The Post Network Era is also known as the contemporary era in television which starts after the present century. This era came directly after Network Era (1952 to mid 1980s) which most of the ideas about the role of society are based. In the Post Network Era there are much more choices of viewing and control of content compared to the Network Era which only had limited options. After the Network Era there was a vast change in how television was run and operated. By the mid 2000s viewers were able to access hundred of television shows from any any era on DVD and Online. In the Network Era television was primarily experienced as a domestic, non-portable medium used to bring the outside world into the home. Also shows were available only at appointed times in a routinized daily sequence of programing with minimal choice and control. With the Post Network Era there became the development of devices that allowed the audience the control over viewing. The RCD, VCR and the digital video recorder (DVR) all combined to break the experience of watching television as a continuous flow of programing determined by the networks. The new control devices transformed television from a "flow" of content that was available only at a particular moment to individual programs that could be reordered, saved, and reviewed at will. This developed niche focused media which are identified as important voices to specific communications, but have received less critical attention than mechanism of mass messaging. The multi-channel transition provided viewers with the choice to change to different channel that can appeal to them personally. Digitalization enabled significant efficiencies in transmission that allowed more content to be transmitted with better signals. Digitalization was the key that unlocked new portable, extra-domestic uses of television in the post network era. Television adopted multiple possible revenue streams, (ex. DVD sell through iTunes downloading), magazine subscriptions (premium cable networks such as HBO), and as a library (free on demand). These avenues for content created new and distant relationships between the economic model, programming and how these forms of television might function as a cultural institution. The Post Network Era practices have lead the television audience not only to fracture among different channels and devices but also splinter temporarily. In the Post Network Era advertisement has took a new approach by putting product placement in shows and having infomercials. There is also use of "branded entertainment" in which the content and advertising message were inextricably linked. In the present Network Era Television content now represents a broader array of ideas, forms, and people than ever before.
Lotz, Amanda D. (2007) "The Television Will Be Revolutionized". New York, NY: New York University Press. p27-161
Lotz, Amanda D. (2009) "What Is U.S Television Now?. http://ann.sage.com/content/1/49: ANNALS, AAPSS. pg 49-59