Toward a New Conceptualization of The Wire as a Media Object

Abstract

This article sets out, first of all, to systematically debunk arguments that attribute to the serial The Wire a medium specificity of “television,” and second of all, to supply means for new conceptualizations of this kind of serial-drama media object. These matters are treated on the levels of technological materiality, media definitions, form, content, and production. The purpose is to lay the foundation for a more attentive and clear conceptual comprehension of what is approaching or has already begun to arrive: a time in which the initial phase of broadcasting of serial moving-image dramas are either skipped or greatly diminished in importance, and in which they exist mainly in the form of On Demand streaming, or, more interestingly, in the form of DVD or downloaded files.

Keywords

• medium specificity
• media conceptualization
• post-television
• digital media
• serial drama
• The Wire