Some critics have labeled the last few
years the “Platinum Era of Scripted Television.” But are we reaching a “peak,”
as some researchers argue, or will this surge of creativity continue? And can
the marketplace sustain the growing amount of TV content, particularly as the
content is spread over multiple outlets, including streaming services?
Limit:
11 responses
Media is always changing. Today, television is experiencing a period that is seeing networks focus on quality and accessibility for their shows, leading to many critics declaring this the “Platinum Age” of Television. Television critic David Bianculli said in his book, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to The Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, that this period began in the late 90’s with shows like “West Wing” and “The Sopranos” and continues today(Champagne, Facts Company). Part of this is caused by the unpredictable storylines of today. Before this era, most TV shows had happy endings. Clear cut protagonists would outsmart or outman the clear cut antagonists and everything would return back to normal for the next week. Then, with this generation of TV, things became less black and white. Anti-heroes and twist endings became common. Often, shows would end with the death or defeat of many key characters. Television has now become more entertaining, diverse and smart than ever. But, have we reached a peak?
ReplyDeleteI think that the answer is no. For cable TV, the increased competition and demand for shows with extreme quality has lit a fire under their feet and is making executives be on their A game every day. Audiences are getting smarter each day. They do not want to be fed content that will make them feel stupid. Even when shutting off their minds, audiences want to laugh, cry or feel some sort of real emotion in their shows. The classic sitcom format will not work in the now uber-competitive content market. This shows when looking at the top cable networks from 2019. Of the major networks, only one experienced growth. Fox, which grew 4%, attributed their success almost entirely on Football and reality show “The Masked Singer,” not scripted in depth TV shows (de Moraes, Deadline). Compare this to HBO, which was able to boost its primetime viewership by 13% last year thanks to its slew of in depth, intelligent scripted shows(Schneider, Variety). The focus on quality and accessibility is now more imperative toward the growth of a network than ever, especially due to SVOD streaming services taking a large share of viewers.
Eventually, the bubble of intricate and captivating shows will burst and there will be demand for a different type of content. However, people want cutting edge, smart, fast moving television. The increased competition and consistently declining numbers for most major networks leaves viewers blessed as they get to see networks fight for their lives with some of the best content we have seen in a long time. Until that bubble bursts, this process will keep getting better and more competitive. Clearly, the peak is yet to come.
Champagne, Christine. “5 Reasons Why We're In The Platinum Age Of Television.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 3 May 2017, Web.
Moraes, Lisa de. “2018-19 TV Season Ratings: CBS Wraps 11th Season At No. 1 In Total Viewers, NBC Tops Demo; 'Big Bang Theory' Most Watched Series.” Deadline, 22 May 2019, Web.
Schneider, Michael. “Most-Watched Television Networks: Ranking 2019's Winners and Losers.” Variety, 26 Dec. 2019, Web.
As critics label the last few years as the “platinum era of scripted television” I would have to agree entirely. We have never seen so much content be released by such a wide multitude of platforms. As streaming services continue to roar, more and more people are removing traditional cable television from their lives. In fact of the top 10 basic cable networks, on 3 are seeing a upward trend in viewership, the rest are seeing decreases as large as 18% compared to 2018. Things are not looking too good for cable networks “as the downward trend in linear ratings is expected to continue”. (Andreeva, Johnson) This being said, in addition to the vast amount of original content being produced by streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ many streaming services carry programming that originally aired on cable networks. Streaming services have to pay for the rights to have these shows in their library, which has been able to cover some of the deficits faced in the rise of streaming, but it the income received may not be able to sustain multiple networks losses.
ReplyDeleteWith streaming services release their content in bulk with entire seasons being viewable the day of release, we are seeing a new way that people are consuming content. While being able to binge a widely anticipated new season of your favorite show may seem like a dream come true on a rainy Sunday afternoon, there is also a issue many people seem to overlook. As show binging remains a popular way of watching content, it creates demand for more content. For example, if I were to watch all of Ozark season 3 in one day when it releases in March, I will be left looking for a new show upon finishing. Despite Netflix having a plethora of shows to chose from, it is indirectly causing streaming services to pour more and more assets into original programming, essentially creating an oversaturated market. However, “Among the 30-to-44 age group, for example, 53 percent of U.S. adults say they would prefer to watch all episodes at once” (Jarvey)
Even though Netflix continues to power through as the top streaming service, the momentum has to slow down at some point right? In fact “Netflix company reported a slowdown in annual subscriber additions this past week, the first time that’s happened since Netflix split off its streaming service from its DVD business.” (Bloomberg) I have to say that I am amazed it took Netflix this long to have slowed down like this. Even though they may have experienced a dip this year, they still have such a large stake in the streaming market to where I really feel that there is no way to say that Netflix will continue to fall.
