Pennsylvania State University



Amanda Hirschberg, Michael Lanzarone, and Sydney ReidComm 100s: Mass Media & SocietyThe Pennsylvania State University – Professor Nichols Student Led Lecture: Television and FilmSummer Session - July 25, 2018Cutting The CordWhy bother watching cable when you can just watch it on Netflix? Think about it: it’s cheaper, there are no commercials, and you can access it anywhere you want, on any device you want, at any time you want. As of this year, over $2 billion dollars is spent on streaming services such as Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix every month. This, in large part, is due to cost. Streaming services are far less money than cable. For example, Netflix is just $11 a month and, you can choose from a colossal catalog of movies and TV show that are advertisement free and on demand, as opposed to shelling out hundreds of dollars on cable for most of the same content. 70% of traditional TV subscribers feel like they don’t get enough in return for the amount of money they pay. Many people have begun cutting the cord, or dropping cable in favor of an over the top streaming service, or OTT. OTTs are companies who distribute streaming media to consumers as a standalone product directly over the internet.. The younger the consumer, the more common streaming is over traditional television. As a matter of fact, 61% of Americans aged 18-29 say that most of their television consumption is through streaming services. Studies show that the younger you are, the more likely it is that you use a streaming service over traditional television.The University of Hawaii at Manoa defines Generation Z as being born after the year 2000, Millennials as being born between 1981 and 2000, Generation X being born between 1965 and 1980, Baby Boomers being born between 1946-1964, and Matures as anyone who was born before 1946. Based on the graph below from , we can see that different groups of people spend different times splitting between television and streaming services. For example, Generation Z spends on average 22 hours a week on streaming services, and only 16 hours a week on live broadcast television. However, Matures spend 30 hours a week on live broadcast television, and only 4 hours a week on streaming services. This is a stark contrast, but it helps to emphasize the idea that today’s tech-savvy youth prefer instant gratification and convenience as opposed to traditional consumption methods. A survey done by Deloitte found that 54% of streaming video subscribers said they had signed up to watch original content they can't find anywhere else. This original content is known as something different depending on the streaming service. On Netflix, these shows and movies are known as “Netflix Originals”, which are funded and created by Netflix. Some Netflix originals include BoJack Horseman and 13 Reasons Why. These popular, high in demand shows create social currency that forces those without the streaming service to feel excluded. One of the ideas behind this is that those who feel excluded will then purchase the streaming service, so that they can consume the content and be in the conversation as a result.The term “A Netflix Original Series” varies in different ways. There are actual originals, which are shows created and driven by Netflix. These include series like House of Cards and Daredevil. There are also continuums, meaning Netflix picked shows that were already on cable TV and made additional seasons of that show. Examples of continuums on Netflix include Arrested Development and The Killing. Lastly, there are exclusive shows which Netflix is the sole distributors of within the United States, such as The Fall. In essence, if it is titled as Original, Netflix paid an abundance of money so that only their viewers can watch it using their provider (Petrakovits). Cindy Holland is Netflix’s head of original content. Holland oversees 16 employees and a large portion of Netflix’s $3 billion programming budget, and is in charge of building the company’s original series business. House of Cards is a project which began in 2011 with a $100 million, 26-episode trial (Weisman). When deciding which original content Netflix should publish on their provider, Holland looks at whether or not it is a well thought out idea and whether their creative team could implement the highest quality version of this idea (Ma). According to Holland, data only plays an important role when it comes to contracting a new series: “We ask if there’s a sizeable enough audience to support the economics of the idea”. Once her team aids Netflix in choosing and purchasing a show, there is “a balancing act” trying to help guide production while allowing a sufficient amount of creative freedom (Weisman). In order to make these Netflix Originals, or in general any movie or TV show, there are specific elements that go into production. The first step towards creating a movie or show stems from getting an idea. Producers have gotten ideas for movies from other TV shows, comic books, short stories etc. However, scriptwriters and books have traditionally been the common source (Turow). Once a production firm purchases a script or the right to use a book, it’s executives usually have specific actors and directors in mind that they would want to cast. If the production firm successfully gets the well-known actor to agree to play the lead in their movie, the firm will get the cash it needs to produce the film. A popular way for independent producers to get the money for film projects is to sell distribution rights: the rights to circulate a movie in different parts of the world (Turow). A lot of the work has to be done on a movie project before the actual moviemaking begis, which is known as pre-production. The movie process involves a large number of people with several different talents.As for Netflix remaking an existing series, such as Fuller House and Gilmore Girls, Holland states, “In all cases I can think of, it’s the original creators coming to us and saying ‘we’re interested in continuing