ABSTRACT
Industry insiders often deploy the distinction among zappers, casuals, and loyals: this distinction manages to blur together how, why, and what
consumers watch. Zappers are people who constantly flit across the dial-watching snippets of shows rather than sitting down for a prolonged engagement. Loyals actually watch fewer hours of television each week than the general population:
the few remaining series will be shrunk to thirty minutes or less. According to Swann, “[There will be] fewer occasions where people sit down and watch a show from beginning to end without interruptions. People will start watching TV shows the way they read books: a little at a time. . . . The concept of ‘appointment television’—arranging to be home at a precise time to watch a particular program-will soon be a thing of the past.”2
