Abstract
This article considers how the emergent commercial televisual aesthetic of a 'windows interface' is linked to changes in programming and the institutional structures of television. The new look of television, the windows aesthetic, strongly resembles the graphical user interface of the now domesticated personal computer, suggesting an interface instead of a surface. Through an examination of relationships between formal elements of television, concepts of interactivity, and modes of address, this essay demonstrates how this new commercial aesthetic is linked to an increasing commodification of television's supertext and a commodification of viewers through their participation in the text. Among the many texts and textual elements analysed are The Eurovision Song Contest, WebTV, station idents, watermarks, and the use of computer graphics in news.
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