What are some of the things linear broadcasting and cable networks are doing to attract and keep viewers? How have these efforts helped them compete with SVOD services? In 3 – 5 years, what do you expect the TV industry to look like and what role will broadcast/cable/streaming play? Limit: 9 responses
Harriet Rice
ReplyDelete2020 was the year of news cable as we were faced with a global pandemic, election, and racial justice movements. Fox News was up 43%, MSNBC was up 23%, and CNN was up 83% (Schneider). People that may have never watched much news before are turning to these channels almost daily for updates and in search of ways to stay safe. In a time of fear, people rely on these channels to deliver real facts instead of listening to false information. In 2020, TLC, Hallmark channel, TBS Network, TNT, and History made the top 10 (Johnson). People mainly turn to these channels to escape the fear of the real world. The show “90 Day Fiancé” was a hit for TLC and as TLC president Howard Lee says it “nourished fans with comfort and emotion they've really needed at the right time”. Coming from someone that usually wouldn't watch a show like that I was intrigued by all the memes and TikToks that I ended up watching the show. Other channels such as POP TV, ESPN, and Comedy TV were also giving people that escape. With people stuck inside, cable networks have taken advantage and provided new content. For example, Pop TV released “Schitt's Creek” and was a tremendous hit and helped grow the network by 51%. We also saw a new release on ESPN of the hit “Last Dance”. When games were on hold due to the pandemic this series gave people a sense of sports and entertainment.
The release of new shows on these cable networks drives customers to come back and keep their accounts. If the same material was just being recycled many customers would just switch to streaming services. I also think that sports are a huge factor in people keeping their cable accounts. Live sports are easily accessible on cable at no extra price. Watching the Super Bowl live on TV has shown in being a major influence. Looking at the 2020 Super Bowl which got 102,013 viewers on FOX (Nielsen). Huge events such as the Super Bowl and award shows such as the Oscars bring in huge viewership for these telecasts. Even shows such as “The Masked Singer” on Fox got 27,407 views in February of 2020 (Nielsen).
Although we see such high views, I strongly believe that cable will no longer stand a chance in 3-5 years with SVOD services. My family doesn't have cable and we don’t feel as though we are missing out on anything. We are constantly seeing all these shows being bought onto streaming services, for example, “Schitt's Creek” which is now on Netflix. Although it aired in 2015, Netflix brought the rise of this show in 2017. From there, the show saw its major success and was nominated for fifteen Emmys and it is said that it “didn't turn into a phenomenon until Netflix nabbed the streaming rights” (Jensen). Eugene Levy, who is the co-creator of the show, called the streaming platform "the spark that seemed to start everything” (Jensen). It is through this that sadly, even with the promise of new shows on cable networks streaming services is where all the spark and attention will be.
Works cited
ReplyDeleteJensen, Erin. 'Schitt's Creek' Set Seven-Emmy Record Because the Comedy Is Simply the Best. 22 Sept. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/09/21/emmys-2020-why-schitts-creek-won-big-hint-netflix-helped/5848605002/.
Johnson, Ted. "Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020." Deadline 24 Dec. 2020,
https://deadline.com/2020/12/ratings-cable-news-networks-2020-1234660751/
Schneider, Michael. "Year in Review: Most-Watched Television Networks — Ranking 2020’s Winners and Losers." Variety 28 Dec. 2020,
https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/network-ratings-2020-top-channels-fox-news-cnn-msnbc-cbs-1234866801/
“Tops of 2020: Nielsen Streaming Unwrapped," Nielsen.com 12 Jan. 2021,
HTTPS://WWW.NIELSEN.COM/US/EN/INSIGHTS/ARTICLE/2021/TOPS-OF-2020-NIELSEN-STREAMING-UNWRAPPE
Martineau Blog 3
ReplyDeleteIt was impossible for cable television to prepare for the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic would have on linear broadcasting. Over the past year or so streaming numbers have skyrocketed as millions of people have been stuck at home. Being able to choose what you want to watch at any moment is a major factor in why mainstream television has taken a hit. Although numbers for linear entertainment have been down, this has been a great opportunity for companies creatively move into the future.