Work Cited
Andreeva, Nellie, et al. “Cable Ratings 2019: Fox News Tops Total Viewers, ESPN Wins 18-49 Demo As Entertainment Networks Slide.” Deadline, 27 Dec. 2019, deadline.com/2019/12/cable-ratings-2019-list-fox-news-total-viewers-espn-18-49-demo-1202817561/.
Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-01-26/hollywood-torrent-rip-kobe-has-netflix-plateaued-a-grammy-mess.
Jarvey, Natalie. “Streaming TV's Battle of the Binge: ‘Burn’ All Episodes or Take a ‘Weekly Pulse’?” The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/streaming-tv-dilemma-binge-burn-episodes-plot-weekly-pulse-1257248?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR's Today in Entertainment_2019-11-26 07:09:00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
Sophia Toppo
ReplyDeleteBlog 3
As a consumer of many streaming services and cable television networks, I agree with the idea that we are currently in a “Platinum Era of Scripted Television.” As television has evolved through out the years, creative and captivating shows have emerged like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and Stranger Things on a variety of different platforms. But whether or not this era is at its peak or not is an interesting argument. As consumers, we are aware of the constant new media being produced, but will these new clever shows continue to appear? FX’s annual report stated that, “Total volume of U.S. scripted original dramas, comedies and limited series was 532, up 7 percent year-over-year”(Goldberg, 2020). To put this into perspective, according to an article on Digital Spy, “In 2002, there were 182 scripted TV shows on air across all platforms”(Jeffery, 2018). This proves that there has been an alarming increase in the production of television shows. Now that we have examined that there has been an increase in production, we can wonder if we are truly at the “peak” of this age of television or if there will continue to be more intriguing and creative content in the future. With a large variety of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Disney+ there is plenty of different platforms for new content to be created. I think that while we are at a very advanced time in the media industry, there is always a possibility for more content to be created. I remember first joining Netfilx when I was a junior in high school and I would only watch shows that were originally on cable television like Friends or the Office. Then, once I discovered the Netflix originals like Stranger Things, I was amazed at how clever this show was. As time went on, I kept noticing that more originals were popping up that were also very popular. I always wondered how people continue to think of these ideas for shows. In an age where media content is constantly adapting and advancing, I think the surge of creativity will continue in the future.
The way in which we watch these shows has also changed due to the variety of streaming services. Netflix changed the game by allowing audiences to “binge” watch their favorite shows by adding all of the episodes at once. But other streaming services upload one episode at a time or a few at a time. According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, “Experimentation is expected to keep up as platforms settle on a model that works best for each show. Hulu, for example, has explored several different strategies over the years, leaning early on upon its reputation as a place for next-day TV to roll out shows weekly”(2020). As time goes on in this platinum era of television, not only will we probably see more creative shows, but a different way of how streaming services produce them.
