Which two industries do you think will undergo the most change in the next 10 years? How will media professionals and users/consumers be impacted by those changes?
*Note: For the final blog posting, you must still use three
readings to support your responses. They can be from any point in the semester
and they must be assigned readings for the class (no additional outside
article/source required). Limit: 9 responses
I believe the two industries that will undergo the most change in the next ten years are the film industry and television. I feel as though the film industry will see significant changes in movie theaters. As streaming services have taken over our way of seeing movies, movie theaters will be a thing of the past, primarily through the pandemic. Regal movie theaters have closed 536 locations due to COVID-19. What’s important to note is that Regal is the second-largest film exhibitor in the United States behind AMC Theatres (D'Alessandro).
ReplyDeleteMovie theatergoers will have to resort to purchasing streaming services or find avenues to download the movies to watch illegally. This will make and break the film industry. As seen through the streaming services, original content is on the rise opening up roles for all roles involved in the film who don’t necessarily have a big name in Hollywood. This is how you can invest in more pieces of content because you won’t be as worried about losing money as you would with traditional films. The whole concept around subscriptions will be beneficial for studios, creators, producers, etc. (Jarvey). What’s also interesting is that streaming services such as Netflix can help the next biggest star become a household name like Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things. Original content gives chances to actors/actresses who may have once been looked over for a role. Although there are the plus sides for streaming services and those involved, the downside is the workers at movie theaters will be jobless as more physical locations are closing. The pandemic had greatly affected theaters as they were struggling before the pandemic. COVID-19 became the nail in the coffin. Thousands will be out of jobs resulting from the closing of theaters.
Another change that will happen within the next ten years is representation on screen. This issue, in particular, can serve the film and television industry. Representation on screen is notorious for not adequately representing intersectionality. There has been growth across the field, such as girls and women as speaking characters and women leads. What is alarming is the all-time high for underrepresented characters as a focal point in storytelling. According to USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 65.7% of white-speaking characters in racial/ethnic groups. Black, Hispanic, Asian, and others all sat at 15.7% or below. It was noted that the percentage of white characters decreased by 11.9% since 2007 (Inequality in 1300 Popular Films). As self-awareness is shining lights on Hollywood, I predict that those numbers will change in favor of racial/ethnic groups rising as speaking characters in ten years.
Another change I can see in ten years is that linear television will only be a news outlet with little to no television shows as episodes of shows are usually put on streaming services within 24 hours of airing. I could see popular television shows like Grey’s Anatomy or NCIS have new episodes on streaming services and maybe on linear show the episode later. It would incentivize viewers to invest in the subscription to see the latest content. I feel that linear television will still be around but would only be mostly news reporting and talk shows.
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteD'Alessandro, A. (2021, March 23). Regal cinemas to reopen IN April; Parent cineworld & Warner Bros REACH multi-year deal to show wb films In U.S. & UK. Retrieved April 10, 2021, from https://deadline.com/2021/03/cineworld-regal-warner-bros-deal-theatrical-windows-us-cinemas-reopening-1234719255/
“Inequality in 1300 Popular Films.” Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. September 2020, http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-inequality_1300_popular_films_09-08-2020.pdf
Keegan, R., Jarvey, N., & McClintock, P. (2020, December 16). 2020's Big Plot Twist: How 'Wonder Woman 1984' Came to Upend Hollywood's Future. Retrieved April 10, 2021, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/2020s-big-plot-twist-how-wonder-woman-1984-came-to-upend-hollywoods-future
(Zeinab Dore)
ReplyDeleteI believe the two industries that will undergo the most change in the next 10 years are the film industry, more specifically movie theaters, and cable TV.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the cinema industry underwent such a drastic transformation. Many theaters have closed, and still are, and they fear that the business will never return to its former state. Because they haven’t gotten costumers, they are losing lots of money. If there is no box office, the money is gone. The box office dropped by billions of dollars. In 2019, Avengers: Endgame had a total gross of $800 million, and compared to that, in 2020, Bad Boys for Life was at $204 million (Box Office Mojo). The largest chains like AMC and Regal have gone from a multibillion-dollar enterprises to essentially no revenue. I believe that the fame of movie theaters had already declined before the pandemic because of the new streaming platforms they have created that had a positive impression with consumers; an easier way to watch everything at home or wherever you want, cheaper, with lots of content. And because of them, for example, Warner Brothers have announced that they would air their new movies on HBO Max on the day its supposed to come out in theaters; which I think its smart in a way, but not helpful for the theaters (Zeitchik). As a person that used to go to the movie theater at least once of twice a month, it definitely has a huge impact on us. But it also impacted the workers. Lots of people lost their jobs, which has also an impact in their lives. And movie studios also definitely got impacted because they had to delay their movies a lot, and had to find other ways to diffuse their movies (McClintock).
