcasting? To what extent are global TV drama formats 
favoured and enjoyed by audiences? The recent transition to digital TV 
and the impact of media convergence raise crucial aesthetic, cultural, 
social and political questions.

Technologically, TV has experienced a digital revolution, paving the way 
for seamless viewing via online distribution and streaming. Besides 
streaming, companies such as HBO and Netflix have launched themselves as 
commissioners and producers of original programming with yet-unknown 
consequences for traditional TV channels and production companies. 
Consequently, new models of production, distribution and consumption are 
developing. The tendency towards convergence between cinema and TV drama 
has accelerated. Directors usually associated with cinema such as Martin 
Scorsese, Jane Campion and Steven Soederbergh have made joint ventures 
with TV production companies, launching exclusive TV series with film 
actors. Furthermore, the intersections between television and social 
media, from debates on various websites to hashtags, live-tweeting and 
second screen phenomena, constitute an area of clear importance.

During the same period, TV drama has been an object to globalisation on 
a compelling scale, which manifests itself in different ways. This is 
felt in increasing coproduction and co-financing, in international casts 
and international exchanges of directors and script writers. 
English/American is the language of advantage, in which all kinds of 
cross-national productions are primarily performed. Is this state of 
affairs challenged by Asian, South American, or non-English European 
productions?



Alternative tendencies co-exist with globalisation and binge viewing. 
Broadcast TV is no longer considered “the private life of a nation 
state” (John Ellis 1982). Nevertheless, national broadcasters in many 
nations, such as the Scandinavian countries and the UK, continue 
producing TV drama, and the often-excellent ratings suggest that there 
remains an audience for their productions. Although national TV drama 
may primarily address a domestic audience, it is often made from a 
cross-cultural perspective, addressing the extended family at home as 
well as the more remote relatives in other countries. But how is this 
achieved?



In this volume of Northern Lights, we will focus on the transformation 
of TV drama in the age of media convergence and consider how we can 
understand this transformation by reconfiguring our theoretical and 
analytical approaches.


Topics of article proposals may include (but are not restricted to):

* Production studies: What can researchers’ contact with the cultural 
industries provide vis-à-vis audience studies or text studies? In which 
ways do routines, rituals or production rules interfere with the 
production processes? Which roles can be attributed to the choice of 
places and spaces of production? Which roles do local, regional or 
national organisations play in the planning processes, and which part is 
played by aesthetics/timing/economy in international cooperation? How 
does television production change according to the new challenges and 
opportunities presented by TV series in a ‘post-television’ era?
* Text studies and aesthetics: So-called quality drama characterised by 
high production values has been key to the recent interest in TV drama 
taken by TV researchers worldwide. But what exactly is quality drama? Is 
the concept of ‘production values’ valid in aesthetic analysis? 
Narrowing the perspective: What are the consequences of digital 
transformations and the new means of distribution? To what extent have 
the concepts of genre and narrative design changed alongside platforms 
and business models?
* Distribution studies: Analyses of the changing economic and 
technological conditions of distribution. In the face of digital 
distribution to smartphones, tablets, and computers, to which degree can 
we still speak of ‘television’? New business models have emerged or are 
emerging, such as subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), transaction 
video-on-demand (TVOD), and ad-supported video-on-remand (AVOD). When it 
comes to streaming, there are also distinctions to be made, e.g. 
download-to-rent or download-to-own. What are the consequences of these 
new modes of distribution?
* Audience studies: Reconsiderations of the aims and results of audience 
studies from a national/global perspective. Can dominant audience 
patterns be discerned vis-à-vis national TV drama productions, 
adaptations, and international remakes respectively? How are viewing 
patterns changed by factors such as second screening, streaming on 
demand, and the option of viewing wherever you are? What roles do fan 
cultures and online discussions play?





Send extended abstracts of 500-600 words to volume editors Professor 
Gunhild Agger ((gunhild /at/ cgs.aau.dk)) and Associate Professor Mette 
Mortensen ((metmort /at/ hum.ku.dk)).

Deadline for abstract submission: 1 April 2015

Notification of authors: 15 April 2015

Final article submission: 1 September 2015

Publication: Spring 2016

Additional information about the journal is available on the Intellect 
Press website: 
http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=143/view,page=2













http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-journal,id=143/view,page=2/

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