Cable television as we know it relies heavily on its primetime shows. According to Deadline, “It may seem far off in today’s sportless COVID-19 lockdown America, but it’s no surprise to see the NFL dominate the season’s 18-49 ratings with the four top shows: NBC’s SNF, Fox and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football, NBC’s Sunday pregame show and Fox’s The OT” (Patten). All of these shows fall under primetime hours (8-11pm). This is still a skewed statistic, since sports are always some of the most watched programs on television. Due to people being home all day, viewership has declined in general during primetime hours.
In response to primetime showing signs of weakness, networks like Fox have decided to switch around their programs. Variety states that “the cable-news networks view the 7p.m. hour to be among their best-watched programs and consider that hour to be part of their most popular program blocks” (Steinberg). What this means is that companies are aware that primetime is on the move. Along with Fox other companies are doing the same as well as adding more shows to the noon to early afternoon blocks, bringing their most popular anchors with them. This is sort of an emergency action to keep viewers from ditching cable for a little while longer so more long-term plans can be executed.
One of the major responses to streaming services that cable has come up with is to simply join them. Over the past year and a half popular linear companies have rolled out their own exclusive streaming platforms to combat consumers that are cutting the cord. We have seen NBC and peacock, CBS and their newly rebranded Paramount + and ABC intertwined with the Disney + spectrum as they hold ownership in ESPN. While we don’t know yet if these tactics will work long term, streamers like Netflix and Hulu are losing ground with some shows as networks seek to own their shows outright and make them exclusive on their own platform.
In the future I see linear media mainly being news networks. With most of the content being loaded onto various streaming services not being live, news has a solidified place on cable. Millions of people rely on these networks to feed them information from around the world, and the numbers speak for themselves. Deadline shows that “Fox News will finish the year again at the top of the news channels in primetime, with an average of 3.6 million viewers, up 45% from the same period in the previous year” (Johnson). While much of this increased activity can be attributed to the 2020 presidential election, the landscape of government in the United States will certainly keep viewership afloat. Deadline also proves that the top 10 cable programs of 2020 were all news segments, split by Fox and NBC stations. Live news is currently holding cable television together, and I don’t think it will fade anytime soon.
Works Cited
DeleteJohnson, Ted. “Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020.” Deadline, Deadline, 29 Dec. 2020, deadline.com/2020/12/ratings-cable-news-networks-2020-1234660751/.
Patten, Dominic. “2019-20 TV Season Ratings: Fox To Win Demo After Long Dry Spell; CBS First In Viewers For 12th Year In A Row.” Deadline, Deadline, 15 May 2020, deadline.com/2020/05/tv-ratings-2019-2020-final-rankings-masked-singer-sunday-night-football-fox-cbs-1202935271/.
Steinberg, Brian. “Fox News Channel Shakes Up Daytime Schedule.” Variety, Variety, 11 Jan. 2021, variety.com/2021/tv/news/fox-news-channel-shake-up-daytime-schedule-1234882414/.
