ABSTRACT
"Network-era television" refers to that time, in the not-so-distant past, when television broadcasting in the US operated through a system in which three networks dominated general programming. The principles behind linear television are illuminated by the program guides displayed in cable/satellite user interfaces and printed in newspapers and magazines such as TV Guide. The maintenance of television flow dominates nearly every aspect of the structures and systems of network-era television and its descendants. This chapter need to note three of fundamental principle's general ramifications: polysemy, interruption, and segmentation. A segment of the television flow, whether it be an individual program, a commercial, a newscast, or an entire evening's viewing, may be thought of as a television text—offering a multiplicity of meanings or polysemy. Network-era television's discontinuous nature led to a particular way of packaging narrative, informational, and commercial material that persists and is heightened by the abundance of screens in today's media environment.