The ad-supported cable industry has been going through several changes. The number of subscribers has been slowly decreasing, which has had an effect on sales. Many popular networks’ ratings have been declining, which has also had an impact on revenue. The majority of cable network operators have launched streaming platforms and are investing billions in content. The decline of paid television is attributed to the increased popularity of streaming platforms. the pandemic, on the other hand, has accelerated the cord-cutting trend, since the health crisis led to a down economy and a lack of live sports during a long period of time. These patterns may have influenced more people to cut the cord than ever (Adgate). For major US broadcasting corporations, such as Comcast’s NBC Universal, AT&Y, Viacom CBS, Fox, Discovery, AMC networks… expect a fall in subscriptions that would result in a loss of around $25 billion in cable subscription revenue, as well as related commercial decline (Sherman).
“Domestic Box Office For 2019.” Box Office Mojo, 2019, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2019/?ref_=bo_yl_table_3.
ReplyDelete“Domestic Box Office For 2020.” Box Office Mojo, 2020, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2020/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses.
Zeitchik, Steven. “In Major Break from Tradition, Warner Bros. Moves to Debut All Its 2021 Movies Simultaneously on HBO Max and in Theaters.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Dec. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/03/warner-media-movies-hbo/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening.
McClintock, Pamela. “Studios Hold Out Hope for Theaters' Return to Normalcy.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/studios-hold-out-hope-for-theaters-return-to-normalcy.
Adgate, Brad. “The Rise And Fall Of Cable Television.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 3 Nov. 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2020/11/02/the-rise-and-fall-of-cable-television/?sh=2f6237ac6b31.
Sherman, Alex. “Media Executives Are Finally Accepting the Decline of Cable TV as They Plot a New Path Forward.” CNBC, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/10/24/big-media-companies-reorganize-for-world-of-50-million-tv-subscribers.html.
(zeinab dore)
DeleteRachel Sapienza Part 1
ReplyDeleteI think the two industries that will undergo the most change in the next 10 years are the television industry and film industry. Both of these industries were already undergoing change within the last several years but that has accelerated in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions as well as the launch of several new streaming services, with different methods.
The growing number of streaming services being launched is making TV a very different experience. Besides the big industry players like Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu, there is now Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Apple TV plus, and HBOMax. Cord cutting has been a hot topic for the last couple of years but with methods like Hulu Live TV and Sling TV live streaming it’s clear the streamers have emerged as major players. When two newer streaming services, Disney Plus, and HBO Max both secured Golden Globe nominations in 2021 Joe Otterson of Variety wrote, “The success of the two shows underscores just how important streaming is to the television ecosystemcompared to linear television nowadays. In 2020, four streaming services were on the list of TV distributors that scored the most nominations (Netfilx, Hulu, Amazon, Apple). This year, that number increased to six with the addition of HBO Max and Disney Plus.” The article also noted that broadcast TV got shut out of nominations entirely in 2020 and in 2021 only got two with Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek” and NBC’s “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” but those won’t make much of a difference (Otterson). It is clear that streaming service’s original shows are here to stay in television and being recognized. In addition to this recognition, those streamers are also getting episodes up within 24hrs of them airing on broadcast television, they are offering live television packages, and linear television is taking a backseat.
Rachel Sapienza Part 2
DeleteWhile the change in television has been gradual and ongoing ever since the launch of original streamers like Netflix and Hulu, the change in the Film Industry has been more dramatic and sudden in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people still relied on movie theaters for new releases and it was something people enjoyed. That all changed when the theaters got shut down in 2020. Many movie theaters have closed, and some of shuttered permanently. The box office is on a steep incline because there really was no box office for spending. Many experts say the film industry may never fully recover. “According to the MPA, the U.S. box office fell to $2.2 billion, in 2020, an unprecedented 80 percent decline, while global box office revenue tumbled to $12 billion, a 72 percent dip….Movies entering production also plummeted by 46 percent” (McClintock). Meanwhile streaming services boomed and in response to the plummeting theater industry, there have been big changes. Warner Bros. made the shocking decision to put all of its 2021 movies on HBO Max the same day they were to be or are released in theaters (Zeitchik). Similarly, other studios have adjusted in this way, turning their back on traditional cinema releases and choosing instead to boost their own streaming services. Disney released the animated film “Soul” on their streaming platform as well. It is important to note however, that these changes are going beyond just the year of the pandemic and shutdowns as some of the films are slated for late in 2021, in October and December when many theaters will most likely be reopened. Another mitigating response is Universal Pictures’ deal with top chains AMC and Cinemark for the biggest films to play exclusively in theaters for at least three weekends before moving to streaming (Zeitchik). I think these sudden changes will have longlasting impacts and longlasting effects in the coming decade and we might face other outbreaks in the coming years, this has set a precedent for the film industry in the future.