DeleteGoldberg, Lesley. (2020). Peak TV Update: Scripted Originals Top 500 in 2019, FX Says. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/peak-tv-update-scripted-originals-set-record-2019-1266256?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%20Today%20in%20Entertainment_2020-01-10%2007:11:00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie
Jarvey, Natalie. (2019). Streaming TV’s Battle of the Binge: ‘Burn’ All Episodes of Take a ‘Weekly Pulse’? The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/streaming-tv-dilemma-binge-burn-episodes-plot-weekly-pulse-1257248?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%20Today%20in%20Entertainment_2019-11-26%2007:09:00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie
Jeffery, Morgan. (2018). Here’s why the So-called Golden Age of TV Might be Coming to an end. Digital Spy. Retrieved from: https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a25422929/golden-age-of-tv-peak-television-over-ending-netflix/
Cooper Brown
ReplyDeleteScripted television has become immensely popular during the past few years. It has become very common that episodes airing will gather millions of viewers and take over social media for the rest of the night. Some people argue that we have reached a peak in the era of scripted television. Personally, I feel as though scripted shows have not reached a peak. I think it can become even an even higher peak. Content producers have realized that these shows are a way to make a lot of money and exponentially grow their audiences and keep them interested. With the wildly popular Game of Thrones coming to an end it will be interesting to see which show will take its place. I think this will lead to even more shows being created in 2020. This will continue from last year's trend as “It marked the first time the 500-show threshold had been crossed, representing a 7 percent increase over the number of scripted shows in 2018” (Koblin). I do think we will see an increase but I do not think it will even be nearly as much as 7%. I do think it will be difficult to be as creative because with the massive surge of new shows it will be hard to come up with an original idea. It is something that people always want to see in their content, originality. I think when time goes on it will become more difficult for any type of originality to thrive. Also, I think the fight to get content on different streaming services will become extremely competitive. The industry has “In the years undergone seismic shifts, first with the rise of cable television and then the emergence of global streaming services. With a host of new streaming players preparing to enter the market, including Disney Plus, Apple TV+, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock” (Vourlias). With the emergence of all of these services I feel as though the industry is prepared for this massive output of content. What makes me say that is that there are so many ways to consume it. There are so many streaming services to subscribe to and these services will be looking to boast the most impressive back catalog as well as new content. Streaming has been on the rise for a few years now as people have been switching over to streaming. In fact, “For the first time, a higher percentage of households in the U.S. subscribe to a digital streaming service than to traditional pay television, according to the results of a new survey released Monday by Deloitte” (NG). This is a trend I foresee to continue for a few years. The number of families making the switch to streaming will continue to rise. In conclusion, I feel as though the peak of scripted shows will continue into 2020 but I do not think it will be as great as an increase like last year. Streaming services will be looking to add to their backlog and create new content to differentiate themselves from other services.
Vourlias, Christopher. “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV's 'Platinum Era'.” Variety, 19 Oct. 2019, variety.com/2019/tv/news/lionsgate-tv-kevin-beggs-mia-1203376382/.
“More Households Subscribe to Streaming than Traditional TV, According to New Report.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2019, www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-deloitte-touche-report-20190318-story.html.
Koblin, John. “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html.
We live in a world of constant change, updates, and a world that feeds off of instant gratification. Social media, trends, and people’s interests are always changing so how can television keep up? Is it? I say yes, television is keeping up and I don’t believe that we have hit the peak of creativity yet. In the past decade, there have been many streaming companies emerge and this only drives directors to think of more unique shows and movies. Over the past decade we have seen a rise in original scripted series in the U.S. According to a chart provided by FX, in 2012 there were just over 200 original scripted series, this past year we just broke the 500 mark. This is the first time they have crossed this mark and it shows a seven percent increase over the number of scripted shows in 2018. The New York Times gives a lot of the growth credit to streaming services, saying that Netflix alone spent over $15 billion into original content. There are also many other streaming services that are starting to do the same thing. Apple+ and Disney+ have now entered the game and are constantly coming out with new and original content. (Koblin)
ReplyDeleteFrom a more personal standpoint, I agree content is getting more creative and some of the shows I watch are mind blowing. For example, every black mirror episode I sit there and think “how did anyone come up with this”. On the other hand, if I come into the TV room and I see my mom is watching a lifetime movie I can spoil the entire movie within the first 5 minutes of watching, its either the sweet romantic guy is probably the killer or they’re going to fall in love. I feel as though shows and movies used to be very predictable and straightforward. They were very okay he’s the bad guy but don’t worry in the end everything will work out type of movies. In an article from Daily News, the author writes “This is a channel that understands heart-wrenching domestic dramas the way NASCAR understands auto races and Disney understands theme parks.” (Hinckley). Lifetime sticks to what they’re good at and they don’t veer off path. Recently, I have seen somewhat of a change. Like the show “The Walking Dead” on AMC and Netflix I can’t understand if I like Negan or I hate him. He has a sort of charisma to him that almost makes you enjoy watching him even though you definitely should not.