Rachel Sapienza
ReplyDeleteLinear broadcasting and cable networks have been facing a changing landscape and decline for years now. However, with the emergence of even more streaming and SVOD services within the past year, they have been forced to adapt to keep their viewers. Trends have emerged on what keeps viewers with cable. Typically news and sports. Nothing about this year was typical in terms of streaming or cable and losses and wins were heightened due to the pandemic keeping people at home. Most major broadcast, cable, and pay networks suffered another round of double-digit drops this year according to Variety. But this year there were a few exceptions. The three major news cablers had a good year. With the election, pandemic, and racial justice movement all playing out this gave audiences reason to tune in and watch along. Both CNN and Fox broke records this year (Schneider). Classic TV networks also managed to keep viewers by using the nostalgia factor and playing reruns to see growth (Schneider). These networks found a niche in older viewers who are averse to cutting the cord and find comfort in the classics. Tapping into a target audience like that, full of loyal customers and giving them what they want is a method for holding onto those viewers. And in terms of the news networks, they proved that linear broadcasting isn’t dead yet. A win for Fox News was that Hannity was the number one show in cable news for the fourth straight year in total viewers. CNN said that the network had its most-watched year in primetime and saw growth in ratings since the election (Johnson). MSNBC said that it had its highest-rated year in network history. The Rachel Maddow Show was its top show according to Deadline. We’re living in tumultuous times with no solid end in sight and cable news is benefitting, especially with their shows. However, I think these are just a few highlighted wins, that are also very situational. I don’t think these will keep viewers indefinitely.
They won’t compete with SVOD services forever, especially as more services are offering live TV options. According to Variety, ViacomCBS announced a new multiyear distribution agreement with Hulu, under which Hulu’s live TV subscription streaming service will add 14 cable networks for 2021. This includes favorites like MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon. However, this comes with an 18% price hike. But new deals like this are a sign of where we are headed. As live TV packages become more common with subscription-based streaming services, I can see even more people cutting the cord. Live news is holding linear broadcasting and cable together by a thread and I believe that will fade with time. Soon it will be all about the subscription services once there is enough access to live channel packages as well as content libraries.
Works Cited
Johnson, Ted. “Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020.” Deadline, Deadline, 29 Dec. 2020, deadline.com/2020/12/ratings-cable-news-networks-2020-1234660751/.
Schneider, Michael. “Year in Review: Most-Watched Television Networks - Ranking 2020's Winners and Losers.” Variety, Variety, 28 Dec. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/network-ratings-2020-top-channels-fox-news-cnn-msnbc-cbs-1234866801/.
Spangler, Todd. “Hulu Inks ViacomCBS Deal to Add 14 Cable Networks to Live TV Package.” Variety, Variety, 4 Jan. 2021, variety.com/2021/digital/news/hulu-live-tv-viacomcbs-cable-networks-deal-1234878131/.
Rachel Feliciano
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS-495
February 16, 2021
Media Trends Blog 3 (1/2)
Today linear broadcasting and cable networks seem ancient to some, due to the convenience of having SVOD services. Linear broadcasting and cable networks are traditional television like Fox and NBC, whereas SVOD services are streaming services like Netflix and HBO Maxx. SVOD services took on a huge role when it came to the pandemic. Many people were at home due to the national lockdown taking place causing them to rely on streaming services that have a complete season of content or varieties of movies and TV shows. This change affected the linear broadcasting and cable networks for the worse because not a lot of people were spending their downtime being home watching content they are restricted to. Having the option to pick what kind of television show or movie to watch without advertisements and the ability to find out what happens on the next episode or in the second movie made is just complete convenience.
Some of the linear broadcasting and cable networks know that they need to compete with SVOD services to stay relevant and successful, but it is not just because of the pandemic that they are having to compete in the first place. According to Schneider’s article “Year in Review…” he discloses that the pandemic did not make a dent in the decrease but caused a steady amount of viewers still watching linear broadcasting and cable networks. Making a joke saying “‘flat is the new up’ - meaning that ratings growth is so difficult that it’s a victory just to hold the status quo and not decline” (Shneider 2020). So linear broadcasting and cable networks were not only not seeing a decrease but were seeing a steady number of viewers still watching, which only includes news outlets or peoples’ favorite shows on-demand being the most viewed content on regular television. To attract and keep viewers, linear television can have the upper hand when it comes to releasing new content and or being able to watch sports, news, and talk shows that are being aired on the spot.