Sources:
McClintock, Pamela. “U.S. Box Office Fell 80 Percent in 2020 as Streaming Boomed.” The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/official-tally-u-s-box-office-fell-80-percent-in-2020-as-streaming-booms.
Otterson, Joe. “Golden Globe Nominations: Disney Plus, HBO Max Break in as Streaming Wars Heat Up.” Variety, Variety, 4 Feb. 2021, variety.com/2021/tv/news/golden-globe-nominations-mandalorian-flight-attendant-disney-plus-hbo-max-1234899314/.
Zeitchik, Steven. “In Major Break from Tradition, Warner Bros. Moves to Debut All Its 2021 Movies Simultaneously on HBO Max and in Theaters.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Dec. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/03/warner-media-movies-hbo/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening.
Gabriela Alvares
ReplyDeleteMedia Trends Blog 8
Throughout the semester I have found that the two industries we have studied that will change the most in the next 10 years are the lifestyle and niche media and the film industries. I believe the lifestyle and niche media industry will grow because people have gotten used to consuming more of this type of content due to the pandemic and have come to enjoy the more personal feeling of shows filmed by celebrities or regular people in their homes. In the article “How Food Network and HGTV Lean on Talent as Service TV Viewership Surges,” Discovery chief lifestyle brands officer Kathleen Finch states that the industry is building on this trend because they believe it will outlast the pandemic; “By arming talent...with the means to self-film, Food, HGTV, and even TLC are augmenting existing programming and, in some cases, packaging completely new episodes when all other production has stopped — moves that could outlast COVID-19….I think we’re going to see a change in how content is created in this genre.” (O’Connell, 2020). The general move towards streaming is another trend I think will affect this industry because it presents both an opportunity and a threat. Streaming as a method of consuming content will certainly continue to grow in the next 10 years, which will provide increased opportunities for distribution of content, and services such as Discovery+ which feature lifestyle and niche content are projected to compete effectively with those that place more emphasis on scripted content such as Disney+ and Netflix (Jarvey, 2021). However, there is also the possibility that people will only be willing to subscribe to a certain number of services, which will lead to increased competition between services, and those with more diverse content catalogues may do better than those that are more focused.
I believe that the pressure from the rise of streaming services combined with the restrictions of the pandemic mean the film industry will also have a lot of changes in the next ten years. The restrictions on indoor gatherings have had a range of consequences for movie theaters; some have had to remain closed for long periods and some cannot allow as many people in as before, all resulting in major losses in revenue for the entire industry (Zeitchick, 2020). To try and regain revenue, companies with streaming services have decided to release movies on them and in theaters simultaneously; “Disney is about to debut Pixar’s “Soul” on Disney Plus, while Warner Bros. itself announced last month it would bring “Wonder Woman 1984” to HBO Max at the same time as it will theaters.”(Zeitchick, 2020). Some companies like Warner Bros. have been accused of depriving theaters of income and using the pandemic restrictions to boost the numbers of subscribers on their own services, which poses a threat to the jobs and income of people who own and work in movie theaters. People have gotten used to having direct access to new releases and they are a major incentive for people subscribing or remaining subscribed to a service, so this may result in film companies wanting to continue these types of releases which would really change the way people watch movies and have negative economic consequences for people involved in certain parts of the film industry even while the increased number of options is a benefit to consumers (Zeitchick, 2020).
Gabriela Alvares
DeleteMedia Trends Blog 8
Works Cited
O’Connell, Mikey. “How Food Network and HGTV Lean on Talent as Service TV Viewership Surges.” The Hollywood Reporter. 9 April 2020. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/food-network-coronavirus-filmed-content-surging-audiences-1289451. Accessed Feb. 25, 2021.