As far as streaming goes, I don’t see it taking over cable. I think cable television will be just fine. As more and more streaming services come out and people are realizing how much they are spending they will go right back to cable, you can only bundle so much. With that in mind I don’t think cable will lose too many viewers and stations such as NBC, CBS, and FOX will stay on top. If anything, I think the smaller companies will see a decline but the powerhouse networks won’t be hit hard. Networks such as CW who saw a drastic decrease in total viewers should be worried. CW dropped 22% in viewers from September to May. It would be very interesting to see if the NFL ever came out with a streaming service for strictly games. In the top 10 for total viewers in the Broadcast season on 2018-19 we see football related shows for example Sunday Night Football (NBC 19.28m viewers) at number 1, Thursday Night Football (FOX 14.43m viewers) at number 4 and the Sunday night pre-kick (NBC 13.07m viewers) at number 7 (Moraes).
Hinckley, David. “'Custody': Who Wants It? Lifetime Film Is Too Predictable.” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 12 Jan. 2019, www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/custody-lifetime-film-predictable-article-1.244139.
Koblin, John. “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html.
Moraes, Lisa de. “2018-19 TV Season Ratings: CBS Wraps 11th Season At No. 1 In Total Viewers, NBC Tops Demo; 'Big Bang Theory' Most Watched Series.” Deadline, 22 May 2019, deadline.com/2019/05/tv-ratings-2018-2019-season-totals-viewers-demo-cbs-nbc-1202620062/.
Scripted television certainly has its place. With most people moving to streaming and the impending streaming wars upon us, I think we will see even more people move from traditional broadcast and cable to streaming.
ReplyDeleteCompetition, of course, fosters innovation. All of the major networks and streaming services will have to compete with one another to attract the most viewers. Of course, this is good for companies like Lionsgate who are able to put their show on the best platform for that specific show but also “the range of potential buyers across a host of different platforms is also a boon for creators” (Vourlias). There are now more opportunities for creators to release their content and spread it. This has been especially helpful for “young and diverse showrunners who are getting opportunities without being groomed in the traditional TV ecosystem” (Vourlias).
Without the big networks and cable ruling TV anymore, “online services are now the dominant players in television” (Koblin). Netflix, HBO, and Amazon have shown to be the strongest competitors in the television market. During the 2019 Emmy’s, Fleabag (Amazon), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) Game of Thrones (HBO), and Ozark (Netflix) received many awards over shows such as This is Us (NBC) from traditional networks and cable (THR staff). The traditional networks and cable certainly have to step up their content if they seek to win at awards shows. Of course, awards shows are not everything, especially for television. What matters most to the networks is ratings and viewership.
Of course, with increases competition, we are likely going to se a rise in the amount of television content produced. A critic for TV Guide said of the new television landscape with its numerous offerings: “It’s an embarrassment of riches, but also a calamity of overkill” (Koblin). There are only 24 hours in a day, and most people are not spending every waking moment watching television. I think that with an increase in networks and streaming services trying to outdo one another, we are going to se a lot of incredible TV shows, and a lot of incredibly terrible TV shows. People are going to have to pick and choose their streaming services based on offerings. People may end up being disappointed by the new offerings that they will stay attached to Netflix, Disney+, and Peacock because of their IP. People trust these brands with shows such as The Office, Stranger Things, and That’s So Raven. I think people will also be looking for new content, but the market even now seems oversaturated to an extent, and the market for television shows will certainly seem oversaturated when Peacock and Apple TV+ and other streaming services enter the market.
Vourlias, Christopher. “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV’s ‘Platinum Era’” Variety, 19 Oct. 2019, https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/lionsgate-tv-kevin-beggs-mia-1203376382/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
THR Staff. “Emmys: The Complete Winners List.” The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Sept. 2019, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2019-emmy-winners-list-1233990/item/drama-series-emmy-nominations-2019-1221237. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Koblin, John. Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows. The New York Times, 09 Jan. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Brent Costantino
ReplyDeleteThe television industry has rapidly changed over the past decade, and it will continue to evolve over the course of the next decade. Although scripted television has been at an all-time high over the last couple of years, I do believe that the television industry has reached their peak with regards to scripted content and creativity. Original programs such as ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ have recorded the highest ratings for their networks over the previous years, but with the shows ending and spinoffs on the horizon I believe that creativity will be lost and ratings will dip as a result. A lot of people that are fans of shows will check out the spinoff out of curiosity, but most of the time the ratings will dip dramatically from the original show because people will not like the spinoffs as much. Nothing is the same as the original. Rick Porter of the Hollywood Reporter wrote about ‘Game of Thrones’ and its impact for HBO, “The show had its highest-rated Nielsen season ever, with more than 15 million viewers per episode. Over the course of its six-week run, HBO says more than 44 million people watched.” With numbers like this, it is almost certain that the numbers will go down for the spinoff shows. Many people were upset with the way that ‘Game of Thrones’ ended, and I believe that implementing spinoffs into the universe will only make fans more agitated due to a lack of creativity.