that story, is it interesting to you?” Holland will then look at whether that existing movie or TV series is on the platform and if there is a demand for it: “It’s a combination of whether it’s something people are passionate about and if it continues to find a new audience through our service. And then there’s the discussion about whether it makes sense creatively to continue that story” (Ma). Netflix has also released many Netflix Original Movies. Their first original film was “Beast of No Nation”. However, Netflix did not commission or have anything to do with the making of the film. Netflix simply bought their rights to be the sole distributor of the film (“News on Netflix Originals”).Any film can be good, but when the concept of selling it comes in play, is when it can get difficult. All movies and TV shows are created in order to send a particular message to the given audience. It is important that filmmakers do an appropriate job in sending the message to a specific group. This is when film “genre” meets “demographics.” A genre is a category of artistic composition, meaning every film can be placed into various different categories. Some of these categories include horror, romance, drama, documentaries, comedy, etc. After creating a movie that fits into a genre, it is essential that the producers are able to target a specific audience that matches the genre demographics. Demographics typically account for age, gender, location, ethnicity, and working and financial status’. These tend to help filmmakers determine the size and identity of who they wish their film to target. Similarly, the concept “audience profiling” deals with demographics and psychographics and is a method used by businesses that help narrow their audience into one specific group. 3009900183705500It is very important for media producers and filmmakers to be able to target and identify their audiences so that they are properly able to generate the publicity they want. While there are many different types of audiences, they can be categorized into sub-groups typically noted by age, gender, status, etc. Audience profiling helps producers decide who they will target the given film at because they will be able to see who will most likely go see it. For example, the typical person to go see a Sci-Fi movie is a male between the ages of 18-29. Additionally, studies have been done that show the general genre preferences among various demographics. It has been proven that 60% of horror film viewers are between the ages of 18-30 and the majority (26%) are Hispanic, followed by African Americans. An example is when the horror movie “Annabelle 2” was released a few years back, it was mostly young Hispanics and African Americans watching it at night. Opposite from horror, the tendency of a Caucasian to attend a “Mature Thriller” film (action movie/TV show) is up 70% compared to 29% of Hispanic liking for Horror. Also, statistics show that just under 50% of the audience for Mature Thrillers are above the age of 50. These two examples show the fluctuation among film consumers based on genre and demographics. Out of everyone though, research shows that Latinos are the biggest population of theatre attendees in the US. -504825278929 Not everyone goes to the theater’s though, for various reasons including the inability/lack of desire to travel or the desire to stream a show online, etc. It is said that just about six out of ten US young adults are more inclined to stream a TV show online. This means that 60% of people between the ages of 18-29 choose online streaming services to watch TV in comparison to the 30% who choose to use cable/satellite. For example, couples above the age of 50 tend to live in smaller households with little-to-no mortgage and a steady influx of income so they are more inclined to watch public TV while younger couples who start off with lower incomes, young kids, high mortgage, additional expenses, are more likely to avoid becoming public TV members. In addition, women tend to watch TV more than men, with particular interest in drama, film and culture. On the other hand men are more enticed by science, war, and nature documentaries. Likewise, older people tend to prefer talk and news shows while young couples are drawn more towards DIY networks and comedy, film, and science documentaries. Works CitedMa, Wenlei. "How Netflix Develops Its Original Content." .au, 17 June 2016,.au/technology/home-entertainment/tv/how-netflix-develops-its-originalcontent/news-story/ec4029dde1b28c657e7792e80755f885. Accessed 23 July 2018.McLean2017-04-21T09, Heather. “Consumers Reveal Why They Cut TV Services.” IBC, 21Apr. 2017, consumption/consumers-reveal-why-they-cut-tv-services/1897.article. Ng, David. “U.S. Households with Paid Streaming Service Surged 450% in Less than a Decade,Study Says.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2018,business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-digital-media-report-deloitte-20180320-sory.html. Petrakovitz, Caitlin. "Everything You Need to Know about Netflix Originals." Cnet, 19 Mar.2015, news/netpicks-everything-you-need-to-know-about-netflix-originals/. Accessed 23 July 2018.Rainie, Lee. “About 6 in 10 Young Adults in U.S. Primarily Use Online Streaming to WatchTV.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 13 Sept. 2017,fact-tank/2017/09/13/about-6-in-10-young-adults-in-u-s-primarily-use-online-streaming-to-watch-tv/. Spangler, Todd. “Stream Nation: U.S. Consumers Spend $2 Billion Monthly on Streaming VideoServices.” Variety, Variety, 20 Mar. 2018,2018/digital/news/deloitte-streaming-survey-consumers-2-billion-monthly-svod-services-1202730159/.Turow, Joseph. Media Today. 6th ed., Routledge.Weisman, Aly. "Here's How Involved Netflix Is in the Production of Its Series." BusinessInsider, 24 June 2014,how-involved-netflix-is-in-production-of-shows-2014-6. Accessed 23 July 2018."What, Exactly, Is a Netflix Original." News on Netflix, 23 May 2017,news.features/what-exactly-is-a-n ................
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