Jarvey, Natalie. "Discovery+ to Join Streaming Wars with January Launch." The Hollywood Reporter. 2 Dec. 2020. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/discovery-to-join-streaming-wars-with-january-launch. Accessed Feb. 25, 2021.
Zeitchick, Steven. "In Major Break from Tradition, Warner Bros. Moves to Debut All Its 2021 Movies Simultaneously on HBO Max and In Theaters." Washington Post. 3 Dec. 2020,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/03/warner-media-movies-hbo/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening. Accessed 20 Mar. 2021.
Adam Tollin
ReplyDeleteMedia Trends Blog 8
During these wild times, some industries are bound to go through some sort of change, whether it’s for better or for worse. Regardless of the pandemic, times change, and the industries need to change with the times to remain appealing to their audiences. Amongst the industries that we’ve covered over this course, I believe that based off of the information I’ve obtained that the TV and film industries will undergo the most changes in the next 10 year. Personally, I watch all of my tv and movies on the streaming services I pay for on a monthly basis. The only time I turn on my TV to watch something from cable is if I want to watch live sports, or an awards show. Likewise, the Nielsen ratings for the top 10 TV programs of 2020 for a single telecast are all live sporting events, the Masked Singer and the Oscars. More specifically, the eight sporting events are all NFL playoff games, and the college football championship. Regularly scheduled TV programs are still seeming to do well, but people aren’t watching cable networks every night as much anymore to watch their favorite shows like: The Office, How I Met Your Mother, or Modern Family. TV shows on the top of the Nielsen ratings are crime shows and dramas like NCIS and This Is Us. According to the Nielsen Ratings article, TV consumption among people aged 18 and older has increased by an average of about four minutes per day from 2019 to 2020. I think although TV seems to have a strong current standing with live viewings, I think changes are still to come. For example, Hulu has introduced live sports to its packaging for an increased fee, and so has Paramount+, which has an even greater selection of live TV.
Secondly, I think the film industry will be subject to the most change alongside the TV industry in the next 10 years. It’s no secret that the pandemic has struck the film industry without any mercy. Theaters were shut down for months, and everything in Hollywood was delayed almost an entire year. Executives had to scramble last March and April to figure out how to continue to make money through lockdowns and changing times. In 2020, the US box office feel 80% from its previous year of $11.4 billion (McClintock). We’ve already seen some movies like Wonder Woman 1984 and Godzilla vs. Kong go straight to streaming services because of the impacts of coronavirus. While movie theaters should be opening up again soon, I think streaming services are going to continue to dominate the industry. I think people have realized that they’d rather stay in the comfort of their own home while enjoying movies and TV shows. According to an article on Variety, the Biden administration’s COVID relief packages could end up saving theaters and the industry as a whole (Rubin). People might not necessarily have as much of a means to go to a theater with family or friends to go through an experience of cell phones, sticky floors, and advertisements when they can sit on their couch, and watch in their clean home.
To sum up, with the unexpected changes we’ve had to deal with in the past year, I think we’re bound to see some permanency regarding transition to streaming from cable, but I think according to the data, live TV still has a lot of life left.
Works Cited
Media. “Tops of 2020: Television.” Nielsen, 14 Dec. 2020, www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/tops-of-2020-television/.
McClintock, Pamela. “U.S. Box Office Fell 80 Percent in 2020 as Streaming Boomed.” The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/official-tally-u-s-box-office-fell-80-percent-in-2020-as-streaming-booms.
Lang, Brent. “The Future of Movie Theaters In the Age of Coronavirus: A Dialogue.” Variety, Variety, 9 Oct. 2020, variety.com/2020/film/news/movie-theaters-cinemas-coronavirus-no-time-to-die-covid-1234796779/.
*Correction*
ReplyDeletePrior to my sentence about the Biden administration's COVID relief package, I cited the author as "Rubin." This was the photographer of the picture in the article. The correct citation, which is the author, is "Lang, Gleiberman, and Debruge."
Generation Z has grown up in a world where technology is ever-improving. When we were children, it was revolutionary that we could send texts to our friends. We had to pay extra to access the internet on our flip phones. Each song on iTunes was $1.29 each. The graphics in video games felt insane, breaking away from pixels and looking more realistic by the year. It almost feels like there’s no more room for improvement, but we’re already seeing a new dawn of streaming appear. So much can happen in the next 10 years.
