TV drama as a social experience: An empirical investigation of the social dimensions of watching TV drama in the age of non-linear television

As time-shifting technologies and digital convergence are facilitating and encouraging increasingly individualized and personalized television viewing practices, the social role and function of traditional linear television might be changing as well. Through empirical audience research, using TV diaries and interviews, this article investigates the social dimensions of engaged viewers' reception of TV drama and explores how audiences themselves experience contemporary television as a social medium. The qualitative analysis reveals three social dimensions in viewers' engagement with TV drama and indicates that television is generally still perceived as a social medium. Time-shifting technologies do not only fracture audiences, they also create new opportunities for social connections with peer viewers.