Monday, April 10, 2017

Core Post No. 4: TV + Industry Studies

Digitization has become a key form of changing the way in which we consume media. Due to this, media consumption has not only complicated the economical standings of entertainment, it has always created a significant effect in the way in which society watches television. Today, broadcast networks are not bringing in the viewership numbers that they used to, which has caused a shift in strategies creating different forms of how these networks can benefit from the internet and streaming services.
Netflix and Hulu are two OTT that have adapted to the constant changing media, with Netflix starting off as a hub which provided DVD rentals, to now being a full blown over the top content that produces their own shows and movies as well as provides content of other TV shows and movies from various distributors.
However, people are still watching ‘television’ either way as Caldwell (2004), stated television has found ways to adapt by the ongoing change in the media. Even though Netflix and other streaming OTT services for example, are a dominating force when it comes to media consumption, it’s still a hub where people can watch their favorite TV shows as well as their own original content. So although broadcast networks are losing their viewership, television shows are still gaining revenue with Executive producers and studios creating projects for OTT TV content.
Caldwell also states that since the internet is obsessed with “advertising, sponsorship and programming” (Caldwell, 2004, p.50) it’s the reason why television can succeed in this day and age of media convergence, and have a better chance of survival than possibly film. Television submitting to “low resolution” content is also something that has benefited them it gives television the opportunity to program, quantify and stream more than one channel.
Thus, although the concept of having a cable box is a slowly dying economy, media conglomerates have adapted to ways in which television is a dominating source. Even though consumers enjoy the idea of watching their favorite shows on a TV box instead of on a laptop, devices such as Amazon fire and Apple TV have given consumers an opportunity to stream OTT content and broadcast network apps on their TV screens if there is an internet available. Furthermore, proving that even though digitization and streaming has become the way of media consumption, television executives and distributors have figured out ways to adapt to it.

1 comment:

  1. I think the discussion of the Hard-Tech surrounding TV an attempts at preserving that is really interesting. I would be curious to dive a little bit into potential nostalgia surrounding those technologies etc.

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