Streaming's Skip Intro Function as a Contradictory Refuge for Television Title Sequences

Abstract

This article argues that streaming television’s “skip intro” function, although designed to allow audiences to forego title sequences, has created a space for theme music and title sequences. In doing so, it preserves the cultural technology of theme music and furthers audience control in a time of changing viewing habits and increasing binge-watching. In the creation of this space, one sees how portals are embracing a hybrid model of linear and nonlinear television in order to create a feeling of agency that is increasingly key in practices of post-network television.