The pandemic did not make much of a difference in the number of viewers tuning into linear television but the presidential election did. The top ten cable news networks were still able to generate millions of viewers, according to Johnson’s article “Cable News Networks See Big Gains in Viewership During Tumultuous 2020” he states that “Fox News will finish the year again at the top of the news channels in primetime, with an average of 3.6 million viewers, up 45% from the same period the previous year.” This shows that due to the pandemic there may have been more people able to tune into the news outlets, but they have been the only ones hitting a success rate when it comes to linear television.
Media Trends Blog (2/2)
ReplyDeleteThe ability to have new content before streaming services is a large upper hand for linear broadcasting and cable networks and has helped their competition with SVOD services. It can take a day, a week, or even a couple of months for a linear television network to release their content to a streaming service due to whether that show wants to upload their content episode by episode or season by season. This all depends on their deals with streaming services which can affect the audience who becomes impatient and turns to cable for current content.
A common phrase known to many during this time of age is “pulling the plug” (Nguyen 2021). A lot of people have decided to stop paying for cable TV and sticking to streaming networks and even possibly upgrading their plan to their live subscription to stay tuned with current news, sports, or aired television. In an article from The Wall Street Journal Nguyen says “You can save about $20 a month if you bundle cable and internet service”, although our internet bills may be getting higher, we seem to still save money when it comes to switching over to streaming services and cutting off cable. Nguyen’s article also talks about how streaming services do not have any kind of cancellation policy or contracts that lock you into having to pay monthly for them, so if you are looking to cancel permanently or just take a break for a little there would be no repercussions doing so. When it comes to streaming services, they have much more pros than they do cons compared to linear broadcasting and cable networks...which is why most people tend to “pull the plug”. So, in 3-5 years, I can only see SVOD services taking over linear broadcasting and cable networks due to the popularity and feedback it has gotten and will only continue to receive.
Work Cited
Johnson, Ted. "Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020." Deadline 24 Dec. 2020, https://deadline.com/2020/12/ratings-cable-news-networks-2020-1234660751/.
Nguyen, Nicole. “Streaming vs. Cable: How to Save Money Watching Live TV.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 31 Jan. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/streaming-vs-cable-how-to-save-money-watching-live-tv-11612101600.
Schneider, Michael. "Year in Review: Most-Watched Television Networks — Ranking 2020’s Winners and Losers." Variety 28 Dec. 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/streaming-vs-cable-how-to-save-money-watching-live-tv-11612101600.
The modern media landscape is dominated by SVOD and in-hand content. Consumers look for immediate satisfaction, pinpointing the content they want access to with each different service. This obviously poses a problem for linear broadcast television and cable networks. It is becoming less and less appealing to wait for what you want to watch when so many services offer you the efficiency that so many crave. There is, however, a serious asset that linear broadcast and cable networks have at their disposal: live content. Sports and news are two genres of television that most users choose to tune in live through their cable networks and so forth. (“Tops of 2020: Television.”) Therefore, getting rights to live sporting events is critical in giving broadcast and cable networks something that SVOD services generally do not offer. Fox is the only broadcaster up in yearly viewers. It is no coincidence that they had the rights to the Super Bowl, and NFC championship game, and other playoff and NFL games throughout the season. In comparison a broadcaster like CBS did not do so well this year as it did last year. CBS had the Super Bowl broadcast rights last season in February, and missed out on the NCAA tournament which wasn’t played during the pandemic. These two major sporting events being unavailable for CBS are key variables in their decline of viewership. (Porter) Live sports are clearly the most important asset that linear broadcasters and cable networks need to prioritize for future success against SVOD services.