The streaming wars have a direct correlation to the lack of creativity throughout the television industry. Studios are beginning to make content at a much faster rate in order to keep up with the demand of streaming outlets. There is so much content to be viewed online, and networks are turning to making spinoffs of already well-performing shows in order to keep their audience coming back. The only problem with that method is that it automatically creates a lack in creativity amongst original programming. Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter states, “The biggest tech company in the world (Apple) has content from other platforms at its disposal.” Not only does this make it easy for viewers to watch their favorite content with the click of a button, but it also puts tremendous pressure on networks such as HBO to keep up with their high ratings from shows like ‘Game of Thrones.’ Don Kaplan of the New York Daily News wrote about the negative impact that streaming providers are having on networks across the board, “The media stock slide has been going on for some time. And now it seems to have gained momentum. Disney acknowledged earlier this month that ESPN has lost subscribers — partly due to a decline in pay TV customers.” People are not tuning into cable programming at the rate they once were, and this is all in part to the increase of streaming outlets.
Works Cited
DeleteGoldberg, Lesley. “Peak Streaming TV: The Upsides and Challenges for the Four New Services.” The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/peak-streaming-tv-upsides-challenges-four-new-services-1251054?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_now_2019-10-30%2B07%3A15%3A10_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
Kaplan, Don. “The Streaming Revolution Is Now Hurting Cable Networks as Well as Broadcast Networks .” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 9 Apr. 2018, www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/streaming-revolution-hurting-cable-networks-article-1.2332493.
Porter, Rick. “'Game of Thrones,' 'Stranger Things' and the TV Ratings Winners and Losers of 2019.” The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-winners-losers-2019-1264932?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_2019-12-30%2B07%3A11%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
Sophie Rodgers
ReplyDeleteThe past ten years have been a wild time to grow up in (for many reasons), in part due to a world of rapidly changing and growing technology and digital intelligence. These advances have helped create the media landscape we participate in today: one of cordless, wireless, immediate streaming content. Not only are there now more ways to watch shows than ever before, there’s just more shows than ever before. The amount of original scripted television content is increasing every year, with 2019 seeing “the state of scripted, total volume came in at 532 originals, up 7 percent year-over year.” (Goldberg). The further you look back, the more impressive that number becomes: after all, the total number in 2019 “was 52 percent more than the 349 shows that existed in 2013, the year that streaming started to become a habit for many viewers… And it’s a jump of 153 percent over the 210 series available in 2009.” (Koblin).
Do I think that means we’ve reached a “peak” for scripted television, predicting an inevitable downfall? Not at all. I don’t really think a culture or society can have a “peak” in an industry that changes so much from year to year. After all, in the late 80’s and early 90’s, people were sure that Thursday night’s lineup of “Must watch TV” was the golden age of television. Now? You couldn;t pay people to sit home and watch live TV on a Thursday night (or any night). And even more to the point, the whole notion of this peak was introduced way back in 2014, when “FX boss John Landgraf warned that the industry was living through a bubble. ‘This is simply too much television,’ he said in 2015. ‘My sense is that 2015 or 2016 will represent peak TV in America’” (Stelter). But here we are, five years out from the expected doomsday, with scripted television only gaining more ground each year. It’s my belief that creativity doesn’t start vanishing from a society. Creativity inspires more creativity—content breeds more content. As Lionsgate chairman Kevin Beggs put it, this age of television allows creators the chance to “‘[put] a really good show on the right place where it will thrive,’ he said. ‘In a four-network universe, the show you might wind up making is maybe not the show you pitched ....These days you can really arrive at the show you want to make.’” (Vourlias).
