Evolution Of Pop Culture With Changes In Popular Television

Traditionally speaking, pop culture or popular culture has often been defined as "public". To give an example, watching a baseball game is a part of pop culture whereby a form of entertainment is provided to the public in a public place. While earlier one had to go to the stadium to watch a baseball game, the introduction of television changed this to a large extent. As more and more people got access to this source of entertainment, the definition of pop culture narrowed down from public to family. This is because one was no longer required to travel to a public place to be entertained.

Now, people could be entertained right in their living room and feel connected to others by virtue of shared viewing experience. Thus, whether you are a sports fan, a cultural enthusiast or a music lover, all you need to do is turn on your television set, flip the channel of choice and enjoy your favorite program.

Earlier, in the absence of television, the pop culture had various subcultures depending on the demographics that formed its core patronage group. For instance, we had teenagers going disco hopping and learning various street dances or watching the latest Hollywood release in a nearby theatre while digging into a tub of popcorn. The younger children would spend most of their time in the parks while women would catch up with their friends over a cup of tea. Concert halls and clubs were a place of choice for socializing of older men and women who would take pleasure in talking about politics, various art movements and world economy. Hence, one can infer that in the bygone era pop culture referred to public arts as such, which in turn was an integral part of the family fiber.

However, all this changed with the mass production of television sets. Gradually, it was no longer sufficient to have just one television set in a household. Almost every member of the family wanted a personal television set in his or her room, thus personalizing the medium. With television sets now finding a way into the bedrooms of people from their living room, the shared viewing experience has gone for a toss and the involuntary censorship that was exercised by the elders in the family has also disappeared. Ironically, this is all the more needed in today's times when television honchos pass off almost anything in the garb of information as long as it gets them high TRPS and a long queue of advertising partners.

Given the ongoing obsession with the celebrity culture, most shows on air today concentrate on Hollywood gossip, page three events and other useless information. There is little broadcast time dedicated to actionable news and useful information that can help one in increasing his or her knowledge base. Though gradual changes are taking place in this regard, it will take concentrated efforts from all directions to impact a perceivable change when it comes to various tenets of pop culture today.