Relationship between books and television

The litany of TV shows upon TV shows, movies, talk shows, even “reality” TV programs these days all attest to the power of television. 

Yet interestingly enough, certain literary bloggers would argue that there is one superior storytelling medium: the book. There are three reasons why books dominate over television in storytelling: entertainment value, attention span and cultural establishment.

Books require active participation on the part of the reader; they offer an entertainment value which is unmatched by televised entertainment; and books have a unique cultural establishment because they are not as popularised as other media forms such as movies or televisions programmes.

The answer is discussed here about what are two major facets of the relationship between books and television?

These three reasons are the major contributing factors to the dominance of books, however, there are other benefits to be had when it comes to books over television. 

For example, the concentration on storytelling in television leads to an incredible concentration on storytelling within the industry itself. 

Here are some points discussed about Relationship between books and television–

1.Books are superior in regards to entertainment value.

Books require active participation on the part of the reader; they offer an entertainment value which is unmatched by television.

The problem with television is that it is passive. When you are watching a show, you can’t make decisions for the characters you see on the screen, nor can you make decisions about the direction of the story itself. 

You are limited to think about what you are seeing, and your imagination only works at reflecting what you’ve seen.

2. Books offer an attention span which is unmatched by television.

With television, the viewer has to pay constant attention to the programmes that they watch. The exact same holds true for books; readers must pay constant attention or they can miss many words of the story altogether. 

So why do people watch television shows when reading is more engaging? It’s simple; television shows are easier to stop paying attention to than books. 

No matter how good a book is, if you get tired halfway through you will most likely put it down and move on with your life. Television shows might be uninteresting, but it isn’t difficult enough to get yourself out of watching them.

3. Books have a unique cultural establishment.

Books do not have the same cultural establishment that other mediums such as film or television do. This is because the two secondary mediums are easily accessible, while books require more effort to be put in. 

For instance, both films and television programmes are shown in cinemas, while books cannot be enjoyed for free for the most part. If you wanted to read a book you would normally go shopping at a bookshop or library or buy it online; all of which cost money. 

The fact people pay good money for books means that they will only buy material which is worth their time; this makes books an incredibly high standard of what they offer to readers.

4. Books have no competition.

Due to the reasons discussed above, there is no competitor that can really compete with books. There are only a handful of services that have become rivals to bookstores in recent years, but none of them offer anything comparable with the power of books. 

There are no digital subscriptions which offer anything comparable to the increasing number of readers who are hooked on DVDs or video games. No television stations have ever really achieved the same level of popularity as books have.

5. Books have more control over their future than television does.

Due to the reasons discussed above, books can be read at any time of day or night and they will be more popular than television shows. 

Television on the other hand does not provide this luxury because it is available for a limited time. 

Books can always be picked up and read whenever you feel like it, while television shows only come out in real time and viewers must wait for them to come out. 

Therefore books clearly have more control over their future than television does, and this makes them stronger than television ever was.

6. Books are more popular now than they ever have been before.

Books have secured their spot amongst the most important forms of storytelling because they can provide entertainment value, they offer an attention span which is unmatched by television and because they have a unique cultural establishment that television does not have. 

This means that books are completely secure in their dominance over television, and this has made them more popular than they are now.