Now, the other question that’s raised here is whether or not we as an audience can even consume the sheer amount of content being created. Here is where I’m less optimistic. According to a Comcast 2019 report called “The New TV”, it would take a person over an entire year to watch all original scripted content produced in 2018. To put that in perspective, 2018 was “the year of lowest growth in scripted in almost a decade (1.6 percent, down from its 7 percent average gain)” (Goldberg). The amount of hours of content we’re coming out with is astronomical. Which is great, especially for creators that may not have been able to get their work taken seriously back in the day when only four networks ruled television. But it also runs the risk of flooding the market with just too much. We’ve all already faced the age-old problem of the paralysis of choice: we open Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime and stare blankly at the screen for forever, unable to decide what we want to watch amidst so many choices. I feel that the addition of even more services (and content) might just make that problem worse.
DeleteWorks Cited:
Goldberg, Lesley. “Peak TV Update: Scripted Originals Top 500 in 2019, FX Says.” The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/peak-tv-update-scripted-originals-set-record-2019-1266256?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_2020-01-10%2B07%3A11%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
Koblin, John. “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html.
“The New TV Whitepaper.” The New TV, 2019, go.comcastspotlight.com/NewTV.
Stelter, Brian. “In Ten Years, the Number of Scripted Shows on American TV Has More than Doubled.” CNN, Cable News Network, 10 Jan. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/01/09/media/scripted-television-series-tca-reliable-sources/index.html.
Vourlias, Christopher. “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV's 'Platinum Era'.” Variety, 19 Oct. 2019, variety.com/2019/tv/news/lionsgate-tv-kevin-beggs-mia-1203376382/.
Dylan Lewis
ReplyDeleteOver the past decade, there has been a major increase in the amount of scripted television series airing in the United States, from 349 in 2013 up to 532 in 2019, according to FX’s annual report (Koblin). This increase in the amount of scripted television series available has also garnered many more critically and commercially acclaimed series than ever before, leading many TV critics to dub this era of television as the “Platinum Era of Scripted Television.” Television networks and streaming services continue to churn out shows that push the boundaries of quality and genre, so much so that many researchers are starting to wonder if we have reached a peak. With this upward trend in quality and availability of high-quality television shows continuing to increase, I believe that we still have not reached a peak. It seems like every time I’m done watching one show, two or three more pop up that pique my interest, inviting me to binge more. In this era of constant binge-watching brought on by streaming services, audiences are becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy. They have come to expect more high-quality shows to be produced at the rapid rate that they are able to watch them at, which places a lot of pressure on creators to keep up with. An article from Hollywood Reporter stated that most viewers who become “hooked” to a show are likely to finish it within a week, and gave the example of Stranger Things season 3, in which 18.2 million households finished the entire season within 4 days (Jarvey). This pressure to produce more content has most certainly pushed studios to continue innovating and creating shows that they know audiences will enjoy in order to keep up with their demand, and is a likely reason why we have seen such an increase in top-quality programming over the last decade. As Lionsgate chairman Kevin Begg’s told Variety, “if there’s a need, maybe you can fill that need. Our job as producers, all of us, is to find a solution for that” (Vourlias).
Unfortunately for consumers, many of these high-quality shows are starting to be spread apart more and more by the ever-increasing amount of streaming services available on the market. I think the biggest issue with the growing amount of TV content is the fact that so much of it is spread out over multiple streaming services. As major networks continue to catch on to the streaming trend, many will likely follow in the steps of networks like NBC and CBS to create services of their own, further increasing the paywall consumers will have to deal with in order to access more shows they may be interested in. This paywall may be what eventually forces the “Platinum Era of Television” to reach its peak, as the cost consumers must pay to access what they want to see may soon outweigh the entertainment value they seek to gain from it.
For the time being, however, consumers are the current winners of television’s “Platinum Era” with an abundance of quality content constantly being produced for them to enjoy. As long as networks and streaming services continue to cater to the needs of the consumer, the peak may not be seen for years to come.
Works Cited
Koblin, John. “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html.
