Collected Data
"Cable networks used to enjoy profit margins as fat as 50%, but not anymore. That pressure has trickled down to program suppliers, who are tasked with delivering better shows despite having budgets that have been reduced or stagnant for the past few years."
One issue that cuts across most major cable networks, producers say, is the increasing flood of notes on shows and demands for multiple versions of episodes — all of which add to costs that usually come out of the producer’s pocket.
Producers emphasize that the development of new series can take months, if not years, and require significant up-front investment before a project is ever set up at a network. Companies often fund talent deals on their own, producing sizzle reels and accomplishing other pre-production work before the show is shopped to buyers. In the view of the NPA and PactUS, that activity amounts to an invaluable R&D service for networks. But producers of unscripted shows are rarely reimbursed for those costs — unlike major studios and networks under the generous terms for scripted series. The nightmare scenario for an unscripted producer is making that major investment, only to have the show taken away by the network after a season or two.
“The scary part for producers is that you can work really hard to develop this intellectual property, and the networks can arbitrarily take it away from you,” says the NPA’s Ford, a Discovery alum. “There’s a perception on the part of producers that it is becoming more likely to happen.”
Reality TV’s Hidden War: Legal Battle with Discovery Highlights Rising Tensions
RIP Kenny Baker
The former nightclub and circus performer appeared in the 1977 original movie as well as The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and the franchise's prequel trilogy.
Some people might be surprised to learn there was a human inside R2-D2, considering his dialogue amounted only to beeps and whistles.
"I worked the levers," he told the Associated Press in a 1985 interview.
Kenny Baker, who played R2D2 in Star Wars, dead at 81
"If I’m paying for it then I always want something to be on."
The full episode release of the season gave the impression of it being a great movie broken up into episodes that could be consumed in my own time — all at once or over time. This model allows writers to do more than they could in a movie given the time constraint. I’d even offer the viewpoint that this model allows for better storytelling overall. Which is why the glimpse we are seeing from Netflix is the future of entertainment — storytelling as a service.
I like the idea of ‘Storytelling as a service.’ That’s a great way to describe the shift to over the top services like Netflix.
I disagree that allows for ‘better’ storytelling. Limitations can be frustrating and challenging, but they can also force you to focus. I find much of the current wave of shows to be ‘fat’, containing content that doesn’t add to the quality just the quantity.
I like that all episodes can be released at once, but releasing over time has it’s strengths too; it builds suspense and allows for social interaction to develop as the story unfolds.
TV networks are, in my opinion and analysis, not well positioned for this shift given their business model. Due to their advertising focus, they are incentivized to release content over long periods of time due to how they structure ad deals. Netflix, HBO, and Amazon are not subsidizing these shows by ads but by my consumer dollars, so I’m paying for these stories as a service. Which allows for this favorable model consumers prefer of releasing all at once. The challenge, as I see it, is their need to keep the stories coming. If I’m paying for it then I always want something to be on. The thing I dislike the most about binge-watching a series is when it is over. After you finish a series or season in a weekend, we need/want something else and, if we are paying for these stories as a service, we will demand it. Netflix, Amazon, HBO and any others wanting to compete here for consumer dollars need to be extremely aggressive in how much original content they release regularly. Again, the demand, if this future comes to fruition, is that we will always want a fresh story. That will be expensive.
I often emphasize a point that consumer markets are not generally “winner take all” markets. However, this may be one of those areas where it could be, simply on the point of economics to invest and create original stories at a frequent pace. The capital intensive nature of this business model means those who pull it off will acquire the most customers and can turn that revenue scale into investments in new content.
While I think the market can only support a few players, I doubt owning the market will generate the revenue needed to create enough content. Over the top services will need outside productions to purchase rights to or co-producers to help with the costs of original production. Or production will need be subsidized through ads or other areas. This is where Amazon has an advantage over Netflix; they are not afraid to loose money to gain market share and they have alternate revenue streams.
Netflix and the Future of Entertainment
"What is remarkable about it is not the production values - it is actually a rather dull piece of work - but a process that involved AI at every stage."
Eclipse will not win any awards for creative film-making, and its director won't be snapped up to make a Hollywood blockbuster. But AI is advancing every day - and a decade from now, actors may find a computer sitting in the director's chair shouting: "Cut!"
'Cut!' - the AI director
Listen: "MIDI Sans Frontières" by Squarepusher
Tom Jenkinson;
THIS PIECE OF MUSIC WAS WRITTEN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE REFERENDUM AND I PRESENT IT AS THE BASIS OF AN INTERNATIONALIST COLLABORATION WITH SOUND MAKERS IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT KIND OF MUSIC THEY MAKE, WHERE THEY LIVE, THEIR BACKGROUND, THEIR AGE - ALL ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE. IT IS NOT OFFERED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION BUT AS A COMPLEMENT TO IT. I PUT IT FORWARD IN DEFIANCE OF THE BIGOTRY THREATENING THE FRAGILE CONNECTIONS THAT EXIST BETWEEN US ALL. I HOPE IT WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO REAFFIRM SOME OF THOSE CONNECTIONS AMIDST A VERY DISTURBING SITUATION.
You can download a WAV file of the mix as well as stems @ http://www.squarepusher.net
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