The appisation of television: TV apps, discoverability and the software, device and platform ecologies of the internet era

This article examines the appisation of television: the emergence of apps as a mainstream means of delivering television services/content through smart TVs, connected devices, smartphones and tablets. Exploring the interrelationships between TV content, discovery and aggregator apps, the article demonstrates how content/software providers, device manufacturers and infrastructural platforms vie to control our access to and experience of television in a market underpinned by datafication, commodification and selection. This control is enacted within a multidimensional software, device and platform ecology where discoverability is central because it determines which content, services and apps are most prominent, accessible and easy to find.