Jarvey, Natalie. “Streaming TV's Battle of the Binge: ‘Burn’ All Episodes or Take a ‘Weekly Pulse’?” The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/streaming-tv-dilemma-binge-burn-episodes-plot-weekly-pulse-1257248?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_2019-11-26%2B07%3A09%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
Vourlias, Christopher. “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV's 'Platinum Era'.” Variety, 19 Oct. 2019, variety.com/2019/tv/news/lionsgate-tv-kevin-beggs-mia-1203376382/.
Television has been around for decades, entertaining its consumers and fans with content from a script and even without a script. Today, we are bracing for impact as the "streaming wars" are about to commence between multiple streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, and the new NBCUniversal product known as Peacock. Today's state of television is known as the "Platinum era of scripted television" where television companies, studios, and cable networks are experiencing a "peak" in terms of the amount of content that we currently have in this day and age with the opportunity to distribute said shows among other platforms to allow fans to watch their favorite scripted shows at will. But are we truly in a time that is showing a "peak" mentality? I think so. Content today has reached a level that many researchers have waited for. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "In FX's annual update on the state of scripted, total volume came in at 532 originals, up 7 percent year-overyear" (Goldberg, 2020). This number is the first of its kind, breaking the 500 number line that had never been broken before. Especially since today we have outlets that allow consumers to go watch their favorite shows on their smartphone, tablet, or computer, the opportunities for success here are endless, and every studio must take notice of the shift in viewership. Perhaps we should look at the "Platinum" era as something that has been around for a little while now since there has been noise coming from this industry. According to a Fast Company article, Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli’s new book looks at how TV has evolved into the landscape that it is today. One of the big reasons why we are in the "Platinum Era" is that TV is getting more diverse behind the camera and onscreen" (Champagne, 2016). With talent like Rami Malek, Kunal Nayyar, and Sofia Vergara on screen, it shows diversity and acceptance on a national scale with their respective TV shows that have shown success. One of the bigger winners in all of this has to be studios like Lionsgate. This entertainment company has watched the streaming platform business grow as bright as it is today and looks to cash in on an opportunity. According to Variety, Lionsgate chairman Kevin Beggs indicated that "The new streamers coming into the market are obviously bringing a lot of money and changing the business dynamics, but from a pure selling perspective, and getting new content out…it’s really unbelievably exciting" and that because of the competition for streaming success, "the business deal gets better" (Vourlias, 2019). It is interesting to see what will happen here as all of the new streaming services, as well as the current ones, are always look to one-up each other. So whether it's striking a deal with a studio to use its content on the streaming service, or creating more in-house content with new faces and new ideas, one thing is for sure, the Television state is at a new ceiling.
ReplyDeleteVourlias, Christopher. “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV’s
‘Platinum Era’” Variety, 19 Oct. 2019,
https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/lionsgate-tv-kevin-beggs-mia-1203376382/.
Accessed 11 Feb. 2020.
Goldberg, Lesley. (2020). Peak TV Update: Scripted Originals Top 500 in 2019, FX
Says. The Holly Reporter. Retrieved from:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/peak-tv-update-scripted-originals-
set-record-2019-1266256?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%20Today%20in%20Entertainment_2020-01-10%2007:11:00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie
Champagne, Christine. “5 Reasons Why We're In The Platinum Age Of Television.” Fast
Company, Fast Company, 3 May 2017, www.fastcompany.com/3065202/5-
reasons-why-were-in-the-platinum-age-of-television.