ReplyDeleteAs we watch the streaming wars begin to unfold, I think it will change the television industry forever. “Game of Thrones” has paved the way for high-budget television. Clearly, Disney is going down that path. Disney Investor Day 2020 showed us a sneak peek into what is in store for Disney+ viewers. Before streaming, it would have been ludicrous for a studio to make a high-budget movie dedicated to one character. But Collider broke down all the different shows Disney+ will be bringing to the table. We saw the first sneak peek into the future of television with “The Mandalorian”. Marvel has seen success from “Wandavision”. The internet is currently blowing up over “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. “Loki” is coming right after. And Star Wars has multiple plans for mini-series, including “Bad Batch”, “Kenobi”, and more. The shows’ success isn’t ignored by the industry either, as they are now making their presence known in award shows such as the Golden Globes (Otterson).
So for TV, I think the future calls for high-budget mini-series. They can add a lot of depth to a character or fictional world. With Paramount+ announcing Avatar Studios, I think they will be taking this route with the Avatar Universe and will create multiple spin-offs and mini-series within their universe. We have never seen this trend before, and I think it’s here to stay and evolve.
The next industry that I think will change the most in the next decade is the video gaming industry. Streamers and Twitch have changed the game. Gamer “Bugha” made headlines in 2019 when he won $3 million in a Fortnite championship, making this the highest prize pool for competitive gaming. But even more recently, YouTubers and Twitch streamers have created a strong fan base. And they’re breaking away from being a niche market to making headlines. Who can forget when “Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attracted 400,000 viewers to her Twitch live stream” (Beresford), playing with popular gamers like Corpse Husband and Hasan Abi?
Minecraft YouTubers can’t be ignored either. YouTuber Dream has 20 million followers, getting at least 50 million views on each video he makes. Independent streamers have paved the way for the next decade. They made small games like “Among Us” become titans in the industry. I think their input will become incredibly valuable to video game developers and investors.
The next decade is looking exciting for our generation!
Beresford, Tribly. "How the Video Game Industry Quietly Powered Through a Pandemic." The Hollywood Reporter 22 Dec. 2020.
Gemmill, Allie. "Disney+ Says 10 New Star Wars Series and 10 New Marvel Shows Are Coming Soon," Collider 10 Dec. 2020.
Otterson, Joe. "Golden Globe Nominations: Disney Plus, HBO Max Break in as Streaming Wars Heat Up." Variety 3 Feb. 2021.
Harriet Rice
ReplyDeleteI think the pandemic has accelerated major changes in many industries. Facing the challenge of providing and satisfying customers why they stay home has resulted in many companies going out of the comfort zone. In particular, the film industry has struggled during the pandemic and fell 2.2 billion in 2020 which was an 80 percent decline (McClintock). However, this decline is not because people stopped liking going to the movies, however, they were just forced to stay inside due to a pandemic. The enjoyment and appetite are still there as many cities created pop-up drives in movie theaters which had their highest returns in decades (McClintock). I think this will be a great trend to continue. As we discussed in class many of my classmates including myself LOVE to drive-in movies and also provide an easier and cheaper alternative. Although I think even with drive-in movie theaters we have seen big titles skipping the theaters and going straight to streaming. I think in the future the film industry and in particular movie theaters will be on the decline and limited movie theaters will be open for the people that still want that experience. Overall I think that many streaming services will do what HBO Max did and will put all new movies on their streaming services and in theaters (Zeitchik). I think this will allow theaters to still generate money as many people still love to go to the movies. The second industry that I believe will undergo more change is the music industry. Going back to the discussion of the pandemic, I think a lot more people got into listening to music, podcasts, or books through Apple Music or Spotify. Spotify claims that 22% of their users interact with podcasts in the third quarter report which increased from the one prior (Page). As people start to return to the office I think streaming will continue to increase. Listening to music on podcasts for their commute and traveling will boom. On the music topic, many people (including me) miss live concerts so much and are very desperate for the return. It is extremely sad that 90 venues have shut down according to BillBoard (Brooks). However, I am extremely hopeful that with the vaccine rolling out many are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully the return of things we love. I think music artists have used the pandemic to get creative and even start writing more albums. Doing live streams on social platforms has allowed fans to also feel more connected. I think live music will also continue to grow. Many people are eager to get back and enjoy that experience that you can't get over the phone just as people will return to movie theaters as well.