ReplyDeleteIn 3-5 years I personally expect major change in the TV industry. Over recent years, SVOD services such as Netflix and Hulu have pumped out on demand content for its subscribers, offering unquestioned efficiency to access whatever they want. Bigger companies like Disney, HBO, and NBC now have their own respective SVOD services. Surely the rise of companies like Hulu and Netflix influenced and seemingly forced other companies to venture into a similar system. During this pandemic, linear broadcast numbers saw an increase early on, but slowly tailed off as time wore on. SVOD services also saw that early up tick, the only difference is that their numbers have continued steadily over time. (The Future) Looking at this further, broadcaster and cable networks needed the perfect circumstances to see a rare increase in their numbers, with people home during the pandemic and maybe not too familiar with SVOD services. After a small amount of time, that increase halted and this shows that people became more familiar with SVOD services, and with new time on their hands they preferred the on demand content. It is this popularity that I believe will put these broadcasters in tougher spots moving forward. I see SVOD services acquiring rights to sporting events, and venturing off into more live content. Live content is really the only thing linear broadcasters have going right now, so access to that would really put SVOD services in a better position than they’re already in currently. This would eventually wipe out cable networks. I don’t see the total extinction of linear broadcasters and cable networks over the next 3-5 years, but the framework for their demise will be laid over that time period.
Porter, Rick. “Broadcast TV's Ratings Winners and Losers of 2019-20.” The Hollywood Reporter, 21 May 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/broadcast-tvs-ratings-winners-losers-2019-20-1295395?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s+Today+in+Entertainment_2020-05-21+07%3A24%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.
ReplyDelete“The Future of SVOD and TV in a Post-Pandemic World - Digital-i.” Digital, 13 July 2020, www.digital-i.com/blog/the-future-of-svod-and-tv-in-a-post-pandemic-world/.
“Tops of 2020: Television.” Nielsen, 14 Dec. 2020, www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/tops-of-2020-television/.
Alyssa Murphy (part 1)
ReplyDeleteWith the ever-changing media landscape, linear TV has seen a downfall next to its competing streaming services. Though many believe that linear TV will come to an end as more and more people cut the cord, television stations have been catering to their audience well enough to stay alive.
One of the biggest factors keeping linear television alive is broadcast news. Especially in such a tumultuous year, 2020 saw rises in ratings and viewers across many major news platforms. For example, Fox news was up 45% of viewers from this same period in the previous year, MSNBC was boosted 24%, and CNN went up a whopping 85% (Johnson). These ratings are definitely higher than average because of all of the uncertainty that came upon the world this year, along with the rigorous election process; however, that is not to say the outlets wouldn’t have risen in views otherwise.
I find that the way the media is pushed onto viewers is what keeps people faithful to cable news. When many are uncertain about the world, they fear the internet and what may or may not be true. They stick to what they know. According to a Statista study, 34% of Americans aged 55-64, and 35% of Americans aged 65 and up are still reliant on cable news for their media consumption (Watson). Although the younger crowd of 18-29 sticks mostly to social media for news consumption (61% of them, to be exact), cable news still dominates the older age groups. This shows that the older generations will stick to what they know best, but soon enough, these cabe news outlets will need to find even more innovative ways to keep viewership alive, because as generations grow older, less and less people are reliant on the main thing keeping cable alive. Putting attention on cable news and relying on its revenue is a short-term solution for now, but more innovative ideas will need to be put into place.
Alyssa Murphy (part 2)
ReplyDeleteAnother factor keeping linear TV alive is the appeal of classic, weekly programming of reality television. Reality TV is typically set in a time period, and as the season moves on, so does the time in the show’s universe. The appeal of watching reality TV as time passes by is still alive. According to Variety, TLC ranked number 1 amongst female demographics this past year, with reality programming such as “90 Day Fiancé” keeping the station alive (Schneider). TLC’s President/General Manager Howard Lee stated, “Given what the country faced in 2020, to have further grown and drawn new viewers proves we’re nourishing fans with comfort and emotion they’ve really needed at the right time.” This station targets the female audience and draws in viewers with emotional investment, hooking them onto their reality programming. Also, much of TLC’s programming targets middle-aged women, with programming that can help them navigate that point in their lives. 30-49 year-olds have the highest viewership on that channel in comparison to other age groups (Kuntz). If TLC continues to target this group, people will become interested in the channel as they grow older, and the viewership will remain. TLC’s strategy of targeting a middle-aged demographic may be successful for them in the long run.