Adelle Tedesco
ReplyDeleteScripted Television is making a strong comeback as the most produced and viewed content on television and streaming services. This peak of scripted television is bringing in the “platinum era of television” where most people are watching scripted television shows as opposed to reality TV. This peak can be measured by the highest recorded number of scripted TV shows to be aired in history at a total of 532 scripted television shows. (Koblin) I agree that television is in the “platinum era” as I seems to me in recent years that the appeal of reality television has slowed down and people are less likely to be watching reality shows. Reality television did receive a boom in the 2000s, and people would tune into broadcast and cable television, as well as streaming services to view reality shows, and while reality TV did have it appeal it slowly went down hill and people began to recognize that it was entirely reality and some parts of these shows really were scripted. The slow decent of reality TV combined with the recent growth of streaming services allowed for the new record high of scripted television since streaming services made these types of shows easier to watch as well as easier to create and produce. (Goldberg) Television is not only comprised of broadcast and cable networks, but also streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and streaming services developed by the networks themselves. With so many options of streaming platforms, these streaming services have begun to develop their own content and their own shows that they can easily show on these services, and while they could develop their own reality shows to stream, they also have recognized the popularity in scripted television. (Katz) Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have added to the recent boom in scripted television shows, mass producing their own content; and the competition that comes from these services making their own content has lead to broadcast and cable networks to add to their number of shows being aired. (Katz) These networks and services have recognized the popularity of scripted television shows, and I can agree that these shows can be much more rewarding and enjoyable to watch. With reality television it is easy to predict what could happen and it is also easy to relate to the character in the shows; but with scripted television there is much more variety in the genres of what you could watch as well as variety in characters, plot lines. Viewers prefer to watch scripted television shows because of the variety of these shows, especially with there being 532 shows. (Koblin) With so many scripted television shows being brought to television there is something for every viewer to enjoy and watch.
Goldberg, Lesley. “Peak TV Update: Scripted Originals Top 500 in 2019, FX Says.” The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/peak-tv-update-scripted-originals-set-record-2019-1266256?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_2020-01-10%2B07%3A11%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
Katz, Brandon. “Say Goodbye to Your Social Life-2019's TV Lineup Could Feature More Than 500 Shows.” Observer, Observer, 14 Dec. 2018, observer.com/2018/12/fx-john-landgraf-peak-tv-scripted-series/.
Koblin, John. “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html.
The explosive growth of streaming has ushered us into a golden-era of television content and variety at the touch of our fingers; Streaming services have given a platform for the production of innovative and award winning scripted television that may have otherwise been passed up for “safer” options by network television. Netflix is a powerhouse that has taken the most risk for the most reward with award winning shows like Narcos and House of Cards, during a time where the fate of streaming content was still uncertain. After multiple oscar nominations and awards, The stage was set for innovative television to take our screens by storm. From Variety, “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV’s ‘Platinum Era,” The restrictions and external influences on your production are a thing of the past, where creative freedom is much more available. Hulu and Netflix have been very open to non-traditional scripted television and that has helped establish the general expectation we have for scripted television today; diverse, genre-bending, and high-production value. On network television, we are also seeing a massive boost in the variety of scripted broadcast television available on different channels. According to the New York Times, “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows,” we are witnessing the first time where we have surpassed 500 different scripted television shows airing in a single year in 2019. Compared to 2013, there were only 349 shows airing. This is over a 52% increase, showing how the television industry has responded to the rise in streaming; producing their own streamable and buzzworthy scripted television and taking bigger risks on the content they pursue and air for their audiences. This an exciting time to be a consumer of television as now we have big media companies trying to take actual steps in the right direction to create better, more engaging and aware content. Competition creates the most benefits for the consumer, with increasing variety and options that we have available to us. A Deadline article, Ava DuVernay-Directed Nipsey Hussle Documentary Picked Up By Netflix After Bidding War, shows how competition is driving the demand for substantial and on-the-beat content. A bidding war for the latest Nipsey Hussle documentary has reached the 8-figure mark against some “deep pockets” with Netflix coming out on top, showing the high demand and value that is being put on premium content in 2020. We should see an even greater rise in original content in the coming years, with massive titles slated for 2021 and beyond. The stage is set for the next generation of groundbreaking television, and I am seeing that the healthy competition will help ensure quality and hopefully bring something new to the table.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Koblin, John. “Peak TV Hits a New Peak, With 532 Scripted Shows.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Jan. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/business/media/tv-shows-2020.html.
Patten, Dominic. “Ava DuVernay-Directed Nipsey Hussle Documentary Picked Up By Netflix After Bidding War.” Deadline, 11 Feb. 2020, deadline.com/2020/02/ava-duvernay-nipsey-hussle-documentary-netflix-acquisition-1202856849/.
Vourlias, Christopher. “Lionsgate TV Chairman Kevin Beggs on Streamers and TV's 'Platinum Era'.” Variety, 19 Oct. 2019, variety.com/2019/tv/news/lionsgate-tv-kevin-beggs-mia-1203376382/.