Starting  about 15 years ago, television had to adjust to a new world. No longer did the medium have the audience to itself.
Cory Barker, a communications professor at Bradley University, explores what happened when TV collided with social media and the internet in his book, "Social Media: Multi-Screen Content and Ephemeral Culture."
Barker outlines how campaigns were set up for people to chat online while watching specific programs, where exchanges among viewers took place on Twitter as a show unfolded.
There's less of that now, Barker noted, now that so many streaming networks have developed. The internet came and conquered.
But the streamers can't afford to celebrate, said Barker. "This has been a bad year for every streaming network," he told Steve Tarter, referring to reduced subscriber lists at almost every level.
Barker also weighs in on the future of newspapers, noting that the college students he interacts with on a daily basis generally treat news as a commodity they're able to get free online.
He also points to the stratification occurring across the nation where big operations like the New York Times continue to expand offerings and influence while local media outlets have to make do with less and less.