Works Cited:
Johnson, Ted. “Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020.” Deadline, Deadline, 29 Dec. 2020, deadline.com/2020/12/ratings-cable-news-networks-2020-1234660751/.
Kunst, Alexander. “TLC (The Learning Channel) Viewers in the U.S. by Age 2018.” Statista, 21 Jan. 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/228987/cable-tv-networks-tlc-the-learning-channel-watched-in-the-last-7-days-usa/#:~:text=TV%20viewers%20of%20TLC%20(The,the%20U.S.%202018%2C%20by%20age&text=This%20statistic%20presents%20the%20share,Channel)%20in%20the%20past%20month.
Schneider, Michael. “Year in Review: Most-Watched Television Networks - Ranking 2020's Winners and Losers.” Variety, Variety, 28 Dec. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/network-ratings-2020-top-channels-fox-news-cnn-msnbc-cbs-1234866801/.
Watson, Amy. “Most Used News Platforms U.S. by Age 2020.” Statista, 9 June 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/717651/most-popular-news-platforms/.
Summer Perratti (Part 1)
ReplyDeleteIn the age of streaming, linear broadcasting and cable networks are faced with never-before-seen competition. It is likely that the original cable viewers never anticipated to be offered a variety of options in terms of watching television and are now overwhelmed with the multitude of viewing possibilities. Although streaming and SVOD services have been the primary topic of media conversation in the last year, it is true that cable television has seen a glimpse of hope in 2020, with the election, pandemic and other breaking news drawing viewers back to linear broadcasting, specifically cable news. According to the Deadline article “Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020,” Fox News had an “average of 3.6 million viewers, up 45% from the same period last year. MSNBC averaged 2.2 million, a boost of 24%. CNN saw an even greater increase, as it was up 85% to average 1.8 million” (Johnson). These numbers reveal that cable news was not as unpopular as media analysts may have predicted, as many Americans are still turning on the news at the end of the day. This is likely due to the appeal of fast and informative news, which is a factor that SVOD services have not yet been able to compete with. As long as the world remains chaotic, it is safe to say that linear broadcasting will not disappear from the screens of the American people. However, although Fox, MSNBC and CNN saw a steady increase in their viewership, a Variety article notes that “most major broadcast, cable and pay networks suffered another round of double digit drops” (Schneider). In the article, Schneider lists premium networks, kids’ channels and the El Rey network as the “losers” of linear broadcasting, suggesting that these programs are being dominated by SVOD services the most. Based on viewing rates, it appears that linear broadcasting’s most attractive feature is their ability to provide information to its audience, but their entertainment appeal has lost its traction since the rise of streaming services. This makes perfect sense in the fact that streaming services mainly host entertaining content, such as the many original series created by Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max. It is simply more appealing to stream and binge your favorite television series at your command rather than waiting a week for the next episode to come on cable television.
Perratti (Part 2)
DeleteIn the near future, I believe that cable television will still remain significant, but only in the sphere of informative broadcasting. It will likely lose its entertainment appeal, as well as its financial appeal due to the lower costs offered by streaming services. In a Forbes article titled “What’s The Future Of TV?”, author Blake Morgan argues that “If cable hopes to survive, it has to revamp its offerings to stay competitive.” In the article, Morgan predicts that interactive content will rule the future of television, specifically offered by streaming services. This has already been experimented with by services like Netfilx, who released an interactive episode of Black Mirror where users get to impact the choices of the character and the overall plot. This type of appeal will likely be impossible for linear television to compete with once this becomes mainstream. The “middleman,” as Morgan calls movie theaters and cable system operators, will eventually be cut out as streaming services dominate the entertainment industry with the emergence of new, attractive features. However, I do believe that people will still turn on cable television to watch the news and other valued programs like The Super Bowl. In terms of entertainment, I find it unlikely that cable television will last much longer in the competition against streaming and SVOD services.
