Quote:
Originally Posted by Horizon
I found the article very contradictory. I will read again, then comment.
Thanks for the link.
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Ok, after reading it again, it wasn't contradictory at all, but very clear and a
MUST read for all on this thread.
To summarise the article it says that while the number of tv channels has increased, so has the amount of original series'. But crucially, so have overall profits. Things aren't getting worse in the tv world, but much better, but things are changing.
Americans are watching more tv than ever, with growth particularly on mobile devices and the American population has grown too. So everything is good then according to the article, no....
While overall profits are rising, all the various cable channels and broadcast networks are fighting over an ever decreasing audience per show. You can only watch one thing at a time.
And the media companies make their own channels fight each other for audience share, rather than work together. NBCUniversal's channels like NBC, Sci-Fi, USA are cannibalizing each other by the infighting. But that didn't matter too much until recently because all the channels were making ever increasing amounts of dosh. Then came along Netflix et all and the ever increasing profits from the traditional bundle of cable channels is now eroding fast.
The American tv business model, as was, was based on ad revenues of numbers of viewers per show. The streaming model is more complex and not necessarily based on the number of viewers per show but whether those viewers are more likely to come back to the streaming service and watch something else and how fast they watch the show, ie binge watch a whole series in a day.
The conclusion of the article is that while tv is making money overall, the number of new shows getting cancelled is increasingly sharply threatening the current business model of network and cable tv. But the article reckons that things will sort themselves out. Cable channels will merge or collapse and less new series' will be made. And, as tv transitions to a streaming model and the audience increases not just to an American one, but a global one, tv as a whole will continue to grow.
Interesting stuff.