ReplyDeleteMcClintock, Pamela. "U.S. Box Office Fell 80 Percent in 2020 as Streaming Boomed." The Hollywood Reporter 18 March 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/official-tally-u-s-box-office-fell-80-percent-in-2020-as-streaming-booms
"The Trends That Shaped Streaming in 2020." Spotify Newsroom 1 Dec. 2021,
https://newsroom.spotify.com/2020-12-01/THE-TRENDS-THAT-SHAPED-STREAMING-IN-2020/
Zeitchick, Steven. "In Major Break from Tradition, Warner Bros. Moves to Debut All Its 2021 Movies Simultaneously on HBO Max and In Theaters." Washington Post 3 December 2020,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/03/warner-media-movies-hbo/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening
Matthew Taylor
ReplyDeleteMedia Trends Blog #8
I think the two industries that will undergo the most change in the next 10 years would have to be the film and television industries. Amid the pandemic we saw some of the highest highs and lowest lows in both industries. Streaming services massively increased the amount of finished series content in all their libraries and cut deals with the largest internet/cable providers in the world while the film and the Television industry stood silent. We saw some of the first theatrical releases to streaming services as well as the implementation of SVOD and AVOD services in almost every type of content; news, sports, even big budget movies. The closing of theatres across the country resulted in a massive streaming boom through 2020, “For the first time, subscribers of online services crossed 1 billion to top out at 1.1 billion, a 26 percent gain over 2019 (that included 306.8 billion subscriptions in the U.S., a 32 percent spike). All told, the global mobile/home entertainment market generated revenue of $68.8 billion in 2020, a 23 percent jump over 2019 (that excludes cable subscriptions). (McClintock 3). Being that this boom was followed by an 80% dip in the U.S. box office and a production decline by almost 50% this does not come without problem. While streaming services do produce their own content, the massive amount of content already available was a go-to for most families during the quarantine period. In turn allowing for streaming services to cut deals and do business while most production companies for both film and television had to stop resulting in massive layoffs and the complete shutdown of some studios, "Our workforce was not immune: Jobs were lost, productions were either curtailed or shut down, and movie theaters shuttered around the globe,” (McClintock 7). Amongst the job loss and halting of production there were still massive deals being made. Netflix took advantage of the popular Avatar the last Airbender series adding it to their streaming library during the height of quarantine while NBCUniversal’s Peacock snatched The Office series as soon as their deal ran out. These changes were a first look into the future of the film and television industries. With the running risk of the pandemic there is not much reason for these companies to stick with the same business model. It was no surprise when the first non-theatrical release happened due to the fact that at the time, we had no plan for reopening anything. When the time came that we could reopen it wasn’t just back to normal, “Business-wise, I think it all depends on whether studios are willing to stick their necks out after “Tenet” and risk losing a lot of potential revenue to help drive audiences to the theater chains that sustain them during normal times. Without new tentpoles (or fresh “content,” as pandemic winner Netflix calls it), the megaplexes simply can’t draw customers. (Debruge 3)
As we have now seen it, production companies are up and running again, streaming services are still increasing their content libraries with their own productions and readily available content, and the average viewer now has the option to see certain movies in theaters and tv shows on cable Tv and most if not all online at the same time. Potentially all cable services could be transferred online with the push of a button. We have seen the transition of cable news to the internet as well as sports so in the next 10 years I wouldn’t be surprised if the cable was cut entirely. The bundling of these services in an online format while maybe not always cheaper is the next step as people continue to subscribe and more streaming giants emerge, “. Hollywood has spent the past few years mobilizing for the streaming future. Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and Discovery all have introduced streaming services where they’re offering high-profile originals and classic hits that once made up the bread-and-butter of Netflix streaming viewership.” (Jarvey 4). The direction it is going will barely if at all affect the consumers but will affect both industries in the production and release options of all types of content.
DeleteWorks Cited:
McClintock, Pamela. “U.S. Box Office Fell 80 Percent in 2020 as Streaming Boomed.” The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/official-tally-u-s-box-office-fell-80-percent-in-2020-as-streaming-booms.
Lang, Brent, et al. “The Future of Movie Theaters In the Age of Coronavirus: A Dialogue.” Variety, Variety, 9 Oct. 2020, variety.com/2020/film/news/movie-theaters-cinemas-coronavirus-no-time-to-die-covid-1234796779/.
Jarvey, Natalie. "Netflix Tops 200 Million Subscribers Amid Pandemic." The Hollywood Reporter 19 Jan. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-tops-200-million-subscribers-amid-pandemic