Perratti (Works Cited)
DeleteJohnson, Ted. “Cable News Networks See Big Gains In Viewership During Tumultuous 2020.” Deadline, Deadline, 29 Dec. 2020, deadline.com/2020/12/ratings-cable-news-networks-2020-1234660751/.
Schneider, Michael. “Year in Review: Most-Watched Television Networks - Ranking 2020's Winners and Losers.” Variety, Variety, 28 Dec. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/network-ratings-2020-top-channels-fox-news-cnn-msnbc-cbs-1234866801/.
Morgan, Blake. “What's The Future Of TV?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Dec. 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/11/02/whats-coming-in-the-future-of-tv/?sh=5428ea9efd1e.
Matthew Taylor
ReplyDeleteMedia Trends Blog #3
While the pandemic was entirely unexpected by any of the cable providers still in service today, it goes without saying that adaptability is the biggest factor in staying afloat nowadays. I would say Linear broadcasting is almost entirely obsolete for most genres of content. However certain things do still benefit from this model of content release. As far as cable companies go, what’s really keeping them afloat is the rerunning of old series or the news channels that they provide. This is reflected in 2 charts from “Deadline”. The first highlights the Top 10 Cable Programs of 2020 in Total. Resulting in the order; 1. Fox: Hannity, 2. Fox: Tucker Carlson Tonight, 3. Fox: The Five, 4. Fox: The Ingraham Angle, 5. MSNBC: The Rachel Maddow Show, 6. Fox: Special Report with Bret Baier, 7. Fox: The Story, 8. MSNBC: The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, 9. MSNBC Reidout, 10. MSNBC: Deadline: The White House. (Johnson Figure 3) Showing an obvious trend in news channel commentary-based programming. This during the pandemic and the election is what kept many of these cable providers afloat. The constant outflow of information that the news channels provide is much more easily accessed live than it is on their websites and being that everyone was stuck at home it was most likely on most of the day across the nation. Aside from that there was a slight increase in cable television consumption, “second-quarter 2020 live and time-shifted TV consumption among people 18 and older increased by an average of 4 minutes per day (to 4 hours: 8 minutes) from the prior year. That dwarfs the 1 hour and 14 minutes we spend with our TV-connected devices each day. (Nielsen 2). I believe this can be attributed to the rise in political activism over the past year as mentioned in the previous article that networks such as Fox, CNN, and MSNBC have topped the charts throughout 2020. While it is a good stride for cable companies to offer SVOD services in packages with their content it does not mean that they will continue to thrive going forward
The next 3-5 years will most likely see the rise of SVOD and livestreaming along with the fall of broadcast. Seeing that SVOD have been the most productive services over the past year in both content release and daily use I believe there will be a takeover. SVOD services have been partnering with cable providers for a while now but with the rise in original content being produced from these services, they don’t really need to partner with them to keep viewership up and could even start to try and phase out broadcast television and theatrical releases in favor of having a scheduled linear release on any streaming platform. An example of this can be seen with Disney+, “In a preview of what was to come later in the call, Disney exec Kareem Daniel announced plans for 10 new Marvel shows and 10 new Star Wars shows at the top of Disney Investor Day. In addition to the plans for even more new Marvel and Star Wars content, Daniel also announced 15 new live-action/animated Disney and Pixar series, and 15 new live-action/animated Disney and Pixar movies.” (Gemmill 2) The continuation of the Marvel franchise as well as the revitalization of the Star Wars franchise are both perfect examples of the power of SVOD services. Since they have their hands in many of the most famous major film and television franchises, they have the capability to completely phase out broadcast as a whole.
Works Cited
"Tops of 2020: Television," Nielsen.com 14 Dec. 2021,
Johnson, Ted. "Cable News Networks See Big Gains in Viewership During Tumultuous 2020." Deadline 24 Dec. 2020,
Gemmill, Allie. "Disney+ Says 10 New Star Wars Series and 10 New Marvel Shows Are Coming Soon," Collider 10 Dec. 2020