Unraveling the tangled web of online television

Once it was just the gogglebox in the sitting room with a few broadcast channels to choose from and no chance to catch-up on programmes that had been missed. But in the internet age it can be difficult to know what is meant by "television" any more, according to a University of Huddersfield professor whose latest book helps readers reach a clearer understanding of a new landscape in which a huge range of content can be chosen and viewed on a multiplicity of devices. In Online TV, Catherine Johnson—who is Professor of Media and Communications at the University—provides a guide to changes that have taken place since the arrival of high-speed broadband, tablets, smartphones and internet-enabled TV sets. It has been a period of particular volatility, she writes. "Trying to make sense of television in the internet era can be likened to the task of unravelling a tangled ball of wool. All the strands seem to be inextricably interconnected, but in ways that are not clear or visible and it can be difficult to know where to begin."