Driven by technological development, the television industry has been through a revolutionary post-network shift over the past few decades, in terms of both consumption and production. This post will discuss this substantial change in the audience experience and industrial pattern, with the example of Netflix.

Netflix is a streaming platform providing worldwide subscription service, from what was previously shown on screen to its original content. Lotz (2017) concludes that they provide a personalised delivery of content, which is independent of the linear schedule. In this way, the audience has the ability to control their way of watching now, which is entirely based on their own wish, without the constraints of time and space. This instant gratification of desire leads to a phenomenon of watching multiple episodes or a whole season of a television programme in rapid succession: binge-watching. At the same time, the strategies from content makers also contribute to the popularity of binge-watching, such as increasing the frequency of updates and producing fast-paced series to stimulate the audience, greatly reducing the time they stop and think about the narrative. It has been widely considered the identity of streaming services, so when the audience heard that Netflix may cancel its binge-watching pattern of releasing an entire season within a short period of time, it caused controversy. Some think it will interrupt many people’s viewing habits, while some argue that it contributes to retaining subscribers for longer, as well as extending overall audience engagement and their content’s relevance on social media.

Vice versa, the content provided by businesses has been changed by binge-watching to some extent as well. It can be seen that a large amount of the most popular stories now exist as series, from Stranger Things to Sex Education, from Squid Game to Black Mirror. Sometimes the narrative itself doesn’t need to be developed any further, or the writer’s creativity may gradually die out after the gap of several years. But in order to produce more seasons and create more consumption, the production side is often reluctant to let go of this rare opportunity.

Reference

LaterClips. (2022) Netflix cancels binge-watching…, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FCSYMIwy8g&t=1s (Accessed: November 23, 2022).

Lotz, A.D. (2017) “Portals: A treatise on internet-distributed television.” Available at: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9699689.

TEDtalksDirector. (2018) How Netflix changed entertainment — and where it’s headed | Reed Hastings, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsAN-TEJfN0&list=WL&index=1&t=889s (Accessed: November 23, 2022). 

By Peijia Hu

2022/11/23